Oath of the Survivor

The next morning, Kyle got a notice that the new pack was being delivered to his quarters, with instructions to activate the inscriptions.  A member of the engineering squad dropped it off shifting from foot to foot before he could pass off the package.  Kyle was going to ask some questions, but the goblin was already halfway down the hall.  When looking through the instructions, it was obvious that Themestra had communicated with Chester, and this whole set of circumstances felt right in line with what he’d expect from the foreman.  Fulfilling the letter of the agreement perfectly and precisely, without any bells and whistles.  At this point, however, it didn’t bother Kyle much. 

He sighed in relief as he sealed the door to his quarters.  This meant Chester didn’t know the full extent of Kyle’s crafting abilities, nor the abilities provided by C.H.A.D.D. itself.  Before laying out everything he’d need, he closed his eyes.  He focused on the sensations offered by Auric Perception, and satisfied there were no strange mana signatures he set out a hodgepodge of components around the floor, with C.H.A.D.D. in the center.

“Are you sure you want to go through with all of this?  There’s a risk that something could go wrong.”

[I’M CERTAIN, DR. MAYHEW.  THIS IS THE PATH OF MY PROGRESSION.]

Kyle considered that for a moment, the words carrying weight.  The drone was right.  Just as Kyle’s path had become tied to survival and struggle, C.H.A.D.D.’s path had grown to complement his own.  Part of him considered if that was fair, and subsequently dismissed it.  The end of the world wasn’t fair.  So they would struggle, they would grow, and they would make a place for themselves.

“Alright.  Let’s get started.”

Tendrils of mana sprang out around Kyle, connecting first to C.H.A.D.D., then to the world tree seed floating in its strange space between.  While he still couldn’t manipulate it, Kyle wanted to keep the connection active.  Additional tendrils connected to the various objects around him, and Kyle focused his attention on the first major piece of preparation that he’d need to complete.  Channeling mana into one of the barbs left by the giant spider, the Shadow, he focused his intent.  Grow.  He suspected this was a possibility, as the Shadow had consistently grown these natural weapons out of its abdomen.  With a gentle crackling sound, the material began to shift.

This was some of the trickiest work before him, by simple virtue that there was no easy hack to control or shape the growth.  All the plant life they’d encountered was more efficiently grown with the drone’s assistance, and C.H.A.D.D. didn’t have meaningful strategies to control biological growth like this.  Still, Kyle had experience to draw on, and Instinctive Intelligence proved valuable in helping him exert even finer control of his mana.

Still, Kyle didn’t want to leave this work up to chance.  The components he was currently building would become part of C.H.A.D.D.’s inner workings, after all.  Satisfied the growth potential was there, Kyle placed the barb into a particularly wide shoot of bamboo.  There was a telescoping series of shoots, forcing the growth of the barb to narrow, until only a thin layer of the material surrounded the hollow, syringe-like core. 

Kyle had expanded it slightly as he grew the barb, and gently ran the cabling through it.  The D Grade material, despite being heavily infused with mana, was functionally immune to Kyle’s PARASITIC RESONANCE.  In order to maneuver it in the way he needed to, he needed the more pliable manipulation afforded by the organic material.  As it grew through the narrowest piece of the bamboo, Kyle couldn’t help but marvel at the delicate looking wire.  He felt that he could still move it easily with his Willpower, but had one more failsafe he wanted to put into play.  Taking some of the silk that they’d rescued, Kyle painstakingly wrapped the creation to ensure the chitin would hold.

An hour later, Kyle had a length of wire nearly a meter long, coated in chitin and wrapped in mana-conductive silk.  The tip still sported the razor-sharp edge of the barb.  Most importantly, all the materials were truly D Grade.  From what C.H.A.D.D. shared about its class, it didn’t necessarily fall into the classic progression through levels.  Instead, it would assemble and assimilate different materials to grow into its next form.  The fact that the drone had been able to interact so casually with the natural treasures from the forests was a testament to that, to say nothing of the world tree seed.  Kyle hoped that C.H.A.D.D.’s abilities would add an extra edge to make the next step successful.

“This is the last chance, C.H.A.D.D.  If I go through with this, the old formation won’t work anymore.  You won’t be able to float again, at least not anytime soon.”

They’d discussed this at length.  Kyle was essentially going to use the mana-conductive wiring to replicate and magnify the most basic formation C.H.A.D.D. had – the one that allowed the drone to draw in mana.  The repairs made with the Infernal’s carapace served as a proof of concept, showing that a mana-conductive component overlayed on damaged runes could repair them.  The levitation formation had been too complex for Kyle, though he was able to do a lot to repair the projections. 

This was a different level of complexity altogether – effectively hijacking aspects of the levitation formation and overlaying one focused on collection.  C.H.A.D.D. would be able to provide a detailed image, but it truly felt like he was about to go into surgery.  There wasn’t enough material for another shot, and before they would know if he was successful, the existing runes would be scratched and damaged. 

[I AM AWARE, AND ACCEPT THE RISKS.  YOU MAY BEGIN.]

Hours later…

“Damn it!”

[YOU HAVE TO MOVE FORWARD, DR. MAYHEW.  THERE ISN’T ENOUGH MATERIAL TO GO BACK AND FIX IT.]

In his exhaustion, Kyle had missed a corner of one of the amplification runes, making it useless.  The formation would still hold, albeit with marginally reduced power.  At least, it would be marginally reduced if it was the only mistake.  Of the hundreds of different shapes he had to form, he had now ruined six.  The formation would still function, though it would be far below Kyle’s hopes. 

Resetting his focus, he worked through the last three runes.  The barbed tip gouged out existing runes as it created a thin furrow in C.H.A.D.D.’s hull, allowing the wire to rest inside easily.  C.H.A.D.D. projected a constant screen of progress, and it was finally coming to a close.  When the last was completed, he activated it with an infusion of mana before releasing his control on PARASITIC RESONANCE.  The mental toll of doing such precise work over hours was enormous.  Furthermore, the difficulty of manipulating the D Grade material meant his mana reserves were largely spent.  Exhausted, he went to lie down on the bed, falling into it with a loud thump.

Looking up at the ceiling, Kyle couldn’t help but feel frustration boiling in his chest.  I should have had Themestra work on it.  Maybe -

[DR. MAYHEW, THE FORMATION IS BEGINNING TO WORK.]

Kyle grimaced.  He and C.H.A.D.D. agreed the drone would offer a full report when they finished, and he wasn’t looking forward to being confronted with his failure.

[MANA IS BEING DRAWN IN AT ROUGHLY SIXTY-FOUR PERCENT OF ESTIMATES.]

“I’m sorry, C.H.A.D.D.  Hopefully it isn’t too late, we can get to Themestra and see if she can do better.”

[WHY WOULD WE DO THAT?]

“Because you’ve lost over a third of the planned efficiency due to my mistakes.”

[DR. MAYHEW, A DEFUNCT SET OF RUNE FORMATIONS HAS BEEN REPLACED BY A FORMATION THAT, EVEN AT SIXTY-FOUR PERCENT EFFICIENCY, IS DRAWING IN MORE MANA THAN EVER BEFORE.  CLINICALLY, THIS IS A CLEAR SUCCESS.]

“But –“

[DR. MAYHEW, PARDON THE EXPRESSION, BUT AS ROCHELLE WOULD SAY, YOU’RE GETTING ‘WHINY.’]

The unexpected phrase hit him like a bucket of cold water, and Kyle sat up to regard the motionless drone on the ground.

“I’m not whiny.”

[YOU DON’T HANDLE FAILURE WELL, DR. MAYHEW.  PARTICULARLY WHEN YOU THINK OTHERS BEAR THE CONSEQUENCES OF YOUR FAILURE.]

Kyle was about to argue, and found he couldn’t.  The drone got him again.  With a sigh, he plopped back down on the bed, hands clasped behind his head.

“It’s a bad habit to keep feeding.  I appreciate it, C.H.A.D.D.  Any suggestions for how to turn it around?”

[FOR ONE, CONSIDER YOUR OWN WANTS.  YOU SPENT ROUGHLY TEN PERCENT OF THE COMPENSATION YOU ACCRUED ON ME.  I AM GRATEFUL FOR THAT.  HOWEVER, YOU NEED TO THINK ABOUT YOURSELF AS WELL.  WHEN THIS IS ALL DONE, FIND WHAT YOU WANT TO DO, AND SPEND TO ENABLE IT.]

Kyle chewed on the drone’s words while he stared, thinking meaningfully about what was ahead.  What is my place in the universe?  He didn’t have all the answers, but he realized that he should really start trying to find them. 

Completing the rest of the improvements took the better part of three days.  Kyle was proud of the work, with the pack containing several unique upgrades he was itching to test out.  Even better, the refined work resulted in another level, bringing him to 34.  With only one to go before his second D Grade skill, Kyle was eager to see what options were ahead of him.  Both roads only led one direction: planetside.

~~~

Kyle took in a deep breath as he stepped off the shuttle.  He’d put in a request to get some field testing done, and Chester sent him to assist with scouting out a particularly dense wetland in Central Africa. Kyle was eager to test everything out.  The thick plates of the combat armor and increased weight of the pack would take some getting used to, and there was no better way to adjust than to get some exercise.  There were more people on the shuttle than usual, and Kyle suppressed a grin.  He knew Chester was equally interested in whether or not C.H.A.D.D.’s upgrades had come through. 

“We’ll set up the camp.  If you can scout a perimeter, we’d appreciate it.”

The captain’s voice brought Kyle back to focus, and he smiled at the man.

“With pleasure.”