Samantha walked through the underground entrance. She stopped for a moment to run her armored fingers along the intricate stone carvings along the walls. No matter how many of their abandoned cities she entered, she never forgot to stop and marvel at what they had accomplished. Humanity was so focused on wealth and power that most of what they built was pure utility. The Dillozouans had grown into a species that celebrated artistry for its own sake as a mainstay of their lives. Even their weapons were works of art, not that they used them often anymore.

After her moment of reverie passed, she continued on. Samantha went forward a short distance then she made a left turn at the first intersection. After she passed through a narrow corridor, she came to a locked door. Curious to see if she could open it, she placed her hand to the palm plate.

A pneumatic hiss echoed from the door and she grinned. "Thanks, Broken Claw."

Her suit, a prosthetic made by the Dillozou, carried with it the signature of their technology. It had been recognized even in this ancient place. They truly were an old race with many traditions. Their passcodes and software had not been updated for ages. Why bother when almost no one else even knew their language, much less had the computational power to break into their equivalent of the Internet.

Once she entered the room she saw something against the far wall that made her eyes widen. "No way!"

Excited beyond words, Samantha rushed forward then came to a stop just before the oversized statue of a Dillozou warrior. In its hand there rested a brightly glowing crystalline orb etched to resemble one of their warriors who had taken a protective stance by curling into a ball. What she had found was her world-setting's equivalent of an ancient treasure chest, one only someone who could activate it could use. Unlike most of the technology in the city, this sort of thing belonged only to the Dillozou warrior class.

It would take decades for any member of another race to decipher the code sphere that protected the treasure inside. However, such a restriction did not matter to Samantha. She was an adopted member of their race. Her suit would open such a thing easily, and frankly no one else deserved it. They might even be a warrior of some renown, but they were not trained by the Dillozou.

Samantha placed her hands to either side of the glowing sphere. The light show died down immediately. The crystalline shell protecting the treasure dispersed into motes of light and revealed something she had not seen before.

Before she could take the floating device that looked a bit like a holographic representation of her suit, another hologram appeared. It was a Dillozou whom she had not met before. He began to speak in an archaic form of the Dillozuo language, though Samantha understood him well enough. Their language had not changed much in quite some time. Why fix what wasn't broken?

"Greetings warrior. You have no doubt journeyed far if you have come to this small town on the edge of nowhere," said the hologram. "Know that the true beginning of what you seek lies here. It is the testament to a warrior's heart and courage. It is the schematic for the Quantum Graviton Suit. With it, you can begin your true quest to acquire the ancient arms and armor of our people that only the greatest among us might wield."

Samantha shifted sideways, her expression incredulous. "Armor? The Dillozou do not wear armor... They are born with it."

The holographic suit that she saw floating in the air before her spoke otherwise. It looked incredibly similar to her own, almost like she was already wearing a version of it.

"This prosthetic... Broken Claw..." Samantha's eyes widened briefly, but then she allowed them to close. A slight smile came to her lips. "You still look after me, even now."

The suit she wore was no doubt one made in the image of true Dillozou armor. The people of her adopted race had long since given up war as a practice. A warrior's armor to them was largely unneeded, a decorative reminder of their ancient traditions, but for someone like her it was a vital necessity to survive on their ship.

She reached out and touched the holographic suit of armor. Her own suit suddenly began to make a noise it had never made before. It began to whir and hum wildly.

A series of words and numbers flew across her HUD. "You're being serious right now?"

Her suit was being upgraded from a prosthetic to a true Dillozou power suit. The suit grew larger, bulkier, for a moment. Soon, however, it shrank down to match her proportions properly.

"Two new functions have been installed, and six more will be revealed in time?" she asked rhetorically.

The new functions made her grin in a wild and feral way. She could now call her suit any time, and without pain, provided she was not wearing any clothing that was not skin tight. The second power was just as wonderful. She now had permanent access to missiles! Sure, they would require her to recharge them after use but the recharge could be made at her statue on her ship. Its function that allowed her to call her armor without as much pain while she touched it would now be a missile recharge function.

"I wonder if I'll be able to upgrade this stuff at the exchange point?" she asked curiously.

It was truly a wonderful day for her. She truly wanted to do nothing more than to go fire off missiles and jump around a lot. However, the gravy train did not stop rolling just yet. She received a message from the system.

"My new boots can be added to my armor?" She could wear them in her normal clothes and they would automatically transition to her power suit with fully functionality. "That's even better."

Uncertain exactly what to do, she sat down and tried to put on her shoes while her armor was still in operation. Surprisingly, they shifted form and size slightly, then became more metallic in color.

"So, I have a high-heeled power suit suitable for a Dillozou warrior. Wonder how much better it is?" she asked herself curiously.

She tried to jump and use her boots, and in the process discovered that a simple thought was all it took to activate them. She leapt upwards with the full power of her suit, far more power than she was used to having, then crashed into the ceiling as she had already thought of using the air dash before she realized that the high ceiling overhead was not nearly high enough.

She fell dozens of feet to the ground and bounced with a rattle and scrap of metal on stone. For a moment she laid there in place, then slowly she raised her hand upward and pointed at the ceiling overhead. "Ow..."

"Worth it..." she muttered in good humor before she allowed her hand to drop. She would wait till she was not inside of an ancient stone chamber before she tried her new missiles out. Somehow, the idea of firing them off right at that moment did not seem like a good idea.