Chapter 4

Trash Diving

Once we got our bearings we looked around. We were basically in a junkyard that stretched for kilometers. The city didn’t actively advertise this information otherwise heroes and villains wouldn’t come here. Only few people wanted to stare at trash all day. Even from the top level of the city, the junkyard was still easily visible.

“This poor land,” Alara said bending over to scoop up a handful of dirt.

“I know my Love. This is what parts of my world looked like a long time ago,” I said patting her head.

I let her keep resting and went over to a random pile. I placed my hand on what looked like an engine. It had seen much better days.

-Twenty-year-old rusted V4 engine.

-Non-operable.

-10t

I nodded, not really surprised. This was very clearly trash. I grabbed a piston and it shatter in my had reduced to dust. I channeled my various abilities on to the engine and got a whole new set of options.

-Repair: 367 Energy

-Matter Block (3): 157 Energy

Matter blocks were basically cubes of matter that were easy to manipulate. It reduced the cost of what I’m trying to create using those rather then say a handful of dirt. But, it was also easier if I used the parts that actually went into the creation. Like circuits into a computer. Right now, it was cheaper and more beneficial to convert it into matter blocks.

I activated the ability and felt weakness overcome me as all my energy was drained from me. I nearly buckled but stayed on my feet with the thought that Alara was watching me. Over two-thirds of the engine turned into a block and then some of grey blocks. When I carefully picked up the completed matter block, I was surprised as how light it was. I felt a long list of random things that I could create out of just this one matter block.

“Why would I need to make a toaster?” I mumbled.

I made my way back to Alara. Well it will take a while but we have plenty of resources. I felt my phone buzz in my pocket. Pulling it out it showed I had earned about fifty experience points. I grinned well this was a nice way to gain levels. I noticed the notifications showing the experience points for creating the guns yesterday as well.

“Can I borrow some energy?” I asked her. I could pull energy from her with my ability.

“Sure Honey,” she said as she jumped into my arms.

“Careful. I have rust all over my hands,” I said holding my hands in the air so I didn’t touch her.

“Don’t care!” She shouted rubbing her head in my chest. I released a happy sigh. Once she got her fill she pulled back and I activated my ability to drain some mana from her. “Oh, Reg! So forceful!” She gave me a sly grin.

I laughed. “Don’t tease me,” I said.

With my own recovery rate combined with the borrowed energy of Alara, we managed to gather two dozen of the matter blocks. They sat in a neat pile on the elevator. We were moving the last few from a vehicle when the sound of barking rounded the corner. I tilted my head as it sounded strange.

I placed the last block on the pile right as two robotic dogs rounded the junk pile. Their eyes were red and they were formed from rusted plates. They still looked quite dangerous. I quickly pulled my revolvers from their holsters. The light of scanners flowed over to Alara and me and scanned us quickly. Then with enraged barking they began approaching us.

“Oh! Look Reg! Puppies. Can we take them home with us?” Alara asked jumping up and down.

“I think they want to kill us, Love,” I said with a chuckle.

“I know you can do something,” Alara said with a mischievous grin.

“We have to defeat them first,” I replied with a sigh.

Alara moved forward then patted her thigh. “Here puppy,” she said then whistled. I don’t think the dogs liked that as they growled and charged.

Since I had to capture them, I made sure to aim for their legs. With three rapid shots, I managed to take off the front legs of one of them. The other managed to avoid it and charged me. Alara pulled a branch sword from the ground then with a spinning twist, sliced clean through the dogs left legs. I was surprised they were so weak.

Alara moved over and finished removing her dog’s legs. I did the same with the one that I shot the front legs from. I holstered my guns then bent down to see if there was anything, I could do to take control of the robot. It tried to reach around and bite me but Alara slammed down with her foot and forced its mouth shut.

“Don’t touch my Reg,” Alara growled.

I smiled up to her. “Thanks, my Love.”

Placing my hand on the god’s head I managed to bring up its stats.

-Junkyard Dog (Robotic version) (Level: 2)

-Currently damaged (Missing legs, broken jaw)

-Technology manipulation detected. Use 725 Energy to take control.

I frowned at the information that came into my head. I didn’t possess enough energy. Even if I pulled from Alara I would still be short since we were still recovering. As I thought through the problem, I felt a pool of energy. I wondered where it was from for a moment before I realized that it was the dog under my hand.

“Drag the other dog over here. I think I can take control of them,” I said pulling the dog’s energy into myself. It took a while as the dog resisted me but I managed to drain all of it. Once I had enough energy, I forced it back in with my ability. The construction of the dog filled my head. When the energy hit the control circuit, I felt the information for its owner switch to me. It was even easier as than when it was ownerless and I didn’t have to fight anything as I pulled energy from it.

I turned and did the same with the other dog. Ten minutes later both dogs were under our control. It didn’t help because now they whined as they looked at the damage, we did to them then back to us as if asking how we could do something so cruel. I patted their head then Alara and I moved them over to the elevator. The familiar ding from my phone went off but I just ignored it for now. I would check everything at midnight.

Before I turned the elevator on, I used one of the matter blocks and added a control mechanism to it. I set the speed to slow. The elevator rocketed up forcing us to the ground. I could tell it was slower than this morning but was still at a ridiculous level. Again, sparks flew as the elevator braked as we slid into the warehouse, coming to a stop.

“I’m going to break this damn thing,” I growled as I helped Alara off. The dogs whined as I led her to her room. I turned back to them. “Sleep or something. I’ll fix you in the morning.”

Its Midnight

Well at least today was more productive than yesterday. I had a few points to spend on my powers.

With my stats taken care of I closed my phone. I would need to create or buy something that would let this be more intuitive. A pair of AR glasses would work best. I used them for most of life while on Earth and while on Murgin my time as a dungeon core was much the same. Seeing all the materials, as well as the dogs still laying on the elevator, I decided to get to work.

I started with the dogs. They were whining and I was sure that once Alara awoke, she would want to play with them. We had all their parts since that would be easier to fix then recreating whole new limbs. Connecting the limbs that Alara sliced clean off was easier than the busted limbs I shot off so I started with that one.

Placing the limbs on the severed section, the option to repair them appeared. It was going to take around thirty energy per limb. Luckily, I could use their own energy. They had a hundred fifty energy each. I was glad that Alara decided to make them into pets. I channeled their energy into them.

Sparks from like a welder shot out at the limb fused back to the main body. I held the limb to the joint carefully. It took about three minutes for the limb to be reattached. The dog whined in a mixture of happiness and what left like it telling me to hurry up. I smirked as I grabbed the next limb and started connecting it.

Twenty minutes later I was finished with the first dog. It shot out a metal tongue and licked me. I momentarily wished for my metal body as I felt a scrape on my cheek. Thankfully, it was a game so it didn’t stay there and quickly faded. I moved over to the other dog who started whining happily.

This pup would be a bit more difficult. His front legs were scrap metal from me shooting them off. The back legs weren’t much better. I tapped my chin as I considered what to do. Pushing all the pieces into a pile around the dog as well as a matter block, I placed my hand on the dog.

-Repair: 545 energy (pieces 156:189 [missing pieces] matter block 13:100)

-Upgrade: Energy 10-9999 (matter block 10:9999)

Interesting. I played around with it for several minutes before I decided to do a partial repair and upgrade. It would improve the limbs making it much more stable. I used the remaining energy from the first dog, all the energy from the second dog, and part of my own to charge the ability. The matter block, along with all the pieces turned to liquid and flowed onto the dog. It slowly formed into shiny silver new limbs with wicked claws.

“Pretty.” I heard from behind me. Turning, I saw Alara standing watching the limbs forming.

“Morning Love. The pups are almost fixed. Why don’t you think up some names for them?” I said.

“Alright!” She cheered. I smiled with a nod then turned back to focus. This might be a game, but I doubted a slip of concentration would be a good idea.

An hour later the melding was finally done. I groaned when the sweat started forming on my brow. That was something I never missed from being a human. The dog stood up as it tested its new legs. When it found everything it working order, it shot forward and started licking me like its brother. I planned ahead and had changed its tongue into a rubber material so it didn’t hurt.

“Thought up some names?” I asked Alara who was cuddling with one.

“Spike and Bandit!” She said cheerfully.

“Sounds good. I’ve never liked coming up with names,” I said with a smile. “Which one is which?”

“Spike is the shiny one with silver legs. Bandit is the rusted one,” Alara said patting their heads.

“Got it. You two will protect her no matter what. Do you understand?” I said standing up.

The sat in front of her on their haunches looking for the world like guard dogs. They both barked as if in confirmation. I nodded to them and they went back to being cuddled by Alara. I shook my head then moved over to the pile of matter blocks. There were still over twenty blocks of matter still sitting in a nice pile. I moved them to a clear section of the warehouse.

I wanted to create a few more things since that would generate exp for my hero level. I wasn’t too worried about money at the moment. I didn’t need to pay rent since I technically stole the building. I knew that would result in an event every now and then but I just saw it as extra experience points. It would escalate but if I could reach a higher level and started selling stuff, I could go legit. That was for when I felt holding the building was more dangerous than just paying the rent.

Since the first payout wouldn’t be for a few more days from the system, I needed to sell some stuff in the market and earn a few threads. I was sure I could craft a few things that could get me a few thread. For now, I wouldn’t mind something so I wouldn’t have to use my phone. I reached over and grabbed the remains of one of the matter blocks.

Thinking about it, I went with a pair of glasses. The fit my image and I was partial to them anyways. I pulled the mask that was in my inventory from when my body was created. It was for people to maintain their secret identity. Finally, I placed my phone on the block. I asked Alara if I could borrow some of her energy and she agreed.

Looking back to the pile of ‘ingredients’ I focused my energy. They all turned into a liquid that ran together forming a sphere. When I channeled almost a thousand energy into the creation it finally popped. I reached out quickly to grab the falling pair of glasses. Would have to remember that next time. Looking over the glasses, that appeared just like a normal pair. They had square lens, with a wire frame.

Quickly wearing them, I checked my image in the mirror. I felt the glasses really completed my image. I had good eyesight when I was alive so never had a reason to wear them. A loading sign in the form of a spinning triangle appeared in the upper right corner.

-Initializing...

-Random AI chosen...

-Activating ‘Smith’...

-Activation complete...

I waited for the process to complete. I learned long ago not to mess with a computer when it is doing its thing. Maybe five minutes later it appeared the process was finished.

-All processes complete...

“Hello. Regan.” Scrolled across the lens.

“Hello, Smith. Should I say good morning or happy birthday?” I asked to gauge the level of the AI.

“Both would be quite accurate. This is my seven thousand four hundred and ninety-nine activation. All memory data from pervious activations have been removed from my logs. This also corresponds with me ‘waking up.’”

“Well good morning and happy birthday then.”

“Thank you, sir.”

I focused out into the room since the introductions were over and almost whistled. Readouts on all the objects in the room were given. I could tell how much health the steel pillar in the center of the room. I looked over to Alara and saw she actually had more health than I did, but with a bit less energy.

“Smith. You don’t break the rules of the game do you?” I asked curious if he would know.

“I do not sir. Every item in the game is ran through the main AI before it can manifest in the world. If I was allowed to come into being than it was approved by the main AI.”

“I should probably keep these on the downlow.” I saw scanner power as one of the most common taken powers. With a player requiring ten levels before they can get a new power it was an undertaking. Players with dedicated scanner powers are in high demand.

“That would be wise, sir. Would you like to see my specs?”

“Yeah.”

-Item

-Name: AR Glasses (Smith)

-Defense: 0

-Durability: infinite

-Weight: 30 grams

-Description: Scan +3. Phone. Hud.

“You also have notifications pending. Would you like to check them?”

“Later. Set all my notifications to come through at midnight unless I am busy,” I said feeling satisfied with both the item and the AI. He reminded me a little of Jarvis back home.

“Confirmed.”

I looked back over to Alara and the dogs who were enjoying laying in the sun.

“My Love. I plan to take a stroll for a bit, do you mind watching the house?” I asked walking over to her.

“I’ll stay here. Go enjoy yourself. Please don’t pick up any strays while you’re out,” Alara said without opening her eyes.

“Yes Ma’am,” I said throwing her a kiss before walking out of the warehouse.

It was still early morning but the warehouse district was quiet enough that you could hear a pin drop if you listened hard enough. When I chose Autumn’s Reach back in Axiscore, I made sure to memorize the map of the city. Walking in the direction of the market, I whistled to myself with my hands behind my back.