Mark looked me over carefully.

“All right, Red, how close is this here to the real you? I mean, if we design the gun for your needs we need to know your needs first.”

“My avatar here is essentially the same as my real live body. I mean some things like muscle mass vary but generally, that is my base form.”

“Ok, show me your hands.” He manifested some rulers and made the moves to measure my hands before he hesitated.

“How accurate are these rulers here? I need to measure your hands to get it right.”

“They are very accurate, but I can spare you that, my right hand is 16 cm wide, while the left is 15.96 cm wide. Length is right 13.46 cm and left 13.38 cm.”

“You know that from the top of your head?”

I had to laugh.

“No, not really. I told you the avatar is as correct as it can be, and I have the measurements on file. It took me only a few moments to look it up. I can send you the complete modeling file for the hands if that helps.”

“Oh, ok. We will see. But can you convert it into imperial first?” I projected a diagram of the hands with the large measurements in standard and imperial.

“Does that help?” “Yeah. You have really small hands, you know?” “Yes, I know, size 4. That is, one moment, 3xs in imperial?”

“I am impressed that you made that PDP work at all. I assume you will choose the 4.5mm Walther? It is IMO the best armor-piercing pistol caliber but it is your choice.”

“It would be pretty dumb to go to an expert and then reject the advice. So yes, let’s go with the 4.5mm.

And I will go with exploders on the general. Money is of negligible concern for me, while my protection is of a significantly higher priority. And if I begin buying them in bulk you and the others can use them too if you want. Makes the logistic easier.”

“Cool. I will hold you to that. For my pistols at least. But let’s start. He manifested a gun, only for it to vanish nearly immediately.

“Damn. I have no idea how to get a realistic version of a gun here. Maybe you can help me there?”

“That depends, for our design, we have to do it the hard way, but for virtually every other weapon there are VR files available. One moment, I will get a comprehensive catalog.”

I had the cluster vacuum the matrix for VR weapon files and compile them into a single catalog file, which I copied into the local net.

“So, you have all I could find on the quick here. Just think about the library. There you will find the gun catalog. Then just choose the gun and it will appear.”

“Cool. Wow, some of these I always wanted to try. That will be fun. But ok, what I want you to try is the Walther PVPx SC. It is the gun the 4.5mm caliber was designed for, the sub-compact version.”

A small gun appeared in front of me, even smaller than my PDP 22. I grabbed it and looked at it, just for Mark to hit my hand down.

“Damn it Red, did nobody ever tell you about gun safety?”

“What? This is VR! Nothing can happen here.”

“Gun safety should be so hard in your system that it works everywhere. And if it isn’t you are not ready for a gun.”

“But this is how I have always done it. What did I do wrong?”

“Ok, so from the beginning.

First, always tread any gun not disassembled as loaded, even if you just unloaded it!

Second, don’t point the gun at anything you don’t want to shoot! At no time.

Third, keep your finger away from the trigger unless you prepare to shoot!

Fourth, be aware of your target, and what is behind the target!

The first three rules prevent you from accidentally shooting somebody or something you don’t want to shoot.

If you treat it as loaded you won’t horseplay with it believing it is unloaded.

If you don’t point it at something you don’t want to shoot, even if a shot is fired it won’t hit what you did not point it at.

And if you keep the finger from the trigger then it is much more unlikely that a shot is fired.

Not impossible though so the first two rules are more important.

The fourth rule is there so that you don’t shoot through somebody or something and hit somebody behind the target that you don’t want to hit. That is less a concern with exploders, but you won’t always use exploders, so train yourself for that. Now repeat the rules to me!”

“Always treat any gun not disassembled as loaded, don’t point the gun at anything I don’t want to shoot, keep my finger off the trigger and be aware of the target and what’s behind the target.”

“Ok, now what did you do wrong when you grabbed the PVPx?”

I thought back a moment and blushed.

“The first three I think. I mean I did not think it was loaded so I did not treat it as if it was so, but I am not completely sure about that. The second, of course, I pointed it at you and me both. And the third, as my finger was on the trigger immediately. I had no target so I did not break the fourth rule, but if I had I would have given no thought to what is behind it. Sorry.”

“You have no reason to be sorry if nobody ever taught you that. But you should be very mad at where you learned to shoot that they did not teach you right.”

“Uh, nobody taught me to shoot. I found an old abandoned range and trained there after I bought my gun on the black market.”

He took a deep breath and sighed tortured.

“That explains that. So back to the basics then.” He thought for a moment before he spoke further.

“Before I do it the hard way, do you have a VR of a shooting range?”

I shook my head.

“Not now, but it will only be a moment. Hm… there are some with tutor function; do I use one of them?”

“Yes, I think it is better. Then we can use it even if nobody is there to teach.”

“Ok, that is the best-rated sim I could find. Of the free ones that is. When I have a bit more time I look into the commercial ones.”

I send him the link to the sim and jumped over, him following immediately. The sim itself was what I would say was a typical gun range with a table and dividers in front of the shooting lanes. An NPC was coming up to us.

“Heya folks, I see you are new here. Do you need instructions?” Mark shook his head.

“No, I am here to give her a basic lesson and observe her to choose a new gun.”

“Have fun. You know the rules?”

“Yeah, I do.” He led me to the first stall and materialized safety glasses and hearing protection for both of us.

“It is good that they have these here. On a real range, you will need them. Now put them on.”

I had to resize my glasses but the hearing protection was adjustable. When we both had the protection on two guns appeared. The PVPx SC he had called up for me and a substantially bigger gun that looked very similar.

“Ok, I will show you how to use a gun safely. As my hands are too big for the SC I use the standard PVPx. The controls are mostly the same, just a bit bigger. Now watch.”

He took the bigger gun at the grip, keeping his finger away from the trigger and keeping it pointed at the target region. Then he took the other hand, gripped the upper part of the gun, and drew it back, looking into the hole at the top.

“As you saw, I took the pistol in my right hand keeping it pointed downrange and the finger straight. That was following the second and third rules. Then I pressed the slide back and looked into the ejection port to make sure that there is no round in the chamber. Now you.”

I gingerly gripped the smaller gun, following him with rules two and 3, before equally hesitantly gripping the upper part.

“Is this here the slide?” He rolled his eyes up, sighed, and nodded.

“Yes, that is the slide. And I suggest you get some tutorial that explains guns and what the parts are called. And the hole cut into the top of it is the ejection port. If the weapon were loaded you would see the round then. Just to make it clear, even now, when you looked into it, treat the gun as if it was loaded.”

“Oh…k? Why?”

“To get into the habit. If there are absolutely no circumstances where you treat an assembled weapon as not loaded you will never forget to switch. You will always choose the safer path then.”

“Ok, yeah, I can understand that.”

“Right, now we simulate firing with one hand at first. Lift the gun up like so, and place your finger on the trigger, but don’t pull it.”

He lifted his gun at eye level and pointed it towards the targets, softly placing his finger on the trigger. I followed him through the motion.

“Now, that is important, how does it feel in your hand? Is it comfortable? Too small? Too big?”

I concentrated on the feeling in my hand. “I don’t know. The finger on the trigger is a bit too tense. I have to fight not to pull it back. But it is not as bad as with the PDP.”

“That is what I feared. The PDP is too big for you. As is the PVPx here. What it means is that you will never be a good shot without a customized gun. We will have to thin the back strap some, and maybe move the trigger back a bit, but it should not be too bad.”

A couple of magazines and a few rounds appeared on the table.

“Ok, take one of the small magazines, and insert it into the gun so.”

He did so and then pulled the slide back. I followed him.

“Now you have a round in the chamber. Look into it to see the difference.” I did, and I saw the back end of the round there.

“Now, drop the magazine, so.” He pulled a lever behind the trigger guard and the magazine fell down into his other hand. Again, I copied him. He then took one of the rounds and placed it into the magazine, then motioned me to take another round. When I had inserted it into the magazine he shoved his magazine back into the gun, and I did the same.

“Now that is the weight of the fully-loaded weapon. You have nine shots, and I have 17. Again, hold it up like earlier.” I did and felt no real difference.

“Is the weight all right?” “Yes, that is no problem.” “Ok, so we can go a bit higher on weight. Maybe an extended magazine for 12 or 15 rounds, and a longer barrel and slide. Ok, now aim at the target and pull the trigger.”

I aimed carefully and pulled the trigger. The explosion was expected and I think I did not jerk, but the gun bucked in my hand. Nothing I could not endure, but uncomfortable.

“So how was that? Do you think that was controllable?” “Yes, but not comfortable. I much prefer to use both hands.”

“Of course you do, and that is the right thing, but we are trying to find out how your gun will have to be made. And in an emergency, you may have to fire one-handed so it should be possible.

Alright then, I think we have the basics.

The PVP is a good start but we can do better than that. Let’s get back to my VR. But let the range running, I bet the others will want to use it too when they find it.”

We jumped into his VR and he conjured a table with two chairs. “You know, you are right, using the VR in this way is so much better. Thank you.”

“You are welcome. Now, what do we do?”

“Now we design your gun. We know that we want to use 4.5 Walther as the caliber. We also know that the distance from the backend of the back strap to the front of the trigger has to be around three or four mm shorter than in the subcompact. The weight we can go a bit higher than the SC. Now, do you want to have it concealed or combat power?”

I had, honestly no idea what he was talking about.

“Uh, what? What is the difference?”

“Concealed means that you wear it under the clothes and, in the best case, it can’t be seen.

Usually, it is just harder to see. The point is that a longer barrel and bigger magazine make it harder to hide the gun, but make it better in a combat situation when you need it.

So you have to choose to conceal or combat power.”

I thought for a moment.

“Can’t we do both? I mean sure, I will most likely never go onto a mission with you guys, but if I need a gun I need it. On the other hand, there will be situations where I need to appear to not have a gun. So I would say to build a bigger gun for normal use and a smaller one for when I have to conceal it. Is that all right?

I mean, I will pay you anyway but isn’t it better to be paid for two guns than for one?”

“You will pay me? Wow, thanks.”

“Yes, of course I will pay you. You offer your time and your expertise in a nontrivial way. It would be unfair to simply let you do it for free.” He rubbed his chin.

“Ok. I would have done it for free. And I would have done both guns for free by the way, but if you want to pay I don’t say no. Now the next is we have to decide on the action. I assume you don’t want a single-shot pistol so we need a repeating action. And not manually operated either.

A revolver would be an option but not a good fit for the 4.5mm or an APDS-X round. Not impossible but hard to do and you would have to make many compromises. It has to be semi-automatic like the PVPx and the PDP. “

What followed was an explanation of the different action types for guns, ending with his conclusion that only delayed blowback or recoil-operated were worth the effort.

“If I understand you right simple blowback is out because it is heavy, stiff, and dangerous. Gas-operated is out because it is complicated. Blow forward is an idea that never really worked. Did I get that right?”

“Yeah, you got that right.”

“Now you said that the delayed blowback is more accurate and faster, while the recoil-operated is safer and more reliable, correct?”

“Yup, you got it.”

“Now the question is, how much faster and more accurate versus how much safer and more reliable.”

“Very few people are accurate enough that the accuracy advantage is important, and the speed advantage is also negligible.

The safety advantage is unimportant to marginal the reliability is not so much a concern with modern cartridges.

But recoil-operated has become traditional in the early 21st century. In the end, I see no real difference between them and it is a matter of taste.”

I rubbed the bridge of my nose.

“Not really. I am a Pure, and my hand-eye coordination is way above average for a Pure.

I would bet with a bit of training I would be one of the people who could use the accuracy advantage. And all other things more or less equal I would say let’s go with a delayed blowback.”

“Sure. Would be rad if you could use that. Then let’s search for a delayed blowback action.”

He gave me a listing of the different delayed blowback systems, ending with:

“But what I am thinking would be ideal for you is a gas delayed blowback. It uses a gas tap directly in front of the chamber and a pressure cylinder below the barrel.

When a shot is fired, the gases from the shot flow into the cylinder and pressure against the force of the blowback, holding the slide, and the bolt to the barrel.

As long as the bullet is in the barrel the pressure drops only a little bit but as soon as it leaves the barrel the slide can go backward.

The reason why these types fell out of favor is that the gas is hot, and it heats up the cylinder, which is directly above the trigger.

In other words, the trigger becomes hot. But I think with modern materials it should be easy to keep the heat away from the trigger. Here, look at that. I always wanted one of these, and I will build myself one if you don’t mind.”

He materialized a small pistol with a strange lever on the front of the grip.

“Why should I mind, and what is that?”

“Oh, I will use the fabber to make it, and that is an H&K P7.

Mid 20th century. It had a reputation for being incredibly accurate. Inherently save, as you cock it with the lever in the front and can’t fire it if you don’t have it in a good grip.

You need to have the grip squeezed before the trigger works.

It was just way too complex and expensive for the mass market, but from what I read about it, it was so accurate that average shooters got a boost out of it.

I think we can adapt the design to your hands, the 4.5mm ammunition, and modern materials and have a beautiful weapon.

If we make a long-barreled and a short-barreled version and an extended and a normal magazine it will be good for concealed and combat use. Here, try how it feels in your hand.”

He shoved it towards me, and I picked it up, careful to not point it at him and keep my finger away from the trigger. I checked if it was loaded as he showed me. To my surprise it was and I looked at him for a moment.

“It is loaded. You did not mention what I should do then.” For that, he laughed.

“Yeah, my bad. You do nothing. Just don’t point it at me. Now take it in two hands, the right is your main hand right?”

“I have no main hand. Pures are nearly always ambidextrous. And do you mean that grip?”

I took the weapon in the grip I had seen in so many vids before.

“Yeah, that is the one I meant. Now press the cocking lever, that is the lever in the front of the grip, and keep it pressed. The gun is now ready to fire. Tell me if the force you need to keep it pressed is all right.”

“Yes, it is all right. I mean, it could be a bit lighter but I can hold it.”

“Good, now pull the trigger, slowly.”

The shot rang out, and the recoil drove the gun into the back of my hand. But overall it was easier to control than my PDP.

“Now, how does it feel for reaching the trigger?”

“Same as with the PVPx. A bit too large.”

“Yeah, thought so. You are simply not standard-sized, or even small-sized. No mass-produced weapon will ever fit right to you. Now I will design the weapon for you. That will take a few days I fear, but then we can come back to the range and you can test it.”

I stood up.

“Nice. Thank you. And tell me how much that is worth. I have absolutely no idea.”

“Yeah, I will look into it. Seeya.”

With that, I logged out of virtual reality completely.