Uninspired
Mass Effect, Inspired Inventor
02
Leon Reynolds. Experience: 0xp. Points: 17.
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Note: first three tech trees and upgrades come at a 90% discount. New tech trees and upgrades become available every six months.
Tech Trees:
1. Mass Effect. -10 points.
2. Stargate. -10 points.
The previous week felt like it just crawled by, when all I wanted to do was make cool shit. Especially when I actually made progress Sunday, before having to resume classes. Being forced into eight hours of classes that I was so far ahead of before the knowledge download that I had used them just for an extended study hall to focus on the subjects I didn't know well was a living hell. Compared to making an arc reactor Saturday and cleaning up two laptops and connecting them in parallel to turn them into a single, better, functioning computer spending only five hours a day for the rest of the week coding a new operating system and an hour scavenging for parts had felt like I was just… dragging ass. Wasting time.
By Tuesday, I had already begun working on the process of getting the tests to take my GED and test out. I knew enough of literally everything else that even if I completely flunked the local history, I'd be fine. With any luck, by the end of next week I'd have those tests finished. Then, attending class would just be a formality until I got the results back. I had already spoken with a few of the people running the orphanage and, until I turned 18, I was free to stay here regardless of whether I was enrolled or not. That wouldn't be an issue in a year, when I could file for emancipation. In the meantime, it would give me a year of time where I could build up and advance my tech base.
Now that it was Saturday again, and I had gathered enough points during the week to buy another tech tree, I went ahead and picked the option for Mass Effect.
Why get that when I could get Stargate and all of its goodness instead? Simple, really. I'd realized, upon tearing those two laptops down to clean them up, verify their components worked, and connect them that the tech here may have been similar in form and function to what I was used to in my first world, and could even plausibly be considered a potential logical progression forward from the time I died, there were enough differences between what was, what I knew from my world, and what the MCU tree had given me that a better understanding of the local tech base would actually speed things along.
No need to reinvent the wheel when we had perfectly good working wheels right here.
Once I got through assimilating the new information and meshing it with what I already knew, I could see several places where I could've done things more efficiently when I was making and coding my new computer. Sure, it was good enough for now, but I was already making notes for the future.
"So, what are you doing today?"
Looking over at Kelly standing in my doorway, and briefly getting distracted by toned stomach and tits (and scolding myself for perving on a young girl), I began getting dressed. I considered telling her the truth, but honestly, I'd rather keep everything under my hat until I was ready. So, I lied my ass off.
"Going job hunting. I'm going to see if I can find something to do to make some money under the table, in my free time. Mow yards or something like that.
"You know you don't have to, right?" she asked, not even bothering to hide the fact that she had watched me dress the entire time, the little pervert.
"No, but I like having money, so that means working if I want it."
She hummed, considering that, and smiled. "Alright. Have fun. And hey, maybe you can take me out to a movie with some of that money later?"
"Sounds fun," I nodded, pulling on my shoes as she turned and left.
Once she was gone, I made my way down to the shed. I already had all the pieces I needed, so I fired up the crucible and made two more, much smaller rings. Once they cooled and I got to work couling copper and solder it together.
Maybe I should've invited Kelly along. An extra set of hands really cut down on the time required.
The finished product was roughly the size of a quarter in width and an inch thick. With those done, I began putting together a very small repulsor—the aperture where it would fire from no larger than a dime. Following that, I used a couple of grips and trigger groups taken from some broken airsoft pistols I'd found in the landfill, built a custom frame to house the reactor and repulsor from scrap metal, and wired in a dial for power output. A couple of salvaged red laser pointers and some simple iron sights would allow for easy aiming.
The final product came out looking only vaguely gun-like. More like if someone had taken a pistol and cut off everything forward of the trigger well. Putting them away, I made my way to a local park and did some quick tests in the woods where no one would see, blowing chunks out of trees and adjusting the lasers until they were accurate.
Then, it was another trip to the same junkyard. This time, I came away rolling an older dirt bike. It was missing the motor, but the previous owner had been kind enough to leave everything else. I set to work making another small arc reactor, then when that was finished, removed the unnecessary components from the bike and built a simple electric motor. By lunch time, I was flying down road laughing (with no helmet, because I didn't actually have one) as I made my way out to where satellite photos from the map app on my school issued tablet showed there was an old, abandoned junkyard.
The road in was gated and locked, but an application of my repulsor pistol blasted the lock to pieces and I was free to enter. I drove slowly through the place, exploring all of the little twists and turns between stacks of crushed vehicles, looking for a good spot to set up. I found what I was looking for in a roughly square area deep in the yard, around a blind corner that would be impossible to see from the road. Satisfied for now, I went back to the city, stopping and buying an old helmet from a flea market for pretty cheap before I went back to the shed.
That evening, I started work on a fairly simple robot and dumb AI to drive it, using a couple of old phones and a bunch of cameras sourced from more phones. It would probably take another week to get a functional bot that could cut scrap off with a laser or small repulsor and carry it to a hopper to be broken down, and make it smart enough to not try to disassemble living things or feed in anything but metal, but I didn't mind terribly much. Once I got the bot and the auto-crucible going, I'd be a step closer to my goals. And it would cut down on time needed to build things by hand by automating much of the disassembly process.
"Mr. Reynolds, the principal would like to see you."
Kelly and I exchanged a confused look, before I shrugged and she hurried into our first class for the day, two weeks after I had finished the auto-crucible project—which itself had taken months to complete. I had, unfortunately, been optimistic in my estimations of the timeframe to complete that project. Very optimistic. The problem was that, while the bot itself had been easy enough to build, the crucible part required a lot more grunt work. Heavy lifting and pushing things into place, mostly. Then, there was getting it into place and setting everything up covertly. Followed by testing, having things break, having to fix it and figure out why it broke (shitty sub-standard components), and so on until I had a working project. It had been a nightmare doing everything solo.
A series frustrating setbacks, but something I could deal with.
Making my way to the elevator, I took it to the top, and the administrative facilities there. I found the main office quickly and was shortly seated before the principal—a whip thin, very stern looking mid-40s woman, wearing respectable, conservative clothes that had (unfortunately) gone out of style some time early in my first life unless you were part of a very religious church. These days, any skirt past the knee was an anachronism or cosplay.
"Ma'am," I sent her a smile as I entered. "How's your day going so far?"
She paused briefly, before her frown faltered and shifted into something a bit more cordial. "Well, thank you for asking, Mr. Reynolds. I'll keep this brief." Reaching into a drawer, she pulled out a set of papers and passed them over, across the desk. "The results of your tests… and your GED. Congratulations. Your mandatory schooling is officially complete. Though I would have preferred to hand you a diploma myself, with your scores I don't believe you need one. Perfect scores in everything but history, and that one was close enough. They should be sufficient to get you into any university of your choosing on an academic scholarship—a free ride."
"Thank you, Mrs. Black."
"What are your plans, now that you no longer have to attend classes? Certainly not to loiter and let a mind that bright sit idle."
I shook my head. "Maybe a summer job. Something under the table. Mowing lawns or something. I could use the money," I shrugged, going for my go-to lie to explain where I went/would be going during the day.
"And have you put any thought towards what university you'll be attending?"
"Why would I?" The woman looked flummoxed and I explained, "I don't need one. If I want to learn something specific, I could just take an online class, or buy a course book for that subject and teach myself. It's what I've been doing. Once I emancipate myself next year, I'll see about investing some of the money my parents left to me. According to the statements I've been getting mailed from the firm managing the estate, I've got a nice little nest egg. With careful management, I shouldn't need to ever actually work in a menial job."
"A talent like yours shouldn't go to waste."
"It won't. But I don't need some university to give me a piece of paper that says I'm qualified for something. Besides, most places where real talent is required, they're looking at years of experience and an ability to demonstrate practical knowledge, or a willingness to learn, not a degree. In fact, they've been turning away people with just a degree for decades now, because all they were getting was educated idiots. You either need actual experience in a field, or you need to demonstrate proficiency during an interview. And since I'm not concerned about impressing anyone…" I trailed off and shrugged.
The principal sighed, reaching up and pulling off her glasses to rub at her temples. "I just don't want to see you waste your life. Wind up with no choices and join some gang, or end up in prison."
"I'll be fine. But I appreciate the worry. Thank you." Standing up and tucking my papers into my back pocket, I said, "I'll get out of your hair. I need to do some job hunting."
"Very well. I wish good luck, Mr. Reynolds."
With that, I left the office and made my way back to my dorm room. I wouldn't be needing my school books anymore, so I took a few moments to clear out my backpack and put those where I would remember to take them and turn them in at some point. Sitting down on my bed, I wondered what to do next. I opened my menu to peruse the options there.
Leon Reynolds. Experience: 10010xp. Points: 204.
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Tech Trees:
1. Terminator. -100 points.
2. Big Hero 6 (Movie Universe). -100 points.
3. Cyberpunk. -100 points.
4. Mass Effect II. -100 points.
5. Stargate II. -100 points.
6. Marvel (Cinematic Universe) II. -100 points.
Upgrades:
1. Nimble Fingers. -20 points.
– You're good with your hands. Very good. Increase all aspects of manual dexterity. Anything that can be done by hand is faster, more precise, and easier for you than it would otherwise be for others.
2. Crash Override. -20 points.
– You've leveraged your knowledge of computers and networks into a hacking ability that skips the border of absurdity on its way straight to Hollywood. If it's electronic, you can hack it, crack it, and make it jump through hoops. But hacking is eight parts preparation, one part action, one part letting your tools do the work for you. You also gain bonuses to physically constructing and coding anything you might need to hack a system.
3. Bishop Administrator. -20 points.
– Multitasking: mostly yes. Your ability to multitask is greatly increased, but you're still only human—you can only process what your senses perceive, only think as fast as your mind allows, and only act upon as much as you have limbs for. But you've become very good at juggling several things at once.
Tech Tree
1. Mass Effect I.
2. Stargate I.
3. Marvel (Cinematic Universe) I.
Upgrades
1. Fast Learner.
2. Mechanical Savant.
3. MacGyver's Apprentice.
I had points and I had options. Too many options and not enough points. And six months before I got anything new. Though, I had found out that if I bought a tech tree, I didn't have to wait months for the next step of that tree to appear—it became available immediately. So, theoretically, if I had points, I could go from step I up through however many iterations I had the points for pretty much immediately.
So, I'll need to prioritize. Upgrades directly affect me and how fast, or how much, I can build. All of those for sure, then. That leaves me with 144 points. Only enough for one tree. So… do I want to go deeper into one of the three I already have, or wider to expand what I can do?
That was a tough one, honestly.
The MCU tree alone had given me access to nearly everything that would have been on Earth in the MCU timeline as of the first few movies, from what I could tell. The Stargate tree gave me a bunch of simpler Goa'uld tech and early Earth tech—which was, honestly, decades behind what I got from the MCU tree alone. The Mass Effect tree gave me everything on my current Earth at the moment and a good grasp of basic, early mass effect tech—the simple stuff one could do with eezo.
I was pretty sure I knew exactly what I'd be getting with the Terminator tree. At the least, the ability to produce a T-800 or maybe even a T-900, the chips needed, and the AI to run it—the last of which I wouldn't be using, because I wasn't dumb enough to make a murder AI, especially not in a universe where it seemed like every single AI ever made went rogue. No, if I was making AI, I was going to take the time to make sure it was absolutely loyal and saw humanity, and me specifically, as the center of its world.
Big Hero 6 I wasn't sure on. I felt like I knew the name, but I was drawing a blank. It seemed like it was something lost to time in my memories. Which made it a mystery box.
Cyberpunk, I sort of vaguely remembered—something about a crappy game and an anime with a sexy blue gun gremlin. I seemed to recall it revolved around a world with a lot in the way of cybernetic enhancements, though.
So… murderbots I don't have the facilities to make, the mystery box, or cybernetics I don't have the facilities to make or install. Or going deeper into a known tech tree. Alternately, I hold onto my points and save them until next month, when I get more options.
I sighed and focused on the mystery box. Fuck it. I can get the other two later. Let's see what the hell this is.
I confirmed my purchases and watched my points dwindle down to a mere 44. Knowledge trickled into my brain and I hummed as I considered what I was getting. The world appeared to be a few years behind this one—closer to the mid-2020s, early 2030s really. At least, their general tech level. But there were several branches of wundertech that were immediately available to me. Dumb AI, streamlined 3D printing, machining, and assembly, microbots, a neural interface, advanced chemical fabrication in a small form factor, plasma cutters, magnetic driven wheels, even the beginnings of some sort of portal tech.
Flopping back on my bed, I let my mind work over the possibilities and grinned. Neural interface plus Bishop Administrator plus microbots equals win. An AI running microbots equipped with micro-sized arc reactors powering them, micro-sized plasma cutters and repulsors, with small chemical fabricators doing chemical treatment one piece at a time, and an automatic smelter to recycle crap into raw materials, creating a ridiculously efficient assembly line. I could remove the need for so many tools and larger pieces of equipment.
There was just one small problem…
I didn't have the lab or equipment necessary to build most of it. I could bootstrap a bit and build a better 3D printer. I could probably start turning out microbots with those specifications, minus the chemical fabricator—chemfabber? I was already most of the way through making a cobbled together piece of crap that would run my first AI, so I could give it something to run. I might even be able to build the neural interface, by substituting a few parts here and there and MacGyvering a few things.
But I didn't have anywhere to put them! How damn frustrating is that shit?! I could probably do most of it, but even microbots take up space—especially in the quantities I'm going to need. And space requires land. I'd need to wait until I got access to my home again to have a truly secure lab. Not that anywhere would truly be 'secure' if someone found out what I'm making and decided they wanted a piece. The moon or Mars maybe, or the bottom of the ocean.
Shaking my head, I made to push off the bed, only to pause as several things came together quickly.
Those 3D printers can do everything needed to produce new circuit boards and all the things that go in and on them with raw materials… which I have access to, in the junkyard, if I recycle some crap. There's also a lot of metal in the junkyard. A lot of good steel. It wouldn't be hard at all to make a few molds and start turning out sheets of recycled steel. I could then weld them together into a building. Microbots could dig out a hole under the junkyard, shore it up with more steel, and make a temporary factory. From there, focus on recycling everything in there while making the parts needed to build a Goa'uld force field—with a lot of MacGyvering to make it work. Then, custom build better computers to run everything. Once that upgrade is done, move everything underwater, under a force field. Actually, I could build a life support system so I could visit in person. Oh my fuck, this might actually be doable!
I jumped out of bed and grabbed my backpack. I hit the kitchen and made myself a couple of sandwiches and snagged a couple of bottles of water, before heading out. I made my way into the shed to get to work on the part I could finish the fastest alone, thanks to my new upgrades.
It was just after lunch time when I finished going through the initial tests of the new system and the intelligence running on it. Finally, I decided to just ask it what it thought. Or her, rather.
"Alright, Alpha, how's everything look?"
"It could be better, sir," the AI—well, VI really—complained. "I can feel the fans straining and my circuits heating up already."
"Oh, relax. You'll be fine, you big baby. Give it some time and you'll be migrated into something better," I promised. "How's the connection to my phone?"
"Good enough, sir."
"Excellent." Opening my backpack, I slid the two connected laptops running off of an arc reactor into it and pulled it on. "We're going for a ride."
"Oh dear," the AI muttered from the phone in my breast pocket as I pulled on my helmet and slid onto my bike.
A short ride later, we pulled into the junkyard and made our way back to where the partially built auto-crucible waited. Parking the bike, I hung the backpack off of it and got to work moving things around and whacking them into shape.
"Sir, I highly advise getting a tetanus shot if you plan to proceed."
"Oh har de har har," I rolled my eyes. "I should make you turn the sass down. Look, this is all temporary. Things I need to use to build the tools needed to build the tools to build the tools. Give me some time and they'll be cleared out in favor of an underground facility, once I've got you some microbots to work with."
"Then I suppose I should make sure it is at least up to code. I'll begin doing research on the proper methods of underground construction—"
"Temporary, Alpha. Keep that in mind. Whatever you build here is going to go down as soon as we have a force field and life support."
"Very well, sir."