Mecha Core

"We have a MECHA!"

Upon seeing a lack of reactions, Jamie waved his arms around. 

"Guys?" 

"What are you doing waving it around!? Get it inside!" 

Snapping out of her daze, Amanda rushed over to push Prime inside the shop and close the shutter doors. She turned to Jamie and rested her hands on her hips, her expression demanding an explanation.

"Explain."

Jamie lowered his hands and sent Prime to stand in the corner.

"Okay, so some cops tried to kill me by locking me out of the slum, and I found this bad boy buried in a ditch."

"O-Oh my God, Jamie, I didn't know you got locked out-" 

"It gets better!" Jamie cut her off as his eyes glittered. "There was this giant centipede called a Killipede that came out of the dirt, and it was MASSIVE, like-"

Jamie stretched his arms as far apart as he could.

"-this big. It tried to kill me a couple times, but then I found out I can control Prime with my thoughts, that's what I named the mecha by the way, and then it went flying like FWOOSH-"

"Well, I'm glad you're okay-"

"-and they were both in the air, and I was piloting like crazy you know, I was making Prime just dodge all the attacks because it was curling up-" 

"Uh, Jamie?" 

"-but it couldn't touch me, and I was going all POW POW POW POW POW-" Jamie began furiously punching the air in front of him.

"Jamie?" 

 "-all over that thing, then I grabbed a leg and ripped it off, stabbed it in the eye, then I flew inside it and messed up it's brains and then it died and it was so awesome and-" 

"JAMIE!" 

Amanda grabbed his shoulders and leaned in to make him focus. Jamie shut his mouth as their faces were just inches away, looking deep into each other's eyes…

"I'm glad you were able to make it back."

She drew him in for a hug and squeezed him tightly. Jamie was grateful that she did that, as his face was currently bright red. It may have been good to mention that Jamie may or may not be madly in love with Amanda.

"Me too."

They hugged for a bit, one of them enjoying it more than the other, when they heard Aiden call out to them.

"How tall is this thing?"

Jamie had to stop himself from cursing when Amanda pulled away. Her expression softened as she let go of him.

"You sure this won't be bad for us?"

Jamie smiled reassuringly. 

"Trust me, once you find out what this thing can do, you'll be at ease."

"Then let's check out your fancy new killing machine."

The two elder siblings joined their respective younger siblings in admiring Prime. Looking at him now, Jamie definitely saw that the mecha was in worse condition than when he found it. The metal-like material that composed its outer frame was scratched, dented, rusted, dirty, and had some dried green goo on some spots.

"Well, he's at least taller than any normal human." 

"He?"

Jamie shrugged. "Hey, Prime is basically an extension of myself. I like it that way." 

"Can I take a look at him?"

Amanda got closer, taking Prime over to a sort of repair stand and connecting it to some chained hooks and wires. She put on some goggles and gloves and began to closely inspect the mecha.

"I was hoping you would." Jamie leaned in close as Amy and Aiden seemingly got bored and went back inside. "You think we can clean him, fix him up?"

"Well, I'm no mecha expert, so I'm not sure I can even mess with anything, but…" Amanda side eyed Jamie with a smile. "I'm sure we can find out in a few hours."

"Great! I'll get the mixtape."

Jamie ran off to the living room, digging through a drawer until he found a small, rectangular plastic case that held black film within. A mixtape. The label on it read "Take In My - Ahaha."

Jamie blew on it to clear out dust before running back into the garage, noticing that Amanda already had her tools out. Jamie flipped a switch that caused a panel in the ceiling to open, a disco ball dropping out and lighting up the room. He then approached an ancient relic from tons of millenia ago called a boombox, and slid in the tape.

"This is the perfect time for this song!"

Jamie began to dance over to Amanda as the song began to play. Growing up in a slum, he didn't have many choices of what to listen to. However, he had found that an increasingly common thing he found whenever he sifted through trash were mixtapes containing music from way before the time of wizards and mechas. The only thing he could gather from looking into it was that the music originated from a time called the "19th Century."

Amanda hummed along as she got to work, not letting the loud music or the flashing lights bother her. What proceeded to happen was a montage of Jamie dancing to his old music and helping Amanda whenever she required assistance, eating sandwiches with Amy and Aiden at some point. As the hours flew by, Prime was looking better and better.

"He's going to look as good as new - gah!"

Amanda flinched as Prime sprang to life, performing stiff dance moves as Jamie laughed.

"He's doing the robot, get it?" 

"That scared me!"

Jamie switched out the mixtape while still laughing, Amanda guiding Prime back to the stand. They worked a bit more before Amanda took off her goggles and yawned. 

"He's in mint condition now, so mind telling me what this thing can do?"

"Oh! That reminds me, killing that giant centipede gave me a notification that Prime's cores leveled up. Let me take a look at it."

The moment Jamie thought of it, a red panel appeared with some options.

[Mecha Core] and [Magic Core]

Jamie decided to open the [Mecha Core] option first. The red panel changed, growing into a list that held Prime's information.

"Woah! Look at all this!" Jamie exclaimed in wonder.

"Look at what?" Amanda frowned.

"The red panel? Right here?" Jamie waved his hands around the panel, but Amanda only looked more confused. Jamie dropped his arms. "Huh. Maybe only the Pilot can see it."

"Well, just read it out to me then."

"Alright:"

[Prime]

[G***** Prime Unit]

==Mecha Core==

Level: 12

ATTRIBUTES:

Strength: 5

Agility: 5

Durability: 5

Flight: 5

Energy: 5

Attribute Points: 12

"So it has stats. That's interesting." Amanda scratched her chin. "How does it work, though?"

"I'm not sure…" Jamie said before flinching. "Nevermind, just got hit with a flow of information. Apparently killing things levels up the Mecha Core, and each level gives me an Attribute Point I can spend to upgrade any Attribute."

"What does each Attribute do, though?"

"Well, there's:

Strength, which determines Prime's physical damage output and carry weight. Good for fighting big things like the Killipede.

Agility, which determines Prime's speed and flexibility. The more agility Prime has, the faster he can move and do things.

Durability is exactly what it sounds like, determining how much damage Prime can take before he gets, well, damaged. 

Flight is like agility but solely for jetpack functions. Affects flight speed, maneuverability, and defense against environmental attacks, like if Prime had to fly through a tornado.

Energy determines the amount of gas in Prime's tank, for weapons and any unique functions. It doesn't affect control of Prime whatsoever, so this is useless until we get Prime some weapons."

After Jamie explained the stats, Amanda was in deep thought.

"Well, I suggest you focus on durability first. Wouldn't want Prime to break apart when facing other mechas."

"That's a good idea."

Jamie was about to spend his points when a notification appeared.

[Would the Pilot like to choose an upgrade for Prime before spending Attribute Points?]

"Hold on, it says I can pick an upgrade for Prime."

"Oh?"

Jamie chose yes, and a new panel appeared, surprising him with the options as well as a reward notice.

[Mecha Core Level 5 Reward - Rocket Punch]

[Mecha Core Level 10 Reward - Choose an upgrade.]

[1. Shoulder-Mounted Machine Gun

2. Wrist Missiles

3. Caltrop Whip]

Each option also showed schematics on which part of Prime's body the upgrade would be implemented in, how each upgrade worked, and the energy costs. Jamie whistled.

"This is pretty cool. I got a Rocket Punch upgrade for leveling up, and now I get to pick an additional one from 3 choices. Looks like aside from Attribute Points, I can get an upgrade every 5 or 10 levels."

"That's great! Which one are you gonna pick?"

"Oh, the only viable one is Wrist Missiles, as the gun costs too much energy to use, and the whip is horrible. Looks like a retractable compartment will be built into Prime's wrists holding micro-missiles he can shoot out, with a recharge cooldown after every time it's used."

Amanda nodded, turning to the mecha. "So, how exactly are you gonna upgrade it? We don't have any missiles lying around."

"That's the best part." Jamie grinned. "We don't have to."

He selected [Wrist Missiles], and almost immediately Prime started glowing, a blue holographic light appearing on the mecha's wrists and drawing the outline of the compartment and opening the outer frame.

Before Jamie and Amanda's eyes, the hologram outline began to be filled in by steel, wires, and other materials that came out of nowhere, finishing the upgrade within seconds and sliding seamlessly into Prime's wrist.

"That might just be the coolest thing ever." 

Jamie ran over smiling ear-to-ear, pulling on the wrist compartment. Sure enough, it popped out, and 5x5 lines of neatly packed micro-missiles stared back at him.

Amanda had her mouth open, but she closed it before any flies could enter. She slowly nodded to herself as she decided to just accept the situation.

"I've never heard of a self-building mecha." She said, stepping closer to inspect the missile compartment. "But when life hands you lemons, I guess."