1 CHAPTER ONE: BLAMESTORMING

I woke up, oddly enough, being vigorous and well-rested. Although I did not notice any changes, but if you looked at the message in front my eyes, you could be sure that everything went fine.

Attention! You have successfully enhanced your "Mind".

That's a very confusing word "successful." It makes me think that there are also cases when you could use the word with the prefix "un". Mentally getting rid of the message in front of my eyes, I looked around and found only Quartz in the corner, where there was a table with various tools hanging on the wall, above him in special grips. On the right and left the table was clamped between two pairs of machines tools. I didn't know what their function was, but I knew for sure that one of those was for equipping ammunition, and the other was used by Quartz to make various details for him, and I didn't even know why he needed two more.

As soon as the building was completed on the order of Mr. Carefire, we immediately moved in with the whole group here. Well, why did we have to wait more? The room was specially designed for ten fighters and included everything you need: weapon racks, bunk beds and a bunch of different gadgets. I myself chose the lower bed in a row of bunk beds. Tilorn took over the place above me; Sargos and Quartz were to the left, both on lower places.

Quartz was all eager to take a bed on the right, near to Castra, but Tilorn quickly taught the young man how to behave with his fists. Castra chose the lower bed on the far right side and fenced it off with a movable screen, just like in a medical unit. If other players looked at us, they would laugh at us forever. After all, they simply throw characters in their beds, even without removing the ammunition, which is a big mistake, since the virtual body gets dirty and requires hygiene procedures as well.

We noticed a long time ago that even though piconites remove dirt, like waste, it is all recycled into energy for them (well, according to the information Tilorn received), but for a full-fledged emotional rest, as well as physical, it is necessary to have hygiene procedures, just like in reality. Tilorn connects this with the fact that such habitual actions relax the subconscious mind, providing an opportunity to relax well.

As a result, Castra fenced herself off with the screen, saying that she needed to be able to get changed and sleep normally, and so that at the same time any anxious perverts would not stare at her, as she was saying this, she was looking at Quartz. Then Tilorn and I quietly crawled along the wall, trying to hide our laughter.

Having woken up and calling Quartz, I asked everyone to gather in our room. It was worth having a discussion after the first full dungeon was passed by our group. There were a lot of problems out there, but I wanted them to sort all these issues out by themselves because a professional fighter should not only fight well and fulfill commands, but also think independently. Having done some quick warm-up exercises and beating a little the punching bag, which was hanging in the room, I went to the shower room so that the muscles relaxed after the small strain. When I returned to the room, everyone was already there and waiting for me.

"Volper, what happened? Why did you call up everyone?" Tilorn immediately said on seeing me.

"Nothing new! But we need to understand our past errors."

"What do you mean?"

"So, let's deal with everything in order of importance," I began, crouching on the edge of a small metal table, taking a position opposite the others. "I have been teaching you good teamwork, a wider use of your current skills for almost a week, and yesterday we passed, so to speak, an intermediate exam. Now I want you to brainstorm a little and out the problems that were encountered in Martha's lair, and then suggest some ways how to eliminate them."

"Um ... why?" You are training us well.

"And then, Quartz, you need to work independently using your brain. For example, that situation can happen to me, and I would be unconscious, or go to the respawn. What will you do, how will you get out of situations? So let me tell you one by one the problems that you encountered, and suggest options to fix them. And I will correct you if something is wrong. With you, Quartz, as with the most talkative member, I shall begin."

"Um ... Aah ... Hmm ... Well, how to say, the main problems that have been encountered: I noticed three. They are as follows: slow movement of the group in the dungeon, and due to this you had to start a breakthrough, aggravating all the mobs at yourself. Also, when the group was divided, Castra and Sargos were left without the tank, which led to Castra being wounded. Well, when you were knocked out, we lost the main firepower, which is why we were on the verge of being destroyed. We were saved only by the fact that Martha managed to activate itself before they could destroy us. It seems to me that's it."

"Well, a lot of problems have arisen, but let's analyze these points for now. So, slow group movement. In your opinion, what are the reasons for this?"

"Yes, we are just not used to it ..." Tilorn spoke up, expressing his opinion.

"Tilorn, shut up, please, for now!" I cut him off. "Now the situation is analyzed by Quartz. First of all, he needs this himself, so that in the future he could correctly assess the situation and make the best decisions. So, Quartz, I'm waiting for your answer!"

Quartz wanted to say something, but looking at Tilorn, he abruptly changed his mind. He put his hands on his knees and twisting his fingers together, he rested his chin on the hands, obviously pondering over something. I waited patiently for him to gather his thoughts, stopping others to interfere. The main thing now was that he was trying to comprehend the situation and find the cause of the problem.

Even if he doesn't find the right reason now, it comes with experience - the main thing is to instill the habit of analyzing each situation in order to find a cause-result relationship and be able to eliminate such situations in the future.

"Most likely, all the troubles were because of uncool damage per second index of our team..." immediately Tilorn and Castra slapped this poor guy, which interrupted him. "Damn, do not confuse me!" He rubbed the back of his head, being really offended. This is already beginning to become a tradition: in each serious dialogue, slapping Quartz on the side of his head. "So, what am I talking about? Most likely, the problem is low damage percentage, which the group shows at the same time. With Tilorn everything is clear - he has a shield, buffs and medical aid, Castra is engaged in reconnaissance, she needs to be as mobile as possible. Of the remaining three members, only the commander shows good damage, I am at close range for a bit, and Sargos stayed in the rear."

"Well done!" I praised him. "How can you solve these problems? Give me your ideas."

He thought for about five minutes, but in the end he just lifted his hands in dismay. I had to pass the question to the others, hoping that at least someone would figure out how to solve this problem. A few minutes later Castra started talking.

"Maybe we should give them automatic machine guns and let them practice a little. They will gain at least a dozen percent of the skill and will be able to give out at least some damage," she suggested timidly, obviously having her doubts.

"Not an option. First, these are non-core skills, so it will be harder to pump them up. Secondly, the system will not give skills for them; only basic shooting skill will be awarded. Or, it's a very long time to practice, repeating the same action over and over again, hoping that the system will give you the skill to use." I defeated Castra utterly. "Come on! Use your brains, there is a decision on the profile skills, you need only a little imagination!"

Unfortunately, no matter how hard they tried to think, there were no more worthy ideas. I had to manually guide the course of their thoughts.

"Quartz, remind me what your professional skills are?"

"Well, if it is only professional, then the repair of various drones and droids, as well as their maintenance."

"That's it! So you can be what?" I continued to push him to think.

"Um, I can be a caterer, but I am completely defenseless in managing them."

"And why?"

"You ask me why? It's just because I am distracted by their movement. And if it comes to the drones, it is also necessary to control the height. There are a lot of parameters that need to be monitored at the same time."

"And if you don't need to control them?"

"Yes, how can you do that?" He became indignant. "They also need to move somehow, am I going to carry them myself? Maybe I will put it on my shoulders? ..." at that very moment he froze, not even finishing his sentence. He was silent with his mouth open. But just a few seconds, slamming his mouth, he continued. "But this can work!"

Jumping from his bed, he rushed to his workplace. We could see that he wanted to implement his idea as soon as possible.

"Stop it!" I shouted at him. "Where are you going? We haven't finished yet. So take your place, and let's discuss the situation further."

Quartz, stopping abruptly, twisted his head, looking at me and his desk with the tools. Then, having sighed heavily and with his head down, he came back and, sitting down on the bed, continued to cast a glimpse at his table. Oh, how much this idea had hooked him up. But never mind, he would still have time to implement all his ideas.

"Quartz, first finish with the analysis of the situation, then you will go on to your tools."

"OK!" After a couple of seconds, he agreed, and stopped looking at his desk.

"I ask everybody now. How can Sargos be given an opportunity to increase the damage index? Or do I again have to come up with ideas for you? Think logically! Or do you think a good man, that is me, will do everything for you in life?"

I got up from the corner of the table and, putting my hands behind my back, clasping them into a lock at the waist level, began to walk from side to side in front of the others from the group, raised my eyebrows and pretending that I was psychologically pressing them, looked at them menacingly. In fact, my leg just got numb from an uncomfortable posture, which is suitable for a short conversation of a few minutes, but not for a long brainstorming session. But I am not going to confess to the others about it? So, I paced a small strip of the room in front of the group, frowning from one to the other, making them feel uncomfortable.

And there was not a single moment even to relax, in the future they might have to make serious decisions in critical situations, and there would not be a right to make a mistake or any time to think things over carefully. In the end, I was surprised by Sargos, who does not like to talk much, but this time he decided not to remain silent. And with short chopped phrases, making stops for a few seconds, gave a huge, by his standards, monologue.

"Here's the main thing. Mines. Explosives. Pick up a weapon first. Shoot around. Use mines. Do the undermining. Remotely. Contact battle. Timer. Experiment. With ammunition. There are many options" looking at Quartz and adding something. "Together with Quartz. Automatic mines. Mini droids. Filled with explosives. Castra hangs a lot of mines. I'm undermining. Tilorn puts up barrage out of mines. Machine gun is shooting. I understood. There are many options. I'll think it over!"

We were frozen for a few minutes, looking with round eyes at Sargos, not believing what we witnessed. Castra even reached out for Quartz and raised her jawbone with her hand. Sargos didn't know where to hide from such an embarrassing moment, in the end he even asked:

"I am here. Do I not have the right to talk?"

"My friend, believe me, we tell that we should not wait for Armageddon. And then, given your being talkative, I have already begun to suspect the end of the world was coming," Quartz said, without taking his eyes off Sargos.

"Everyone started laughing." I decided to intervene, as Sargos was already red from too much attention. "Our young explosives engineer said everything correctly, there are lots of options: starting from replacing bullets with miniature mines in revolving cartridges, ending with homing droids filled with explosives," after which I added for Sargos. "Just don't get carried away by explosions alone; a damaging element can be of various acids and poisons, the composition of which Tilorn can prepare for you - smoke curtains, both toxic and with a stimulant effect for us. During exploration, Castra can install a lot of mines with your remote blasting, and if you install beacons in them, then when the group passes by them, you can collect them back. In general, I think it will work!"

Sargos in response only raised his thumb, expressing his full agreement with what was said. It can be seen; today his ability to speak has been exhausted. Okay, who else wants to speak up

"Castra, now your ideas!"

"As Quartz said, while we are divided, we have one part of the group left without protection. Plus, I couldn't cause damage most of the time: either I couldn't get to the enemy, or I was in an uncomfortable position from which I couldn't reach anyone. Immediately I will propose a solution to the issue – we should upgrade the gloves so that damage can be applied not only with the palm of my hand, we should find new shoes, so that damage can be inflicted by feet because I can wave them normally, but the blow with my bare foot is often not enough. Well, you can still buy something for my acceleration, at least a second jerk to quickly get to the enemy. After all, most of the skills and abilities I have are sharpened for close combat and high mobility," just like a machine gun shoots fast, Castra said everything quickly.

"Well done, my dear!" I already raised my index finger to the ceiling. "No wonder they say that girls think quickly. The main thing is, well, and with all the force, to force their thoughts in the right direction."

Castra began to shine for the first few seconds of being praised, but then she realized that in order to do it, you first have to kick a lot and, puffing her lips, began to look around, probably looking for something heavy to throw at me.

"Volper, and what can you tell me?" Tilorn's voice was heard immediately.

"Damn, man. Honestly, I do not even know!" I grimaced, as if being washed by citric acid, which fell on my tongue. "I can only advise you to think in the direction of some kind of mobile defensive-medical center. In a nutshell, here's an idea: we can follow you, if necessary, hide and heal ourselves. If there were a fantasy here, you could be a great paladin, a mini tank with exciting functions and a strengthening aura of yours would cover us up. But in a technogenic reality, I simply cannot imagine how you could develop. In the future, I hope, we will think of something."

"Hmm ... Paladin, you say?" Tilorn moved his jaw, as if trying to taste the word. "Why not? It will be necessary to clarify a few points. But I had a couple of ideas," after seeing my arched eyebrow, almost in the form of a question mark, he added. "I first check a couple of points, and then tell you. OK?"

"Okay. You are right," I admit. Anyway, I had no options for its development. "So, gentlemen, these are good ideas. Oh, sorry, we have ladies here as well," I added this phrase immediately, seeing the frowning Castra, "in your opinion, are these the only problems that we faced?"

"Well ... sort of, yes." Tilorn voiced his thoughts after a brief glance.

"Then, I'll make you sad. To begin with, we strongly offended at least one clan, guess which one?"

"The Wolves," Quartz tried to suppose.

"Why "at least"?" Castra was again much smarter, reading between the lines.

"Because we do not know about the second group. Maybe they also belonged to the Wolves, maybe it was their allies or, on the contrary, their rivals."

"And what should we do?" In the voice of Castra panic could be felt.

"Nothing special," I reassured them. "Do everything the same as before, just be more careful. Look around if someone is watching you, nobody, by chance, would stare at you too often or for a long time. If possible, if you hear a conversation about events related to this incident, try to listen, you do not need to ask, just listen to what they are saying, without particularly showing your interest in this topic. It is still unknown whether they know who broke off everything like that, so for the time being you shouldn't worry much, but don't forget about it. Is it understandable?"

"Yes," Tilorn said.

"Then you have two days to think over your ideas. Then we'll go to another place where they have been waiting for me for a long time. There are also mechanical mobs expected. Sargos, get ready with more explosives, there are a lot of armored barricades that may have to be blown up. The thickness is about seventy-five millimeters, but what kind of material it is" it is not known. Having waited for Sargos to nod as a sign that he received the information, I continued. "Also, I ask you to take into account that there are automatic defensive turrets, traps and a lot of other nasty things. Therefore, the preparation must be very careful! Okay, let's get ready and I will go and try to solve some puzzles."

"What are you going to do?" Her eternal feminine curiosity could not be hidden by Castra.

"At first, I will try to solve the puzzle of overcoming these barricades without explosives, and then I will try to solve the ongoing problem with one old bastard whose insanity simply knows no boundaries."

Then I left the room, leaving them alone, taking with me only a couple of pistols and my backpack. When I first came to the laboratory, I put the access card that I found into my breast pocket under the vest, hoping to keep it in this way. And when, during a detailed search, I found the second card, I casually threw it into the backpack. But reality turned everything upside down: from the first card there was not even a scrap left, but the second one was still in the backpack, safe and sound. Now using it, I went to the engineers. As soon as Leksha saw me, he immediately got peeved.

"Volper, I told you to come in two weeks, but you came earlier. At least one or two more days you need to wait, and do not ask me to finish earlier; I won't do that too quickly! I don't have time to sleep; I am assembling your babe for you. I do not know how long you will train the control module to use all that you have invested in it, but I think it's worth it. So, even though I am assembling it, I cannot move do it any faster."

"Leksha, calm down. I came for another issue."

"Okay, then say what you want quickly why you came to me, but I still need to finish your previous order."

"There is an access card," having shown the object, I handed it to Leksha. "The problem is that the door, which it should open, also requires a password to access it. Can you see if you can do anything about it?"

"Hmm ..." he gave a wise thought, scratching his chin with one hand and twisting the access card in another. "This is not my area of work, I am mainly in engineering and electronics, and I have workers in the same areas. Yes, and it feels as if it's illegal ..." Leksha thought for a moment. The back of my head is itching. "Okay, considering that you have a good account with Mr. Carefire, I will help you, I have a cybernetic programmer friend who I know well and I can ask him to see what can be done." But it will take a day or two."

"Please do! I have two days left. If you can do something, send me a description and prices by mail. Then I will think whether it is worth it or not."

"OK, but if everything goes according to plan, then you give me ten percent of your deal."

"Agreed, it is a good price."

"Volper!" He called me when I was going to the exit. "You see, if there is something illegal here, then it is better to immediately forget about it!"

"Do not worry; it is in the neutral part of the fifth level."

"Well, if so, then, it's ok, but I warned you."

"I understand!"

We didn't sign any contract; anyway, it didn't make any sense. Now, if his person undertakes to do something, then we will be signing an agreement via the server. I wanted to talk to Carefire again, but he was not there, and the clerk in the hall replied that he had left for somewhere, and when he would return, he did not know. I had to go to the ladder leading into the basement, where the training ground was located, without having talked to the commandant. Near the armored door, blocking the passage to the stairs down, one of the officers was sitting on a chair that can be folded.

"Hi, what are you doing here?" I was surprised to see him. Usually they are on duty in the control room.

"Well, this old chap is completely nuts; he blocked the door to the control room. So I have to either be in the locker room, or here. After all, no one has canceled my duty."

"And where is he?"

"In the training hall, looping around the three-hour marathon with breaks per hour and destroys everything that moves. And he does not understand at all where training bots are, and where his people are. He destroys anyone who pops out of the safe zone."

"Hmm ... Okay, I'll go try to talk to him."

"You won't succeed at all," he shook his head, "Our lieutenant went there, and only twelve hours later did he appear in the barracks."

"I'll try, anyway!"

"Well, you can try if you are brave enough."

Downstairs, I first went to the locker room and left all my things there. If the conversation fails, then at least I can pick my things up. Coming out of the locker room and making sure that the door to the control room was really locked, I went to another door leading directly to the training grounds. I stood beside it for a few minutes, doubting whether to even enter at all.

But anyway, it's time to deal with this question; either I will talk to Sanych and figure out what happened to him, or, having revived in twelve hours, I will simply forget him for good. In any of the options, I'll finally put an end to this mess. At least for myself… I took a deep breath and exhaled several times, putting my thoughts in order, and with a sharp movement I opened that door.

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