Energy And Upgrades (1)

Author Note: The chapter is a bit of an Info dump of just explaining how things work so sorry about that. Let me know what you think about how I set up the System to work but I can change some stuff depending on what you all think.

[We have reached our destination.] As the streaks from the stars began to slow so did the thrust of the ship. Being able to see properly through the ship's window Shirei was greeted by a strange sight. For the first time, he was able to get a clear look at the hub in its current state. Overall it was clear the hub was supposed to have a sleek design however that was ruined due to the deterioration.

However, what really got Shirei was its size. The ship he was in now was only slightly larger than a car following the overall design of the hub itself. 'If I remember correctly from the Hologram interface in the control room the hub is only a fraction of its original size but it's still bigger than an average house.' Slowly the ship began its automatic docking phase turning itself before slowly locking itself in place.

After docking the sealed door at the back of the ship opened allowing for both the AI and Shirei to access the hub again. [Please make your way to the control room to deposit collected energy.] Listening to the AI Shirei made his way through the circular-shaped halls back to the control room.

Due to the AI using the remaining power in the hub to run his body's systems properly along with the Ship all the lights were off and everything was powered down just like when he first arrived. Walking into the room up to Commander's seat Shirei sat down before turning to the chair to face the gridded table.

"Alright let's see if we can get you up and running properly this time." Placing his hands into the slots on the arm rest Shirei heard the AI's voice. [Extracting Energy gathered by N.O.G.B.] Soon the red energy Shirei extracted from Remu back on the One Piece planet began to leave his body and enter the hub.

[Energy Levels Rising…]

[4%]

[9%]

[13%]

[21%]

[35%]

[46%]

[All energy successfully extracted from N.O.G.B.]

Seeing that the hub had managed to get to almost half its power Shirei let out a breath of relief. On the other hand, having power restored all the lights in the hub began to turn themselves back on along with the holographic display appearing above the gridded table. [Power has reached stable levels. Activating Automatic-Repairs… Restoring HUB Interface…]

With power buzzing through the entire room Shirei began to see something happen to the hub's interior and exterior alike. Holes and cracks that were both on the floor and windows were beginning to repair themselves. Slowly but surely all the rust was being removed and the hub was returning to its original sleek state.

Bringing his attention back to the holographic screen in front of him Shirei saw that a new type of interface had opened.

[Spectral Hub Interface]

Current Energy: 46% (705435/1500000)

Energy Output: -22000|D

Status: Repairing Internal And External Damage (63% Complete...)

<Weapon Fabricator - Fabricatable> (Energy Required: 75000)

<N.O.G.B Developer - Fabricatable> (Energy Required: 100000)

<Multiversal Shifter - Fabricatable> (Energy Required: 350000)

<Android Creator - Unavailable>

<Docking Bay - Exceeds Energy Capacity>

…

Showing the current status of the hub Shirei was able to see the current energy they were using daily. Along with all of that Shirei was able to see exactly what was available to him at the moment though it did leave him slightly confused? Pointing to the Docking Bay on the holographic screen Shirei asked the AI a question.

"This says it exceeds our Energy Capacity what does that mean exactly? Also, why are some things Fabricatable while others aren't?" For example, while the Weapon Fabricator was Fabricatable but things like the External Database were simply labeled Unavailable. Hearing both of Shirei's questions the AI responded in turn.

[Currently, the current Maximum Energy Capacity is not enough to recreate the entirety of the Docking Bay so it is labeled as such. Anything labeled as Unavailable however is due to the hub not having the proper ability to create the components needed. Excluding those two labels, the remaining label Upgrade means that function can be upgraded with the proper components. Further Information on Functions can be found in the Local Database.]

Having it cleared up for him Shirei had a better understanding of exactly what the hub was capable of.

If something is within its technological range then it will simply require energy to create it. However, if it is too advanced to create then he will have to increase the hub's technological level through bringing its other functions back and upgrading them first, or at least that's what he guessed.

"Ok, I think I got the gist of it all. So I guess now the most important thing for us right now would be getting more energy." The most obvious thing would be to make a way for the hub to generate its own Energy instead of having him get it directly from System Users. However, for that, he would need more energy than he had available to him.

'So in the end I'm back at square one with needing to hunt down another System User.' He could assume it was a type of One System per Universe deal meaning he would need to travel to a different Universe first and foremost. "Losing my body sucked but at least I don't have to deal with headaches in this one. All the math would be killing me right now."

Cramming number's one after another Shirei created a list of things that he needed now and things he could wait till later to get. After creating that list he remembered what the System had told him earlier and he had used the Local Database. When he opened it he was greeted with a bunch of different tabs.

Keeping his eyes from wandering too far he quickly only searched up the three things he was interested in before putting them all up on the holographic screen.

[Weapon Fabricator]

Description: This device will allow for the fabrication of different handheld weapons. These weapons can range from Close, Mid, and Long-range. The higher class the weapon the more energy will be required to create them. Weapons that are marked as Unavailable shall remain so until the Weapon Fabricator is upgraded.

[N.O.G.B Developer]

Description: This device will allow for the modifications and addons to N.O.G.B's. These are including but not limited to both Visual and Physical modifications. They may increase Mobility, Strength, and other helpful additions. Modifications that are marked as Unavailable shall remain so until the N.O.G.B Developer is upgraded.

[Multiversal Shifter]

Description: This device will allow for the hub and all assets connected to it to be shifted to another Universe. While the device does cost energy to have created it also costs energy to shift between Universes. With no upgrade's the Universe shifted to is randomized. The speed of the shift is also related to whether the device is upgraded or not.

Reading over each one of them carefully figured he should be fine with these three alone. From what he had seen on One Piece he was strong enough to knock normal people out cold with a single attack and he doubted killing them would take that much more effort. However, if he ran into a System User that could actually fight back at an average Anime level he needed a weapon.

On the other hand, having the Developer so he could make his body even stronger than it was now was more than welcomed. "Then that decides it I need these three Functions first and foremost." Returning to the Spectral Hub Interface Shirei quickly clicked all three of the functions at the top of the list.

[Three Functions selected for re-fabrication… -525,000 has been used from hub's current Energy. The remaining energy has been reduced to 180,435.] "And just like that, all our energy is gone…" It was a heavy price so he was hoping that he had made the right choices. It was not soon after all that energy was spent that he received three notifications.

[Multiversal Shifter: 2% Fabricated]

[N.O.G.B Developer: 5% Fabricated]

[Weapon Fabricator: 7% Fabricated]

"Fabricating a fabricator what kind of inception is that." Seeing that he had some time before everything was complete Shirei decided to have a look around. So far he had been limiting his sightseeing due to how urgently they needed power but seeing as he had time might as well use it.

Standing up from the chair Shirei made his way down to the entrance to the control room. The sealed door opened allowing him to go either left or right. 'Right is where the external docks are so let's go left.' Walking down the curved corridor Shirei saw it had windows every few feet allowing him to peer into space.

"What a great view." Seeing all the galaxies and array of colors in the distance Shirei continued to peer out of each window as he walked. Eventually, he came across a door to his left and then another door a little ways ahead to his right. Going into the closest door first he was greeted by a sudden rush of heat.

"Damn that's hot! Definitely turning down Temperature Receptors." Lowering his Temperature Receptors from Level 5 to 4 in the customization Menu. Feeling the heat become more bearable Shirei walked into the spherical chamber. In the center of the chamber was a large contraption with two spike-like structures holding a ball of light in place.

There was no floor but instead, the center section was left open with only a platform being near the entrance and a single pathway that let you get closer. "So I guess this is where all the energy is being kept." Just from the feeling of heat before he didn't even attempt to get closer to it.

Even if he didn't feel the heat it didn't mean his body could handle it and the last thing he wanted was to have a half-melted body. After one last look around Shirei decided it would be best if he just left that room alone and didn't bother messing around with anything. Leaving through the way he came in, Shirei made his way to the second door further down the corridor.

This door was just like the one to the Control Room and when it opened he was surprised at what he saw. Up against one of the walls was a large monitor with a strange device situated to its right. On the adjacent wall, however, was a type of capsule that was left open. With these two devices and the overall design of the room, he felt as if it was more of a workshop than anything else.

[Weapon Fabricator has been completely Fabricated.]

[N.O.G.B Developer has been completely Fabricated.]

Being only seconds apart Shirei heard the AI speak twice as the two devices in the workshop powered themselves on. Being enticed by the large monitor Shirei walked over to it as it was booting up. "Imagine watching movies on this thing." The thought was enticing as everything on the monitor fully booted.

Opening up into six different options Shirei could see the outline of a certain weapon category. For example, he could immediately recognize the first two. The first one has the image of a gun and was easy to figure out and the second one has the image of what looked like a sword which would equate to melee he supposed.

'Well let's start with the guns first.' Selecting the first category the six options disappeared and instead, a long tree of weapons was revealed. Each tree started from one weapon in particular before slowly branching off to others. "My god it's beautiful." With the images of each weapon being shown in real-time Shirei like any man would have cried at the sight of all these weapons if not for the fact, he didn't have eyes.

Looking over them all scrolling from left to right he was left in awe however the moment he clicked on one of the cooler-looking weapons that were locked further up one of the weapon trees he froze. "What the hell…"

[Exodus Point Rifle]

Shirei couldn't even be bothered to look at the description as his eyes locked onto the energy cost. He would have choked on his own saliva if he could after seeing that the weapon alone was more expensive than the fabricator was to create. "That doesn't even make sense. For such a high cost this thing should be insanely strong."

Disappointingly Sherei was forced to close out of the tab and decided to settle for the simpler things. The pistol and rifle at the beginning of their respective trees were a lot cheaper than that overpriced rifle from earlier. Selecting both of them a prompt appeared on the monitor. [Fabricate weapons: SZ-Mk 1, PR-2 for a collective of -24,300 energy?] Displaying a confirm or cancel option Shirei clicked confirm without a second delay.

Soon the sound of moving parts and machines powering up came from the device at the side of the monitor. Forming multiple beams of light from a single point Shirei saw the pistol he selected was being formed in front of his very eyes. "Woah…" Within seconds the entire weapon was formed and was left there in the fabricator just waiting for Shirei to take it.

Reaching out and picking it up Shirei was surprised at how lite it was. [Syncing N.O.G.B with selected weapon SZ-Mk1. Syncing complete.] Shooting out his right leg, a holster meant to fit any type of pistol appeared as soon as Syncing was complete. "Nice I'm a convertible." Acting as if he was planning to shoot Shirei aimed his pistol at a nearby wall and saw his HUD change to a reticle growing smaller and larger as he moved or stayed still.

As he continued to play around with the pistol the fabricator began creating the second weapon he chose. Forming just like the pistol Shirei waited for it to fully be complete before taking it as well. The same process of syncing came along with a holster for this one appearing on his back this time.

Having those two weapons on him did makeShirei feel a lot more confident however his excitement of the weapons was overwhelmed when he turned his gaze to the 'N.O.G.B Developer'. 'Weapons are one thing but being able to modify your body is a completely different matter.'