Upgrade

A dull hum buzzed in C-333's 'ears'. His optical sensors were blacked out, replaced with a glaring blue popup.

[INSTALLING...]

[1%...]

[2%...]

[5%...]

[20%...]

I'm in a vulnerable state.

C-3 felt for the ground behind him, slowly and clumsily burrowing backwards into a heap of junk.

Although he was in a remote area, his escape from the compound was rushed and he didn't have the luxury to ensure his tracks were covered.

Even worse, the compound's attackers would most likely have some sort of wide range tracking device.

Luckily, C-3 wasn't the only one to escape. The chances of him being found were low, much less him being captured.

Time passed slowly and C-3 rejoiced when the blue popup plaguing his optical sensors informed him of the 'system's' successful installation.

[Installation successful]

[Packages fully unloaded]

[Opening menu...]

C-3 regained his vision but made no attempt to leave his hiding spot under the junk pile lest he black out again.

He scanned the menu which had appeared in front of him.

Shop, Lottery, Upgrades.

???

C-3 was confused. The hell was a lottery? The hell were 'upgrades'? The hell was this shop?

The hell did this system come from?

Sensing that his EP chip was about to act up again, C-3 calmed himself and lay back, giving himself a few seconds to rest.

Remain rational.

After puzzling about the origins of this mysterious system, C-3 decided to try a wireless handshake.

[Initiating wireless handshake]

[Waiting...]

[Waiting...]

[Handshake successful]

C-3 felt his sensors linked to something. It was difficult to describe, as if he was being engulfed by some sort of supernatural being.

C-3's optics began acting up, his vision warping and distorting in places. A crackling fuzz overwhelmed his artificial senses.

He hurriedly broke off the connection with the system. It was simply too powerful.

What was that?

C-3 shook his head, before reopening the menu again. It seemed all he needed to do was 'will' the menu to open for the blue popup to reappear.

Shop, lottery and upgrades.

Of all of these, upgrades seems to be the most appealing.

What's this?

There's another tab...

[More features coming soon...]

If he were a human, his face would have turned black.

Why does this sound so unprofessional?!

Whatever.

C-3 selected the Upgrades tab with child-like curiosity.

The blue square shaped button dissolved into a mass of neon particles which expanded and multiplied into a long tree. The tree's trunk shot upward into the sky, it's branches reached outward, seemingly attempting to grasp the entire solar system within it's tendrils.

In front of C-3 were a small selection of choices.

Tech, Bio, ???

As of now, there were only two available for selection. There was a third which was shrouded in a substance which resembled smog and many more after that. It seemed like the more he invested into a single branch, the more he would gain from it.

C-3 selected the Tech branch, causing an array of neon blue options to flood his optical sensors.

Dotted along the branch was a vast number of small icons, each one with a number on the front, as well as a picture.

Upon taking a closer look, he realised that he could actually select the icon and read a description.

C-3 took a look at one of the icons that sat midway along the branch, noting several things.

I can't unlock the ones above until I obtain the ones below first. As for these numbers on these icons, they're prices.

What currency is this?

C-3 shrugged. He really had no clue as to what it was.

How much of this currency do I even have?

At this thought, a small tab popped up on the bottom left of his vision.

[Energy: 6]

Hm? What's this? I already have 6 'energy'?

How did I even get this?

Another pop up appeared.

[Energy: The matter which powers the universe. Gained through consumption or various other means.]

Oh?

That means the junk I incinerated earlier was converted into this system's energy currency?

Interesting.

C-3 turned his attention back to the 'Tech' branch which was divided into several archetypes.

Gunner, Tank, Heavy, Vehicle, Hunter and more.

There were hundreds. Literal hundreds of different pathways.

So much so that he realised why the system took so long to download and unload it's packages in the first place.

I have 6 energy now. I might as well look at everything affordable to me right now.

The moment he willed it, a large number of sub-branches, at least 99% of them vanished off into the neon blue smog.

Only two pathways caught his attention. Hunter and assassin.

Of the two, assassin was, as the name suggests, stealth oriented. Hunter on the other hand seemed to fit alongside it, seemingly suited for 'hunting'.

At a closer look, the hunter archetype revolved around traps, utility and using knowledge and flexibility to one's advantage. Assassin was more suited towards 'one hit, one kill' sort of scenario.

When C-3 looked through the available assassin upgrades, most of the affordable ones were things he already owned. It seemed that upgrades through the system could be attained through normal means as well.

He nodded and realised that it was quite fair. Knowledge belonged to everyone, after all.

Thus, he could only turn his sensors to the hunter archetype.

Hm. Robotic companions? EMP traps... Long ranged ballistics, Optic scramblers...

There's so much to choose!

C-3 decided to pick only off of his weaknesses. There was no point in purchasing upgrades which pointed him in a single direction. The hunter archetype was suited around flexibility- there was no point in throwing that to waste.

I lost all of my weapons save for modules and my claws, long ranged ballistics would definitely be useful. The only problem would be ammunition. I'm not an engineer, nor do I have any hand in the assembly line.

Even then, a long ranged weapon was something that made his non-existent heart ache.

Sadly, a single built in pistol module costed hundreds of energy.

Luckily, there was still one more option that he could choose.

Robotic companions.

Along the list, there was a name, a picture and a description. From aerial companions to sea companions, the system had them all.

FUCK!!!

The prices for aerial companions was in the thousands. Much more than a simple pistol module.

Just as C-3 was about to punch his own optical sensors in, he realised that land based companions were extremely cheap.

For 50 energy, I can purchase the ability to build a robotic companion. Once I've built it, the system will automatically install high quality software and allow me to customise it at will.

Although the price is like a towering high-rise building, there is plenty of junk around me.

The only problem is the fact that using up all of the junk around me will destroy my cover. If I remove too much from one place, it might cause the pile to collapse and attract too much attention.

If I'm to gain more energy, I'll need to leave this area.

C-333 immediately burrowed out of his hiding spot, shaking off some of the debris which had stuck to his chassis.

The compound was in the North.

C-3 decided to head South. There would only be enemies in the North and while he'd be able to handle one or two enemies, a whole legion fully kitted in ranged weapons would turn him to shreds.

My only objective right now is to find a safe spot to consume junk. Stirring up trouble is the last thing I'd do.

C-3 went by foot, sticking low to the ground. He moved like a spider, occasionally using his four forearms to climb through deep piles of junk.

He reached a flat area which was covered on all sides by tall walls of junk. It was about half a mile from his current 'home', meaning he could retreat there very quickly if he needed to.

Without further ado, he opened his mouth and began incinerating everything in sight, only stopping every now and then to let his incinerator cool down or lower the smoke levels.

Too much smoke would draw attention, but it's a byproduct of burning this rubbish. There's no way around it, I'll just have to moderate consumption.

The flat area had become a crater and C-3 had reached 50 energy.

He opened the upgrades menu and selected the robotic companion icon, choosing the hunting dog icon.

C-3's previous energy high state immediately became sluggish, the energy he had just gained evaporating from his body in the blink of an eye.

In place of this however, a bundle of engineering skills filled his memory banks, becoming hardwired into his system.

Now, even if he wanted to, he wouldn't be able to delete or forget this knowledge.

C-3 let out a smug chuckle. As his gaze swept across the junk around him, his optical sensors automatically identified which one would be suitable for which part of the dog bot.

They were all outlined with neon blue, the best quality ones were brighter and some even flashed as if to say "PICK ME!"

C-3 unhurriedly began to pick up all of the flashing pieces of junk, along with some of the better looking bright ones.

He had four arms, easily managing to carry the vast volume of junk he'd picked up.

Then, he began to build.

C-3 lacked all of the necessary tools required, but he somehow managed to find a way past the problems.

No welding flame? Easy, I have a flamethrower in my mouth.

No screwdriver? Pfft. I have long claws and dexterous digits.

No power drill? No problem, I can move my hands very quickly.

Soon, a head was assembled. It resembled that of a wolf, with piercing metal canines and a sleek build suited for stealth. Beneath it's slim appearance was a ferocious metal beast waiting to gorge on the scraps of it's enemies.

Next was a foreleg. Then another. The body was quickly constructed after that and finally, the hind legs.

C-3 opened his menu, wanting to find out what to do next when a new popup appeared.

[Skills menu unlocked]

[Current skills]

Stealth - 10

Sabotage - 8

Explosives - 8

Infiltration - 7

Deception - 7

Close Combat - 6

Hacking - 5

Robotic Companion Assembly - 1 (land)

[Current modules]

Stealth module

Acoustic Noise Cancelling module

Hacking module

Robotic Companion module

C-333 felt slightly surprised. It was odd to have one's skills laid out bare like this. He wasn't surprised about his stealth being level 10, he was built for that purpose, but the entirety of his skill set made him look like a shady guy.

Except from Robotic Companion Assembly, along with the module. Those just didn't fit whatsoever.

He touched the head of his roughly assembled robot dog, activating the RC module which he just instinctively knew how to do.

Cables suddenly shot out from his wrist, seemingly materialising out of think air. They hooked into the dog bot's head, giving off a slight blue light.

After a few minutes, the cables withdrew back into C-3's arm. The robot dog on the ground let out a grumbling noise as it moved it's stiff joints.

The robotic companion suddenly leapt up and stuck out a metal tongue, panting for no apparent reason.

"Down boy." C-3 said, smacking it on the head.

The dog whimpered, before quickly picking itself back up and going over to C-3's heels.

Hm. Maybe this dog needs a name. I remember the senator's family from back then had a dog. They named it... I can't remember.

I guess my memory banks really did get damaged in being captured.

He glanced at the dog which came up to his knee.

"You are called D-1 from now on."

D-1 nodded, it seemed the bot's software came with a language pack as well.

The system really has me covered.

Just as C-3 was about to have another look at the tech branch menu, he heard the sound of crunching metal from behind.