... Bodily Augmentation System Loaded 100%
... Initialising
... Name: Robert Alhom
... Level: 0
... Class: Greenhorn Captain
... Stats:
Hit Points: 7/10
Strength (STR): 10 (+0)
Constitution (CON): 10 (+0)
Dexterity (DEX): 10 (+0)
Intelligence (INT): 10 (+0)
Wisdom (WIS): 10 (+0)
Charisma (CHA): 10 (+0)
Psychic Strength Index (PSI): 10
... Experience To Level 1 (Exp): 10/50
... Skills:
Equivalent Exchange Lv1, 1% Mastery
... Rebooting sensory input in 5 ... 4 ... 3 ... 2 ... 1 ...
Robert gasped for air as he woke up. His vision was still swimming, but he could not help but notice that in the corner of his vision he had a little icon saying ‘7/10’. He turned his head, but no matter where he looked, the icon would stay where it was. He tried to get the hang of his balance again, and when he finally succeeded, he moved back onto the chair that he was sitting in before. “Damn, that hurt,” he said to no one in particular.
[[Captain, are you alright? Your body seems to be showing that the nanobots in your system are active again. Do you need any help or are you going to be able to fix any of the problems that I diagnosed while you were unconscious?]] Aidan’s synthetic voice punctured Robert’s brain and brought him back to reality slightly.
“I'm fine. Just a bit dizzy. How can I help?” As he spoke, a screen popped into Robert's vision. For some reason he knew that it was not one of Aidan’s panels, but instead something inexorably tied to whatever was flowing through all the little parts of his body.
Help:
J.D.: Brings up a Journal Database that shows you everything you have learned and deemed important. Can be used as a log or a diary if deemed necessary.
U.D.: User Database that depicts the statistics and skills of the user. Level up stat increases are controlled from here.
I.D.: Item Directory of all things held in possession as well as all possible exchanges between Equivalent Exchange and the user's surroundings.
U.S.: User Settings to change the opacity of panels and certain other pieces of functionality.
M.M.: Abbreviation of Main Mission. The key mission to survival and success.
S.M.: Abbreviation of Side Mission. Helpful tasks that give a little boost.
Exit: Command to close all user interfaces currently open.
“Exit,” Robert said, and the help window disappeared. “Sorry Aidan, I accidentally opened up the... help screen of whatever the nanobots did to me. What did you say?”
[[I’ll repeat myself. The most important issue we face is that the ship itself will fall apart if we cannot get the shield battery up and running. The Ravage Protocol is slowly destroying the asteroid we are perched on, and survival is imperative]]
“Okay, then let's sort out the shield battery. Could you bring up the map of the ship and plot a course to the battery?”
[[Sir, if I may be so bold; you are a captain. Command, do not request]]
“Alright Aidan”, Robert said, taking a deep breath before continuing. “Bring up the map and plot a course for me to take towards the fault that's stopping the shields from working”.
As Robert spoke a little box popped up in the corner of his vision on the opposite side to the little bar that showed his ‘xp’ and the now ‘8/10’ that represented his hit points.
SM: Become more commanding-
Achieve 13 Charisma
Reward: +1 Charisma and Skill - Command.
He could not help but frown. As he had 10 Charisma he assumed that it would take very little time to get to 13, but there was no way for him to tell. He had to work out a scale of how long it would take to get a single statistic point and whether it would be worth him doing the side mission.
[[Sir. The map is complete. If you take the elevator shaft down three floors and head towards the right side of the Nostromo then you should be able to reach the shield battery through the ventilation system from there. It is a straight line in the vents, so there should be no problem]]
The map appeared in place of Aidan’s face once more, then zoomed in and began highlighting the path that Robert had been suggested. Direction-wise, the only difficult part would be the third floor, as he would have to travel around six hundred metres in a maze of what looked like identical thirty metre long quadrants.
“Is there any reason why I have to go down such a complicated route? And when I arrive, what will I have to do?”
[[Sir, please be more commanding. You have a role to fulfill]]
“Right... Err...” He paused, thinking about how he could come across as a more commanding person. “Aidan, explain the reasoning behind your route, and then follow up with a description of how to fix the issue with the battery”.
[[Well done sir]] Aidan said, sounding almost proud of Robert. [[The choice of route is two fold. First, it's the simplest route to the break in the array. There are other possible paths, but the third floor is far less of a maze than the ventilation system. The issue that has caused the malfunction seems to be that the rod that regulates the energy circuit has been damaged, perhaps by some sort of overload on the shielding itself. You simply need to cut the power to the damaged conduit, replace the control rod, and then close up the broken panel and activate the power again]]
“Okay. That seems simple enough. Power off, replace rod, power on. Wait... Where is the rod I am going to be using to replace the broken one? I don't have much in the way of tools,” Robert replied. A serious frown flickered across his face as he looked at Aidan.
[[Simplicity itself. The rod in question is the same as the rod from a visvitae tube. Just take out the used tube from your glove and insert it into the slot it should fit perfectly as from what I understand of the schematics of the ship and the parts of my memory that are neither corrupt or missing, this ship was built on the idea that everything should be easily fixable or replaceable. All the sensitive wiring on a normal ship got replaced with visvitae tubes. It seems to be something that was state of the art at the conception of ship]] As Aidan spoke, the panel that had produced the blue tubes that Aidan had referred to as visvitae lowered momentarily before raising again. In the centre was a helmet made of a completely transparent material. It looked like glass or plastic to Robert, but it was far more flexible than glass and far tougher than any plastic he could think of.
“Thank you, and what’s this?”
[[Headgear for you. It will give you some protection from head injuries. It also contains both a headset so we do not lose contact, and a rebreather, so you have no trouble in low oxygen environments. It won't help in space, or any other vacuum, but if it is anywhere else, you should be fine]]
“Thank you, Aidan,” Robert said as he donned the mask and took the empty tube out of the slot on his glove. “Alright, time to get moving. Thank... err...” he paused. “Good work on the mission briefing. I hope this goes as simply as the plans allow” Putting the tube into his satchel, Robert walked out of the door and into the hallway beyond. As he did so, a new panel popped up in the middle of his vision.
MM.1: Restore the Nostromo to full capacity
MM.1.1: Fix the problem with the shield generator
Go to level 3 and replace the control rod in the damaged main conduit.
Reward: ????
It minimised after a few moments and Robert continued on his way. In the now empty bridge of the ship Aidan sat alone, wondering if he had told Robert everything he needed to know.
Robert strode down the hallway, moving as fast as he could. It was imperative for him to reach the third floor as fast as he could. Even as he walked he could begin to feel the ravage protocol taking its toll on the ship. Every twenty steps he felt everything shake as the very ground that the ship had rested on for longer than Robert knew was absorbed into the vessel and turned into base materials to restore the Nostromo to its former glory.
The soft blue light stretched out into the darkness, illuminating just enough for Robert to see where he was going, but nowhere near enough for him to feel comfortable. The fact that he was alone on the ship made him flinch at every sound he heard. Things would fall from the long disused shelves that had been left open and every time he heard a thump he would immediately turn and squint in the direction of the sound. The further out he got though, the less he was affected. The majority of the ship still lacked inertial dampening, so soon he began to feel the shakes less and less. His strides got longer, and soon he was floating for six seconds with each leap. Through each step the ground would fall away and he would no longer be bothered by the shaking. He quickly learned to avoid it by jumping at the right time.
After around ten minutes of walking he reached the elevator shaft that Aidan had spoken about. There were several throughout the ship, including one near the bridge, but this one specifically was part of the clearest route that Robert could take to complete the mission. In the end Aidan had picked this elevator and Robert had no space to wonder why. He pried open the door and looked at the little metal box beyond. It was a simple affair, but Robert mused that there were only so many ways to skin a cat when it came to vertical mass movement. He knew that elevator aesthetic design had not evolved much beyond the metal boxes that were invented in days of old. He frowned when he noticed that the thought about design had come unbidden, but immediately smiled as he saw his hit points were finally up to 10/10 again. He was not entirely sure what ‘hit points’ actually were, but he could only assume that having more was better than having less.
Robert stuck the baton in his mouth and began trying to pull the doorway open. At first there was no budging it, but after a minute of straining he managed to separate the doors by an inch. Shoving his thumbs into the gap he strained as he pulled the doorway further and further apart, centimetre by centimetre, until finally he could fit his profile into the gap. He jammed his leg against the door and pushed as hard as he could, and after another twenty or so centimetres something inside the doorway gave way and both doors shot away from Robert, dumping him on the ground. He sighed and looked at the box in front of him, before screaming in rage as he realised there was another door for him to pry open.
Looking around for anything to smash the door open with, he noticed a small panel by the doorway. He walked over and pulled out the shards of the visvitae tube that had been the panel's backup power source before inserting his spare tube into the slot.
NOSTROMO POWER LIFT flashed on the screen as it burst into life.
CALL ELEVATOR? Y/N
Robert immediately took his baton out of his mouth, hit the yes button and watched the doors slide open. He yelled in annoyance once more.
“Why do I do this to myself?” he said to no one in particular. He could understand if it had happened once, but he had accidentally gone after the hard option twice since waking up. He did not feel stupid, but was beginning to wonder if a stupid person would realise they were stupid.
[[I do not know sir]] he heard Aidan say.
“Aidan, you can hear me?”
[[Yessir. I would prefer it if you refrained from screaming and yelling. It is rather unsettling. Sir, I must warn you that once you get into the elevator you may have some trouble with the panel as it does not have an open slot for a visvitae tube]]
“Well that’s great. What am I supposed to do instead then?”
[[Simple sir. Press your hands against the bottom and top right-hand corners of the panel to pop the cover off, then find two clips that will connect to either end of the tube. Make sure the power draw is in the off state and then connect them. Turn the screen on and reconnect it to the wall then you should be able to go]]
MM.1.1a: Descend to the third level
Conquer the elevator system of the Nostromo and reach the third floor to continue MM.1.1
Reward - 50 XP and Skill - ????
“Thank you, Aidan,” he said, taking the tube out of the panel and entering the lift while waiting for the mission panel to disappear. He put the baton back in his mouth as he fumbled around in the dim light, quickly finding and finally popping open the panel after five tries. It took him a while to realise that when Aidan said ‘right hand corners’ he actually meant the literal corners, not somewhere near the top and bottom of the right side.
Behind the panel there was a mass of silicon and plastic and two clips that he could easily identify. The problem was he had no idea what the power draw was, nor did he know what the off state looked like. He fiddled around with the panel, hoping he would find something that identified itself as a power draw of some sort, but after thirty seconds he realised that it was of no use.
“Aidan, what does a power draw look like, and how do I tell if it is in the off state?”
[[Simplicity itself sir. To the left of the two clips that hold the visvitae tube in there should be a little switch on an isolated section of plastic. It should have two silicon strips leading off it towards the rest of the cabling]]
“Got it. It's facing down right now. What does that mean?”
[[Up is off, down is on]]
“Right, thanks”. Robert flicked the switch up and then inserted the tube into the two clips. Flicking the switch down, he then turned the panel back over and reattached it to the wall.
NOSTROMO POWER LIFT
///WARNING: INSUFFICIENT POWER TO REACH ALL LEVELS///
PLEASE CHOOSE A FLOOR:
LEVEL 1: BRIDGE AND OFFICERS QUARTERS
LEVEL 2: CREW QUARTERS
LEVEL 3: CREW QUARTERS
LEVEL 4: EMERGENCY SAFETY STORAGE
ALL OTHER LEVELS ARE SEALED DUE TO INSUFFICIENT POWER
Robert looked at the panel and frowned before hitting the button for level 3. “Aidan, what’s... tell me the contents of level 4,” he said, remembering the side mission half way through his sentence.
[[Well done sir. I'm afraid that I can't tell you the contents of level 4 because I don't know. On the design schematics of the ship that i have access to it suggests that the floor is for storing living matter in stasis to preserve livestock in case of a fault with the other food sources on the ship. This ship is really something]] Aidan trailed off, which surprised Robert as he had no idea that an AI could actually express itself in such a way. He did not dwell on it however, as thoughts of the fourth floor filled him while the elevator sank to the third. Something on the fourth floor was calling out to him, so he made his mind up. The first chance he got, he would find out what was so important about that floor.
The elevator shunted to a stop and then the doors sprung open, revealing a hallway that quickly disappeared into darkness. Quickly, Robert pulled off the panel and flicked off the power before removing the now only half full tube of visvitae that was his lifeline. He had to make it to the shields, it was all he had time to worry about. Each quake was getting closer together, and as the gravity was more stable on the third floor than on the first, he could distinctly feel every tremor.
Mission Complete popped into his head the moment he walked out of the door.
+50 XP
Please pick one of the following three skills:
Identify - Appraise a target to gain an understanding of it.
Skull Bash - Smash target’s skull for bonus damage (x1.2) and a 0.5 second stun.
Purify - Removes debuffs.
Robert looked at the three skills that he had been given and frowned. There was a lot riding on this choice, as it would likely decide his life in the near future. After about thirty seconds he immediately ruled out Purify. It was not that helpful to him, and did not help that he had no idea what a debuff was. The real choice was between Identify and Skull Bash. Skull Bash looked like a powerful skill, and stunning enemies was a very appealing concept, but Robert needed something that would increase his chances now. He mused that as he was the only person on the ship, Skull Bash would not be useful until he found civilisation and so his only real choice was Identify.
“I pick Identify”. The moment the words left his mouth there was a rushing sound and information immediately filled his mind.
Identify
Appraise a target to gain an understanding of it. User gains access to two databases: The Bestiary and the Item Codex. If user scans a living being then it will show up in the Bestiary, while if it is non-sentient then it will show up in the Item Codex.
Augmentation: Lv3 (Appraisal)
Lv 1, 1% Mastery
He smiled. This was exactly what Robert was looking for. It would not necessarily help him fight enemies, but he knew that this skill would give him far more information about the world he had no stable memories of. It would be incredibly beneficial to him, as long as he did not die before he became competent in his skill. As he was about to practice another pop up appeared in front of him.
Level Up!
Level: 1
... Class: Greenhorn Captain
... Stats:
Hit Points: 10/12 (+2)
Strength (STR): 11 (+0)
Constitution (CON): 10 (+0)
Dexterity (DEX): 10 (+0)
Intelligence (INT): 11 (+0)
Wisdom (WIS): 10 (+0)
Charisma (CHA): 12 (+1)
Psychic Strength Index (PSI): 10
... Experience To Level 2 (Exp): 0/70
... Unassigned Stat Points: 3
... Skills:
Equivalent Exchange Lv1, 1% Mastery
Identify Lv1, 1% Mastery
Note: Bonus increase of +1 CHA due to character success in SM1. Increase of +1 STR, INT and CHA due to character action over the course of MM.1.1 and MM1.1a.
There was another rushing sensation as something came across Robert. His muscles felt faster, and he felt smarter and more outgoing. It was not by much, but he felt like he had improved upon himself. Now he was finally level 1, he had a chance to actually survive this ship, especially as he knew what his strange nanobot infection had done to him now. It was making him stronger. For what end he did not know, but what he did know was that he was going to level up as often and as quickly as he could.
Robert cracked his knuckles. Before he moved on he decided that the best option for him would be to get a hang of using his skills before he went into the darkness and got horribly lost. He looked at the baton and said, “Identify”.
Shock Stick
Uncommon Grade Bludgeoning Weapon
2 - 5 damage, 45% chance to debilitate with 10000 volt stun, 5% critical strike chance for x2 damage.
???? ????/????
“So that's what it is called,” he said, looking at the shock stick in his hand. The little bubble that popped up when he had identified the baton was more than he was expecting, and yet there was still a line hidden from him. He could not help but wonder what was contained behind those question marks, especially as he had no way of knowing how to remove them.
On a whim he decided to scan everything around him, just to see what happened, and he was surprised when pop ups like the one that appeared over the baton began showing up everywhere.
Ship Wall
Military Grade Building Material
Made of a Tritanium, Aluminium and Adamantium composite, the walls of this ship are reinforced in a way that not only promotes durability and resistance to impact, but also is light and simple to shape before a coating of visvitae is applied.
????/????/???? ????/????
Ship Flooring
Military Grade Building Material
Made of a Tritanium, Aluminium and Adamantium composite, the floors of this ship are reinforced in a way that not only promotes durability and resistance to impact, but focusses on the light weight and ease of removal for replacing conduits housed below the floor.
????/????/???? ????/????
Light Fixture
Military Grade Building Material
Composed of a resin based plasticite, made to replicate glass but be far more durable, less brittle and easier to morph in the construction phase.
????/????/???? ????/????
Conduit (Broken)
Military Grade Control Module
(Broken)
????/????
No matter where Robert looked, he was inundated with pop up boxes with information about the surroundings. Most of it was informative, albeit repetitive, but there were some that were simply a long string of question marks. After a few moments, the constantly shifting semi-transparent boxes began to make his eyes hurt, but no matter what he did, he could not make the boxes disappear.
“Off! Cancel! Disappear! Go Away!”
[[Are you feeling well, sir?]] Aidan said.
“This damnable skill I used. I can't turn it off”.
[[May I suggest something akin to looking for the skill’s help command? Perhaps there is one. Or perhaps the command sir used earlier would suffice]]
Robert slapped his forehead, “Of course! What would I do without you, Aidan? Exit”.
[[Probably starve, sir]] Aidan replied as Robert sighed in relief at the lack of pop ups everywhere.
After a moment of thought, Robert realised something. Aidan had suggested looking for the skill’s help command, with the idea that it might show him how to turn off the pop ups, but there was another possibility there. There could be secret commands for accessing the database of stats that were available to Robert, if only he could work out the way to access them. “U.D. abilities!” he said, but nothing happened. “Err... U.U. Skills! Wait U.D. Skills!”
As Robert finished speaking a box popped up in front of him. Like the other translucent blue boxes it was tangible to him, but could seemingly phase through objects if he pushed it against anything. It was very much only real to him.
Skills
Equivalent Exchange: (Active) Lv1, 1% Mastery.
- The ability to transform one material into another through touch. All exchanges must be completely fair and equal, else skill will not activate.
- Augmentation: Lv2, The Form Of Things
Identify: (Active) Lv1, 35% Mastery.
- The ability to study materials, objects and people to gain an understanding of them that fits within the parameters of the database.
- Augmentation: Lv3, Appraisal/Eagle Eye
“Exit”. In the short time that Robert had used his Identify he had already raised to over a third of the way to complete mastery of the skill. There seemed to be no cooldown to it, and the only downside was the headache that it gave Robert when there were too many pop ups in his vision. He would have to work out how to streamline it so that did not happen again.
The more important piece of information was that he finally knew what his other skill did. The surprisingly straightforwardly named Equivalent Exchange was not what he had been expecting, but he could not really say he was thinking of that when he first saw it.
As he mulled over what he had learned, there was a ding and another pop up appeared in front of him.
Congratulations! You have discovered a secret command! There are several secret commands to find within your HUD. If you find them all, then you will receive a prize.
+1 INT
SM: Find all the secret commands.
Find all the secret commands.
Reward: +1 to three primary stats, and +50% Mastery on a skill of your choice.
As Robert stared at the screen he could not help but feel he had discovered something incredible. The reward for finding all the commands was far more than either of the missions he had so far. He wondered if this was the norm, or if he had just got supremely lucky. Finally, he decided it was time to get a move on. He stood up and felt the entire ship shudder. The light fixtures in the ceiling flickered and flared into life as the meagre amount of power they needed to run flashed and crashed through them like a bucking bronco. Wave after wave of fluorescent light illuminated the hallway in front of Robert, but it seemed to have woken something else up in the process. Off in the distance there was a sound like a combination of a baby crying and metal being torn apart as slowly as possible. It was piercing and shook Robert to his very core, but he had no choice but to descend into the occasionally brightly lit hell that was the third floor.
“Exit,” he said as the light dimmed from the bulbs above him. The tremor was over and it was time to work. Any god willing, he hoped he would not come across whatever had made the awful racket before, be it man, beast or even machine. “Okay, Aidan, just to run things by you once more before we reach the point of no return. I just need to follow your directions towards the fault that is stopping the shield battery from firing up, find the fuse that is stopping everything working, replace the fuse with an empty visvitae tube, and then scarper back to the elevator that should now be working”.
[[Yes, sir. That seems perfectly accurate]] Aidan replied.
“Okay, good. So explain why shouldn't I put a full tube into the vent and why you can't just reroute the power flow through another subsystem”.
[[Sir, you seem much smarter than you were before. Has something happened?]]
“Answer me, Aidan”.
[[Yessir. You shouldn't use a full tube because it would vent pasma into your surrounding area. Beside the conduit there are two vents that work as a failsafe if that ever happened. They simply draw out the visvitae from the tube and expel it into the surroundings in a superheated form fifteen seconds later. If you got hit by the plasma then you might not die, but you would be grievously injured at best. As for your second question, I could reroute the system to allow the shields to work at maximum capacity, but the only ones that I could actually complete the circuit through is life support. It is far more practical to just fix this conduit and then let the shields be an isolated system than running it through another subsystem and risking they both fail]]
“Excellent. Exemplary work there Aidan. If that is all, then I guess we should be on our way”.
[[Sir, there is one more thing]] Robert stopped. There was a natural dread that had been built into Robert when he heard those three words. No one really had good intentions when they said the phrase ‘one more thing’. It was an anathema to a good mood or a steady heart, a tipping point for fear that would creep up and strike when the victim least expected it but could not blame anyone but themself for not remembering that one more thing. [[I do not have complete coverage of the third floor, so there are certain large swathes of the floor I simply cannot see or interact with. If you enter there I will lose contact with you until you return to a region I can interact with. There is nothing I can do about this, it is simply because the ship has sustained so much damage that I am so neutered]]
Robert sighed. “It was all going so well... No problem, Aidan. I will cope with it of necessary. Hopefully it will not be though”. He reignited the flare of his shock stick and began walking towards the first junction of the floor. He could only hope that this mission would be over soon.
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