Chapter 19: Young Girl
Maxwell stood waiting for the large gate of Crimson Fastness to open, revealing the ready figure of Spyglass.
"Welcome back, sir," Spyglass greeted in its emotionless robotic voice. Its sensors immediately locked onto the bloodstain on Maxwell. "I've detected an injury on your flank. This may compromise your combat effectiveness."
Maxwell simply shook his head, downplaying the concern. "It's nothing serious. The nanites have already closed the wound. It won't interfere."
"Sir, if I may ask," Spyglass tilted its head slightly, its glowing eyes flickering with curiosity. "Which version of nanites are you using, sir?"
Maxwell shrugged. "They're basic models, nothing too advanced."
Spyglass's eyes flashed with a critical tone. "I strongly recommend upgrading to a newer, or at least less outdated, version. Your repair and regeneration functions would be exponentially enhanced, along with eliminating the magnetic weakness."
Maxwell gave a short, carefree smile as he took off his pilot helmet. "Later. For now, how are things here?"
"I have good and bad news, sir. Which would you like to hear first?"
"Start with the good news, Spyglass." Maxwell stretched his body, the tension from the previous battle slowly fading away.
"The ECHOnet has been fully formatted, and all databases were successfully preserved. We've accessed a vast amount of information on Atlas infrastructure and a complete map of Pandora."
Maxwell nodded in satisfaction but raised an eyebrow. "And the bad news?"
Spyglass hesitated for a moment, as if processing the best way to report the situation. "One of the Marvins… seems to have been possessed by an unknown entity while removing hardware belonging to Hyperion. It has requested to speak with the leader of the operation, which would be you. The Marvin has been contained in a secure cell, awaiting your assessment."
Maxwell sighed heavily, massaging his temples. He already had a nagging suspicion about who might be behind this "possession."
"Her, huh? It was only a matter of time," he muttered with his eyes closed. "I just hope Angel doesn't have a daddy complex. I can't let her be used by Jack or I'm screwed. A large part of my systems are based on technology, not to mention my implants and the Titans in the future."
Without opening his eyes, he asked, "And Tannis?"
"Dr. Tannis is at the Crimson Enclave, analyzing the bodies of the Guardians that fell in the previous battle. She's also conducting extensive tests on the technological remains of the Eridians."
Maxwell nodded, still processing the information. "Tell the Marvins to start dismantling the ECHOnet servers and antennas. We're transporting them to Dead Island before Knoxx gets here. With Steele dead, they won't take long."
"Understood, sir. I'll relay the order immediately."
As they walked through the corridors of Crimson Fastness toward the cell where Marvin was held, Maxwell changed the subject. "I want to know how the Underdome is doing. Is the owner planning any events?"
Spyglass adjusted its posture, preparing to give a brief explanation. "The Underdome is running its usual matches, where bandits, Pandora creatures, and mercenaries are pitted against each other in bloody combat. It's a chaotic place but quite popular. However, the only information I could gather is that the owner of the Underdome is looking for a husband. The proprietor is Mad Moxxi, a well-known figure for her violence… and her attractive physique, sir."
Maxwell scoffed. "Moxxi is a classic femme fatale, but she goes beyond that. She's a skilled mechanic. She could be useful in building more Marvins. After I regenerate, I'll look for her, maybe participate in the Underdome to catch her attention."
"Speaking of regeneration, I need some mental exercises. Any recommendations?"
Spyglass nodded. "That's a pragmatic choice, sir. I recommend reaching out to her soon. As for mental exercises, chess is an excellent option. It develops complex strategies and sharpens reasoning skills."
Maxwell gave a slight smile. "I'll consider it, but see if you can find one for me. Let's see if your logic programming is any good at chess."
Finally, they arrived at the cell where the "possessed" Marvin was detained. Maxwell looked at the machine, not noticing anything unusual at first glance. But as he approached, the Marvin turned its head, as if sensing the movement.
A female voice came from inside the machine, soft but laden with authority. "Maxwell Williams. Former pawn of Atlas. Now a deserter."
Maxwell rolled his eyes. Trying to scare him? A good tactic if he didn't already know who it was and if he wasn't the living embodiment of the Revenant.
"Who are you? Identify yourself, or I'll destroy this tin can," Maxwell feigned ignorance. He didn't want to scare the girl. He needed to be seen as an ally. After all, it wouldn't be attractive for Angel to escape one dictator only to fall into the hands of another.
The female voice, undisturbed by the threat, replied calmly. "Interesting. I've never seen a robot like this before. Quite advanced by Pandora's standards."
OK, fuck the cautious approach. Maxwell only knew how to be diplomatic with his weapons, he urgently needed to hire someone to do it. That's what the money was for.
Maxwell grabbed his Kraber from his back and aimed it at the Marvin. "Can you see this thing? I killed a Siren moments ago; I have no patience for games."
"I don't doubt anything, Maxwell, but I'm not your enemy. I'm here to help you. My name is Guardian Angel." The Siren quickly explained, fearing he might pull the trigger. The Marvin was the only thing in Pandora left connected to her.
She could feel various technologies in the man's body in front of her. He was like Wilhelm, a friend of her father who had an addiction to installing implants in his body. Although Wilhelm dreamed of becoming a complete cyborg, she didn't expect Maxwell to follow the same path. No one was as insane as Wilhelm.
"I don't see how a Siren working with Hyperion could help me." Though he said that, Maxwell still holstered his Kraber. "How cute, now I have a guardian angel. Can I call you Angel? It doesn't matter, I'll call you that whether you want it or not."
"You're mistaken, Mr. Maxwell. I'm just an artificial intelligence, and I wonder what makes you think I'm part of Hyperion."
"You can stop the act, Angel. I'm not a Vault Hunter who'll obey the first person who promises me a path to the Vault. My robots removed hardware from Hyperion from the ECHOnet. There was no AI inside, which leaves only a Siren," Maxwell chuckled in amusement. "Get to the point; my time is valuable."
Angel fell silent, alarmed at how easily her father's plans had been seen by a random man in Pandora. Upon realizing her identity had been compromised, she wanted to retreat, but Maxwell didn't seem like he would capture her and sell her to the highest bidder.
She decided to follow the plan for now. It didn't help that she felt curious about how a figure had appeared out of nowhere on Pandora and was messing with everything, from Atlas's plans to Hyperion's.
"You're in danger. With Steele's death—"
"Yeah, yeah, I know. Look, Angel, I already knew the consequences of killing Steele. If you want to help me, just keep quiet about what I'm doing here on Pandora, lie to your superior, and I promise I'll free you. Deal?"
Angel stayed silent, her thoughts chaotic.
'He's guessing that I'm a slave to Hyperion and that I'm just helping him to be freed?' Angel concluded that it made sense. Sirens had high bounties and would be used for experiments or have their powers exploited for some corporation's benefit.
Angel felt momentarily scared, but she didn't have much time left and had to make her decision quickly. The mere thought of finally being free crossed her mind. It was quite tempting to finally live her life.
But she knew her father well, and he wouldn't let her go easily. Angel was the reason for Jack's rise in Hyperion; without her, he couldn't stay safe in such a predatory corporate environment.
Deep down, she still loved her father and couldn't abandon him in such a hostile place. She was too good of a soul to do that.
"You know, you seem conflicted, which is bad enough to make me reconsider my offer. But I have an Eridian Guardian supposedly coming after my ass, and I need a Siren on my side. So, let me rephrase."
"Be my double agent for now. Feed your superior with half-truths. Then we'll figure out your freedom problem, okay?"
The Marvin nodded, signaling that Angel agreed to his terms.
"Great, now do me a favor and create new passwords for these ECHOs." Maxwell opened the cell and handed the Marvin a dozen ECHOs.
Angel tilted the Marvin's head in doubt but still obeyed Maxwell.
...
A few hours later, in Jack's private office at Hyperion.
Jack was leaning back in his chair, staring at the feed of a hologram, a frown on his angular face. His heterochromatic eyes quickly darted across the screen.
"Angel!" Jack shouted, running his hand through his dark brown hair. He had been analyzing the latest news from Pandora for hours and was close to tearing his hair out.
"Yes, father?" Angel's voice quickly responded.
"What the hell is happening on Pandora? Steele was killed, the Vault key was lost, and where the hell are the Vault Hunters?" Jack was doing his best not to explode with rage.
This was his chance to boost his promotion, maybe even get the Hyperion president's chair. But that would only be possible with the discovery of the Vault.
A victory against the superpotency Atlas would give him a lot of reputation, not to mention put them on equal footing, with the help of Eridian technology, which was responsible for Atlas's current dominant status.
"Father, the ECHOnet servers were shut down on Steele's command, and shortly after, an unknown individual invaded Crimson Fastness and killed all the Atlas soldiers..." Angel paused, preparing to do something she had never done before. "This person formatted the ECHOnet system and removed my anchor from the server. I was forced to contact this person before I lost total connection with Pandora. In our conversation, I managed to deceive him with a false promise to help him retaliate against Atlas."
"You spoke directly to this person?! Wait! Was it him who killed Steele?" Jack's eyes were frantic; there was too much information to process.
"I'm not sure, father. He refused to give any information."
"..." Jack didn't care much. Someone had attacked an Atlas base and stolen the ECHO server. Killing a high-ranking Atlas officer wouldn't be the last crime this person would commit before the sunset.
"And the Vault, any information? Does this person intend to open it?" Jack's only hope was that this person would open the Vault and get killed by the monster inside.
"Nothing, he didn't mention the Vault. He seems like any other Pandoran and is skeptical about the existence of any alien treasure."
"Good, but Atlas won't stay quiet knowing their commander was killed. There are too many soldiers on Pandora to be left to die. I expect another high-ranking officer to be sent soon." Jack turned his attention back to the hologram, focusing on taking advantage of the situation.
Angel remained silent, feeling conflicted about her emotions. She felt guilty for lying to her only family and something that could only be described as apprehension. Nervousness with a dash of adrenaline?
Angel, however, was no fool and wanted to closely analyze Maxwell's personality before deciding anything. She wasn't a Vault Hunter who would trust the first person to promise help.
Chapter 20: Regeneration
Maxwell was seated at a steel table, facing Spyglass, focused on the chessboard between them. The metallic sound of Marvins transporting heavy equipment echoed in the background, as the machines worked tirelessly, loading Maxwell's truck, Samson. Boxes filled with disassembled servers, communication antennas, and other vital devices were being carefully organized in the cargo compartment, ready for transport.
It had been a week since the operation to dismantle the ECHOnet servers had begun. The process was meticulous and controlled, as any mistake could compromise the vast database they were trying to protect. Time had passed almost imperceptibly for Maxwell, who engaged in tactical discussions, coordinating equipment movement, and taking a few rare but necessary breaks for rest.
As Maxwell made his next move in the game, a smile formed on his face. "Checkmate," he said calmly, moving one of the pieces on the board and fixing his gaze on Spyglass.
At that moment, a notification appeared in his interface:
[INT: 49 > 50]
Spyglass blinked its single eye, analyzing the result logically. "It was a good game, sir. That makes it 277 x 3. You're improving rapidly. Would you like a rematch?"
"You don't need to remind me of that fact." A vein popped on Maxwell's forehead.
Before Maxwell could answer the rematch, the door slid open smoothly, and one of the Marvins entered, possessed by Angel. She walked toward the table and unceremoniously placed several ECHOs on it.
"I've created new passwords for the devices, as you requested," Angel said softly. There was a pause, and then she asked, with a curious tone, "Why exactly did you need these new passwords?"
Maxwell picked up one of the ECHOs and twirled it between his fingers before responding, a nearly imperceptible smile forming on his face. "I just wanted to test the limits of my Data Knife," he said, his voice casual but hiding the real reason. It was a lie, of course. He had been doing this for days and had already hacked several ECHOs.
Maxwell connected his Data Knife to the first ECHO, and the hacking process was almost instant, fluid, and without significant resistance. The screen in his interface flashed quickly, confirming the success of the operation. He picked up the next ECHO, repeating the process until his system screen flashed.
[New milestone reached]
[Technophobe: Breach 25/50/100 technological devices]
[(X) - Double Agent
(X) - Echo Vision
(X) - Neurolink]
[Neurolink: Cogito Ergo Sum. I am Am, I am.]
Hackathon: Greater affinity with all existing programming languages, and a familiarity with hacking and breaking into security systems.
Recon Scan: You can now see the status of other beings (Physical condition, skills, and weaknesses).
A satisfied smile grew on Maxwell's face. It might look like cheating, but as people say, work smart, not hard.
As Maxwell watched the screen, he felt a massive influx of information about technology, hacking, and system-breaking, though at a basic level. At least now he wasn't so dependent on his Data Knife for tech tasks. His curiosity piqued about inspecting beings' statuses, and he turned his attention to Spyglass.
On the Recon Scan display, Maxwell saw the following information about Spyglass:
_____
Name: [Spyglass]
Race: Robot
Age: [2w, 3d]
[STR: 10] [END: 190] [DEX: 30] [INT: 400]
Skills: [Data Analysis], [Logistics Coordination], [Tactical Support], [Enhanced Sensor Range]
Weaknesses: <Corrosive> <Electrical>
_____
'Guess it was pretty dumb of me to expect a water weakness…' Maxwell shrugged internally. At least now he understood why he had lost so many times at chess.
If he wasn't mistaken, Neurolink was a passive from some Apex Legends champion. Though he was familiar with all the characters, he knew it belonged to a Legend focused on hacking and espionage technology.
Maxwell stood up from the table after finishing the hacking and turned to Spyglass. "I need a private place. I'll be spending some time alone, and I don't want to be disturbed."
Spyglass nodded. "Of course, sir. One of the old lieutenants' rooms at Crimson Fastness should meet your needs. It's quiet and isolated."
Maxwell was guided through cold, metallic corridors to the designated room. Upon entering, he noticed it was just a space with a table and chair. It seemed the Marvins had taken his order to clean the place seriously; they had even removed the lights from the room.
Closing the door, ensuring he was completely alone, Maxwell muttered to himself, "This'll do," before sitting comfortably in the chair.
He then focused and asked the system to begin installing the new implants he had acquired: Double Agent and Echo Vision.
He didn't want to do this near Angel, as she might notice implants magically appearing in his body, given her technological affinity.
He felt a slight pressure in his ears, a tingling sensation on his skin and throat as the system worked, integrating the new functions into his body and mind. The installation was a success.
[(Augments) Double Agent: Your papers appear to be in order…
Capable of replicating the external appearance, voice, clothes, and equipment of any person. Does not grant the physical or psychic abilities of the mimicked individual, being only a visual and auditory illusion.]
[(Augments) Echo Vision: Keep it. I have 20/20 hearing.
Drastically enhances the pilot's auditory capabilities, allowing them to perceive even the smallest noises in their environment. The implant features an advanced function that converts sounds into visual data, creating a "mark" in the pilot's vision that reveals the exact position of enemies based on the sounds they produce, such as footsteps, heartbeats, and breathing.]
"Ask them to nerf me, now I've got wallhack!" Maxwell laughed as he used his new implant and saw Spyglass, Angel, and the Marvins through the walls. Tannis was still at Crimson Enclave, so she was too far to detect.
Turning off Echo Vision, Maxwell opened his status screen.
_____
Name: [Maxwell Williams]
Regeneration: 0 (+)
[STR: 50] [END: 50] [DEX: 50] [INT: 50]
Skills: [Trigger Discipline lv.23] [Blade Mastery lv.48] [Mithridatism Constitution lv.12] [Assassin's Instinct lv.60] [(Temporary) Skagtropy]
—
Functions: [Hangar] [Questboard] [Most Wanted List]
Credits: 179
_____
Inspecting his stats, Maxwell mentally patted himself on the back. He had worked hard to reach this level. Although he knew he would start from scratch again, as a Titanfall veteran, he was confident he would rise quickly. The system was a faithful copy of the game he had mastered.
He pressed the plus sign next to "Regeneration." A new warning screen appeared before him:
[Years of battle have taken their toll. We can regenerate you... at a cost.]
[Your body can be restored, but much of your muscle memory and attributes will be lost. You'll have to earn everything back in battle.]
[Upon waking, you will respawn as a next-generation pilot.]
[Would you like to proceed to the next generation?]
[Y/N]
Maxwell pressed "Yes" without hesitation. Within seconds, a feeling of lethargy took over him. His muscles relaxed, and his eyes grew heavy as sleep quickly overtook his body. He tried to stay conscious, but the room around him darkened, and soon he fell into a deep sleep.
When he opened his eyes, Maxwell was greeted by a screen full of system notifications floating in his vision. His mind was still a bit foggy, processing the return to consciousness after the Regeneration procedure. His body, though incredibly healthy, felt strange, as if it lacked all the agility and strength that had once come naturally.
[Regeneration Complete]
[All attributes reset to 10]
[+100c]
[New skill acquired! Fast Learner]
[Fast Learner lv.1: I'm built differently.]
[Transcendent: Your body and mind are trained faster. Now you can surpass the human limit by ten points.
Prodigy: You master your skills faster and can now create your own skills.]
"Cool, it's not like the game, but at least I can create my own skills now! Quick fingers and cooking, winning the hearts of maidens, here I come!"
[New Hangar Tabs Unlocked!]
_____
[Weapons]
[Gear]
[Augments]
[Robots] (Unlocked)
[Medicine] (Unlocked)
[Vehicles] (Unlocked)
[Titans] (Locked)
[Civilian] (Locked)
_____
"What's the point of leaving Civilians for last? Is the system afraid I'll go down a Sims route?" Maxwell scoffed. "At least it knows the Endgame is building a galactic empire, hehe."
[As a reward for your efforts, you can choose 1 item from each unlocked tab!]
[Keep up the hard work!]
Maxwell rubbed his eyes. Now, that was news to him.
Since when had his system become so generous? It was used to handing out mere crumbs of credit!
Maxwell didn't say anything. He didn't want the system to change its mind and just expanded the hangar to choose the best items.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS
Querubim_
Querubim_
Is it just me, or are the images on Webnovel no longer loading?
I was wondering if you could see the images I posted in the auxiliary chapter.
Weekly Power Status
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