After a few songs Alice called for a break, and then casually flopped onto the couch next to Jun.
Flirting.
I rolled my eyes, but she had been surprisingly nice this ti, so I decided to give her a bit of space.
I wasnt exactly thrilled that Fujimuras niece was into Jun, but I would just rely on my brother's denseness to romance.
Instead I headed into my room.
The Tachikoma part was completed, so I prepped the next piece, ssing with the printer making sure it was good to go, and started it up.
Considering I was giving Alice so space with Jun I decided to be semi productive and look at my stat sheet.
Level 17
Body 8(16) Due to Cyberization, Maximum value has increased by 8.
-Athletics 7
-Street Brawler 8
-Annihilation 5
Reflex 8
-Blades 7
-Handguns 7
-Assault 8
-Driving 7
Intelligence 11 (14) Due to Cyberization, Maximum value has increased by 4.
-Breach Protocol 9
-Quick Hacks 8
-Programming 11
Cool 9
-Ninjutsu 9
-Cold Blood 8
-Rockerboy 8
Technical Ability 6 (10) Due to Cyberization, Maximum value has increased by 4.
-Crafting 5
-Engineering 5
1 Stat point.
6 Skill point.
Perks.
Ambidextrous Blades 2
Quickdraw Handguns 2
Gun Nut Assault 2
Parkour Athletics 2
Grappling Street Brawler 2
Drive By Driving 2
Cat-like Athletics 5
Cool Nerves Cold Blood 2
Danger Sense Ninjutsu 2
Wall Breaking Breach Protocol 2
Cyber Security Quick Hack 2
Recoil Reduction. Annihilation 2
Cyber Ninja Ninjutsu 5
Fearless Chill. Cold Blood 5.
Improvised Weapons Street Brawler 5
Parry Blades 5
Robotics wizard Crafting 2
Drifting Driving 5
Rapid Reload Handguns 5
Design Wizard Engineering 2
Rifle Ace Assault 5
Ghost touch Breach 5
Perfect Musical mory Rockerboy 2.
Debug Programming 2
Siren Song Rockerboy 5
Hacking Wizard Quick Hacks 5
Inspired Programr Programming 5
A.I. Whisperer Programming 10
Slam Fire Annihilation 5
Enduring Builds Crafting 5
That was where I currently was. I looked through my stat block to try and figure out what I wanted to grind next.
Weapons popped to mind. I was a bit behind on gun skills still. But I wasnt sure I wanted to go to the range again.
Actually I did have Annihilation. I could grab a shotgun, or a machine gun Actually no, no machine guns. Shotguns were good though.
Also Engineering and Crafting still stood out Okay. Grenade ti.
I gathered so parts I had. I would stop at a shop and head to the Straight Lane Apartnts, to make so grenades since Jun still refused to let make them in the apartnt.
I was low on grenades after that one kid stole them from my Quadra.
I walked out to see Jun looking pretty uncomfortable, as Alice flirted with him, her hair was throbbing pretty quickly to the beat of her heart.
Oooh. Jun was in trouble.
Be strong Jun-nii. Its only a rockstar going for your innocence! Im sure no rockstar has ever defiled an innocent maiden before
Heh. I snickered as I walked through the apartnt. Im heading out. Gonna go build so grenades. You want any?
What, youre leaving? Are you sur- Wait!? What was that about grenades!? Jun called trying to rise up but I was already out the door.
I guess that ans he doesnt want any.
Slipping into the garage from the elevator I walked over to my Quadra and slipped in. Uncaring about the TC toughs that still hung out down here. I guess it was safe? Being down here kept the kids from being targeted by other gangs I guess.
I roared out of the garage, enjoying the way the Quadra got a little air at the exit every ti, I whooped as I slid into the street and then slowed down to the speed limit and drove to the gun store.
Buying a tric ton of supplies I carried the heavy box out of the shop and into the passenger seat of the Quadra before heading to the Straight Lane Apartnts.
Ti to get to work.
--
Tinkering with grenades was a surprisingly soothing experience. Future tech ant they were actually pretty safe, like handling C4. You pretty much knew exactly what it would take to cause an explosion and as long as you didnt do that one thing you were good.
I made a dozen of them using old parts before I ran into the problem of lack of supplies for the casings. Sure I had all the internals, and the triggers, but I had run out of the casings to hold everything.
I frowned. Normally I would head back to the apartnt to run the 3D printer, but that was already in use
Did I want to buy a new one? I was making a lot more stuff. I could probably get a way higher quality printer as well
I considered it as I spun around in the chair and took in the sight of the netrunning basent.
I shrugged. It wasnt like I could get any more work done here without either going out and buying casings wholesale, or making them myself. I packed up the grenades, noted that I had earned a Crafting and Tech alert from the dozen completed grenades, and grabbed the box of completed explosives to take with .
My Quadra was running low on big boom after all.
Heading up, I was stopped as the elevator opened by a pair of girls that I recognized.
Ah its you two.
And its you. The smaller one hissed glaring, but the taller girl rested a hand on her shoulder to calm her. We were waiting for you, hoping you might be willing to discuss sothing. She asked, and I felt my eyes narrow.
Last ti I had t these two, they had threatened Hiromi, and hadnt been happy to have us around. It had been a while since then though. So I guess sothing had changed.
I dont really have a lot of ti. I lied, But if you make it quick Ill hear you out.
Perfect. We are having an issue with a rival gang causing so problems. While we can certainly defend our territory We are a bit outgunned this ti, and wanted to hire you.
Call Hiromi then, and run the gig through her. Shes my fixer. I replied and made to move but the girl moved in.
Wait! We We told Hiromi we had everything under control! If she realizes we are struggling with our end of the deal we might lose the deal entirely. Please. Its just one group. We dont even need them flatlined or anything! They have higher end weapons is all. They made so deal with 6th St. So they have rifles and things. We just need them to lose the weapons. If they do, everything goes back to normal.
I sighed. This was dumb. Like literally dumb.
Okay listen. Hiromi is my best choom, so lets be real, hiring is still going to alert her. So lets cut all the shit. You guys are street kids. You arent ant to handle sothing like 6th St. Hiromi knows that. Just call her, tell her whats up. Ill send her a text right now. To look into it, and that well help out.
The taller girl looked nervous before sighing. Please.
Great. Call her! If she is being a bitch Ill talk to her, but I doubt shes gonna drop you guys like that. Hiromi had ntioned from ti to ti that the SLS was acting as her low level muscle. No way Hiromi would drop them just because
Wait, did these kids think Hiromi was so super fixer like Wakako or sothing Heh.
I turned and walked away to hide my smirk and my desire to giggle. I was gonna tease Hiromi so bad about how everyone thought she was so elite fixer!
--
Best model you can find on the market! The Militech marketplace also offers a wide variety of printable options for the discerning custor! The man said, patting a 3D printer with one hand.
This was now the third Militech branded printer he had shown .
Thats great, but I dont need a Militech marketplace. Im looking for sothing I can run on my own. Which this one wont. As I have to upload my blueprints to be able to print them. I argued for the third ti. It was actually a good marketing ploy.
The printer was cheaper, and pretty good quality. So by tying it into a local net marketplace Militech got free product to sell, and a constant inco.
And Im pretty sure I could jailbreak it, but I didnt want to deal with this! I just wanted it to work!
The Militech marketplace is the greatest concentration of-
Choom. Im not interested.
The man shut his mouth and then breathed out.
Yeah alright kid. You want sothing a bit more flexible, we got that too. Cmon. His tone had completely changed from the corpo tag line he had been hawking at .
He led over to the side of the shop that was sort of tucked away, and there I finally found what I wanted.
These dont have any corp support for production, but you know that.
I do. I said checking out the varieties he had. These printers would only work if I could input the model myself without any of the libraries that so of the other printers offered.
This one. I said pointing at a Vance T-Form. I had never heard of Vance before, but just checking out the printing details this is the one I wanted.
Figured youd grab that. The T are good, but be careful about buildup. They have a really shit cleaning system, so youll want to do it yourself. But if you do. They are solid. He offered hefting up the box that was pretty large, definitely so do it yourself building involved, but I paid and hauled it out to the Quadra to take Ho.
I would flip the printers around. This one could keep working on the Tachikoma, I would need tighter tolerances there anyways, while the old printer could be sent over to the Netrunner lair for grenade parts.
---
Jun wasnt ho when I got back, which made wonder if Alice had actually gotten her claws into him. But I ignored it heading into my room, taking out the Tachikoma part that was done. And unplugging and moving the old printer, to make room for the much much larger new one.
I started cackling as I put it together. So much power! So much building! Tachikoma!
Once I had it all settled and ran a quick test part to see.
It ca out smooth and within my actual tolerances. Usually the printer made things a bit wonky, but not this ti. It was nearly exactly what I wanted.
Perfect.
Satisfied I started on another part, and the tir for completion was certainly better than before.
Well, I still had my old one.
I popped the second printer onto the floor and started printing out grenade casings. Slowly working through the process as the new printer buzzed quietly working much much faster than this old one.
An hour later I swapped out the part being constructed for another build and took all the Tachikoma parts so far and started fitting them together.
I had enough of the outer casing done now that I could start putting together the brain and start fitting it together. I had the parts already, especially since it wasnt like I was building an AI here.
A SCSM would have about the sa level of intelligence as my Tachikoma, at least to start.
Then again Brendan was a S.C.S.M. Yet he was smart enough to make people think he was alive.
It would all co down to the iterative design, and my skill as a programr.
The brain ca together, just so hardware capable of running an OS. It was honestly basic, but it didnt need to be complex. I just needed the start.
With the brain put together, even with the body still only half completed. I grabbed my laptop and started programming.
--
I dumped the box of grenade casings onto the table down in the netrunner cave. I had a few hours before the piece of Tachikoma was done. So I had so ti to grind more crafting points.
I had made a lot of casings, enough that I wouldnt need more for a long ti. But really it was just a grinding thod. I probably wouldnt even keep all the grenades live.
My hands grabbed the basic tools I need and I went to work. Explosive fitted into the casing, electronic trigger connected to the chanical one, and then a final twist of a screwdriver sealing it all together.
I gave it a little scan with my Kiroshi, confirming it was live, and then put it to the side.
Then moved on to the next one.
And the next. All the while XP ca in small bursts.
*100 Technical Ability XP Gained*
*100 Crafting XP Gained.*
--
*100 Crafting XP Gained.*
*Crafting skill level up!*
Crafting six? Nice!
I had stilled as the alert ca in, slowly putting down the grenade I had been working on. I had dozens of the things now. Each one lined up to the side ready to be used.
I stretched raising my arms high above my head and groaned as I felt my muscles in my back stretch.
That had been a good grinding session!
Now what was I going to do with all of these grenades?
The idea struck and I laughed, instantly pulling up my agent to make a call.
*Ringing.* I humd a bit as the call went through, already gathering up the grenades into a box for transport.
*Ringing.*
*Hello? Motoko?*
*Ichi! Glad you picked up. You doing anything right now?*
*Nothing I cant put down, whats up?*
*I have a ton of grenades and I figured having so stored in your truck would be a good idea. Just in case you need sothing with a bit more boom, than the HMG.*
*Grenades? Motoko I dont really I dont think Im comfortable with that.*
*What? Why? Theyre just grenades Ichi.*
*Ive never handled grenades before Motoko. I dont exactly want to blow my hand off or sothing.*
I looked at my box of grenades, ones I had just been planning on storing and using sparingly
Then I started grabbing all of them and throwing them into the box.
*Ichi et at the Straight Lane Apartnts. Im calling Hiromi and Malcolm as well! We are running a grenade course.*
*Fuck Uh can I opt out?*
*Nope! This is an important skill! Plus it gives an excuse to actually have so many grenades! So Jun cant yell at anymore.*
*Where did you even get all these grenades from? Did you do a gig without telling us?*
*What? No. I just made them.*
*You Made them? Motoko-*
*Yep! Its easy. Like super easy. Dont worry they are safe! Hell they are safer than the ones you can buy bulk from gun stores and stuff. Dont worry! I made the whole thing myself!*
*Oh god.* He whispered quietly, but this was happening Ichi. Your boss at Section 9 demanded it!
*Okay! Hurry up. Im calling everyone in.*
--
I dont like this idea. Hiromi muttered but I ignored her whining as well. Only Malcolm had been all for the idea of practicing with grenades.
But I had gotten them all here now so it was too late!
Welco to the Section 9 grenade testing range! I called out waving behind at the bare desert.
This is just the Badlands.
Section 9 grenade testing range! I repeated, ignoring Ichis remarks.
Yeah! Malcolm called out, the only one of my chooms that was actually here to have fun.
I kicked the box I was standing over knocking off the lid, and all of my chooms even Malcolm jerked back.
Scaredy cats! Just because it was a crate of grenades!
Alright! So everyone co up and grab a grenade, just dont twist the top and we wont have any issues. If you do accidently twist it just throw it far away, but lets not do that! First off. Get a feel for the heft of the grenades! They arent that heavy!
Malcolm instantly walked up to grab a grenade, while Hiromi and Malcolm both stayed far back.
Cmon! Both of you! They arent going to hurt you unless you dont know what youre doing and thats why we are here!
As a fixer, I dont think grenade usage falls under my job description. Hiromi tried to argue.
I just drive. I dont do combat much. So I dont think I need to know this. Ichi added a mont later.
Dont be silly! Hiromi! Combat skills are very important even to a fixer. What are you going to do against so corporate hatchetman squad coming to kill you if you dont know how to toss high explosives at the bad guys until they are just chunky burrito mix? I said while pointing at Hiromi, then I switched to Ichi making him flinch.
And you! Throwing grenades out of your car's window at gonks chasing you is a very useful skill! You both are learning this. I demanded stomping my foot causing the crate to shift and Ichi and Hiromi both flinched back.
Wow this is pretty nova Motoko. You made this? Malcolm asked, looking over the grenade he had picked up.
Yep! The cap on the top is a tir. The more you twist it the shorter the fuse, while the large pin is the safety. As long as you are holding that no explosion. The tir cant go under one and a half second. So you should be able to throw it far enough to be safe as well. At the max it has a ten second tir!
Why so long?
Traps! Pop two or three set the tir and run. Ten seconds is a long ti, more than enough for most gonks to think wherever you were is safe to run to now.
Malcolm nodded, taking in my wisdom.
Hiromi and Ichi were still too far away.
Get over here and grab a grenade or Im throwing them at you! I called out, and that finally got my chooms moving. Hiromi first, with Ichi following behind as both of them walked up to the crate and gently pulled a grenade out.
Okay so like I said, get a feel for it. First thing we are doing is so test throws! Without popping the tir we are going to see how far you can throw it!
Preem. Malcolm said walking over to where I was on a little hill, and then chucked it over to the other side. Malcolm had a good arm!
Nice distance! Youll be able to really freak people out with surprise grenades! I said while throwing him a thumbs up.
Malcolm smiled happily at my words.
Hiromi and Ichis turn!
They both tossed the grenade and I winced as Hiromis didnt quite go right, instead throwing almost too far up, as it landed on the hill and then rolled back towards her.
A-ah!?
Its okay. I called out walking over and grabbed the rolling grenade, I checked just to be safe, but the prir wasnt started. Well work on your throw first. I ntioned without saying that Hiromi would have blown herself up with that throw.
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