My optics zoomed in to the center of the entire floor that sold cybernetics, towards the area where products from SocialCorp were sold. It was a surprise to see them here, as I thought they didn’t sell any cybernetics whatsoever, but a quick look at their area solved the mystery.

Their spacious area sold only one type of product, and it was immensely popular. Their area, which was ten times larger than the others, had various cassettes on display. They were an integral part of the sleep learning function on various SAID models that SocialCorp monopolized.

As I got closer to their booth, I could clearly read the labels on the various cassettes on display that showcased the various knowledge contained within them. Each cassette was also a testimony to the large amount of human experiments that went on to create them. It was one of the major challenges I faced when trying to replicate them, and one I hoped to solve with more upgrade points in cybernetics, along with the help of an AI overseeing the experiments.

Still, it didn’t hurt to continue studying the finished products SocialCorp had made, which was why I beelined to their area.

“Sir, how may we help you?” One of the salespeople immediately greeted me with a bright smile.

“Are all the models here for sale?”

“Yes sir. Whatever we have on display is available. Only the more specialized selections require a certain membership level to purchase.” He quickly held up a tablet to me that contained a large list for me to go over.

I leisurely browsed through them, which only grew my urge to buy them all. The only thing stopping me was the price tag that began at seven digits.

I held myself back and forced myself to buy only one.

“Thorne, get me away from this area,” I said as I put away my new purchase.

He smirked and took that as permission to drag me out of there. He headed straight for the integrated weapons and began browsing through the various limb replacements. I quickly noticed he had a penchant for models with blades, which wasn’t surprising considering what we witnessed at Ferrumus Station.

Too bad Ferrumus Corp kept their fancy weapons, that allowed them to cut through other vibro blades like cheese, to themselves. While only cyborgs could effectively make use of them by combining them with various cybernetics that boosted their speed and agility. I could see a lot of uses it could have if we attached it to a ranged delivery system.

When Thorne finally finished browsing the various offerings from various brands, we naturally made our way to the sections that carried neural reflex enhancements.

My employees were due for an upgrade. The ones with me today were all considered my elites, and it was only fitting for them to have elite equipment as well.

Neural augments were one of the best ways to increase combat effectiveness as it drastically improves its user’s reaction time. While all cyborgs, to some degree, had neural implants already to help them manage all their systems, a truly specialized model for combat was on a whole different level.

One of the main reasons I even kept up in combat nowadays was thanks to my own neural implant, the SocialCorp Lightning II.

I tried finding something better to replace it with, but there didn’t seem to be anything commercially available. Many of them required consultation with the corp that made it, but that was a can of worms I didn’t want to open. It was just too easy for them to slip in something malicious, so I had to add that to my long list of items to develop myself.

If only I could clone myself…

Our cybernetics shopping time was soon finished, only to be replaced with weapons and armor shopping time. This time, I simply tagged along while I was in contact with Amos, the local QG.

We exited the mall shaped like a reverse pyramid with a full haul. We had to drop by our hotel to offload it all before we could proceed to the new appointment I had just made.

With our rental spacecraft having gone through a nirvana, we needed to find a reliable spaceship mechanic to turn it back to its original form, as requested by the rental company.

It was a waste in my opinion, but I was set to pay for it either way because of the contract I signed. Well, my alliance would likely reimburse me for it, but it would leave me with a bitter feeling if I let the rental company get away with profiting even an extra credit extra after forcing me to turn their ship back to exactly how it was.

We arrived in the industrial sector by the docks, where various warehouses were. There were occasional apartment buildings with stores on the ground floor to service the workers around here, and our destination was at the end of the sector, where a rundown building at the edge was.

At the front of the aged building was a closed garage gate. It was wide and could accommodate two cars side by side. I found a terminal beside it and swiftly pressed it.

I waited ten seconds, then fifteen, and twenty…

And nothing happened.

I went to ring the bell again, and this time, Thorne didn’t even wait till ten before he stepped forward and spammed the button.

“Yes, yes! I’m here. Who is it?” A young voice finally called out from the terminal.

“We’re here on Amos’ recommendation. He says you can help us repair our ship.”

“The old man? Tell him he still owes me for the last job I did for him. I won’t do any jobs without seeing some credits first.”

“Yes, sure. As long as you can do a proper job.”

“Who do you think you’re talking to? They call me the Ship Right because I always get the ships right.”

The door buzzed, and it began to open.

We walked in to find what appeared to be an old parking garage but with high ceilings inside. There were various broken-down spaceships scattered around.

We heard a lot of activity coming from the center, that was blocked off from view by the other wrecks in here. After walking under one of the derelict ships, we spotted a stocky man welding a plate of metal onto the ship before him. His face was hidden behind the facemask that protected him from all the sparks.

When we approached, he turned around to give us a brief look before continuing his work.

“...Is that going to take long?” I asked.

“Yes, a good job takes time. And time is valuable, so hurry up and send over the files for the repair job you want done already.”

I didn’t argue and did as told while the man continued his work in silence. I gestured to the irritated Thorne and my security team to wait.

A couple of minutes later, he finally spoke up.

“I’ll need to go see it in person to confirm, but you’re lucky. It should be doable in three days, since I have the right parts in.”

I wasn’t sure if I could believe his words, but three days allowed us to meet the deadline with some time to spare. Though, I’d rather have this done before my return to Elevate City, so I don’t have to leave anyone behind to finish handling this.

“Any chance of speeding that up to a day or so?”

The stocky man pointed his blowtorch upward as he held both his hands up.

“Look at me. I’m one man with two hands. There’s a limit to how fast I can work. If you want to speed it up, then come help me yourself.”

“...”

 

---

 

“Hey, you! I said to mix this plating with 4.6% N76 steel, and 2% niobium. Why are you giving me this pure corpo stock shit?” The stocky man, whom I learned was called Grom, yelled out.

We didn’t have much to do before our scheduled departure, so I accepted Grom’s offer to help out with the repairs.

I treated this as a learning opportunity for my eventual expansion into space. I already learned that spaceships were a lot more modular than they looked. Almost every part was interchangeable with others that were drastically different in appearance. The entire mess hall I was in previously was a modular part in itself.

While I spent a lot of time in my workshop, so I knew my way around the materials, I kept being yelled at by Grom. He seemed to genuinely care about his work, so I couldn’t even get angry at him. However, working with him is still a challenge as he tends to mix up materials and their ratios on the spot. Suboptimal combinations that I’ve never heard of were made up on the spot.

I always believed using the minimum amount of materials for maximum integrity while keeping it light was the right way to go, but everything Grom did went against that.

“Is there a reason for combining all these materials instead of just selecting a superior one that already exists?”

“You Earthsiders may not have noticed, but ships come in sizes that easily eclipse the largest aircraft carriers to ever exist down on the planet. Your fancy materials don’t grow on trees. It’s much better to use whatever is on hand or can be cheaply purchased. They repair better too if their users find themselves in a pickle when away from a proper dockyard.”

I guess he is right in that repairs with specialty materials are much harder because they each differ in how they must be handled.

“Stop lazing around and get me those capacitors! And you boys! Hurry up and bring the next plating over!”

Thorne and Andrew’s team weren’t suited for the delicate tasks, so they were reduced to manual labor. They worked alongside the automated bots that performed the same task and it was frankly comical how they tried to outdo a computer.

Just as I was about to resume my work, an alert rang out in my ears.

‘Multiple individuals fast approaching.’ Kiri warned.

I quickly sent a quick message to my team while I glanced over at the garage door. The intermittent scans allowed me to see several highlighted targets approaching, and I began more detailed scans to verify their threat level.

The Argus soon informed me they were poorly equipped, so unlikely corpos, allowing me to relax.

The gates of the hangar banged out loudly before I picked up the voice of someone yelling.

“We know you’re in there, Grom! Hurry up and pay your dues!”

The person in question continued his work on the ship without a word, as if he didn’t hear them at all. If I could see his face, I’m sure it would be stiff and expressionless.

Now that I thought about it, I’ve never seen his face…He always wears the facemask no matter what…

“Get out here, Grom!” the banging continued.

I was a little curious, so I went ahead and poked Grom in the side.

“You have guests outside.”

“Screw off, I’m not deaf! You better concentrate on your own work and get me that composite layer printed.”

“Suit yourself.” I shrugged and went back toward the 3D printer.

Just as I resumed my work, a piercing noise rang out. It took me a second to recognize that noise as an industrial blade cutting. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that the guests outside had resorted to cutting open the gate when we could see sparks flying out.

I sighed and returned to work as we each busied ourselves with our own tasks.

It wasn’t long before our guests finished theirs, and a piece of the gate came crashing down onto the ground.

I watched as the outline of the half-a-dozen figures formed a single file line to enter. Just as the last of them came through, they all abruptly fell flat on their face and suddenly got restrained.

I turned when I heard a disturbing cracking noise when Thorne kicked one of them down.

He must have been bored and frustrated that he’d been reduced to a laborer…Maybe I should start teaching him about crafting delicate circuitry as well. It’ll be useful for him to perform repairs on himself.