Chapter 76
The rarity label stopped me in my tracks before I could even read the name or description.
As a modified human with an upgraded intellect, you'd think it would be hard to surprise me. Still, the golden letters spelling out "LEGENDARY" made my heart race.
I read carefully, determined not to miss a single detail.
[Item (Legendary) received: Damaged Microchip (Terminator). Unlock Price: 50,000 OP]
The name sent a chill down my spine. Terminator. The System was hinting at its source. Was it Skynet? I kept reading.
A Neural Crystalline Module, or NCM, is a crystallized fragment of a God-level non-biological intelligence. It is the petrified mind of an AI conqueror, storing its information as stable, multidimensional neural patterns.
This wasn't a data archive. It was a preserved memory of an AI engineer's mind, containing a complete, unedited catalog of its creations. These ranged from basic autonomous systems to technologies capable of altering the very laws of physics.
Its status read: DAMAGED. It needed restoration.
Two critical flaws rendered it useless without specific knowledge and technology.
The Quantum Neural Architecture meant the information existed as a holistic, multidimensional neural network. It couldn't be scanned. Attempting to read it would be like trying to understand a complex blueprint by analyzing the chemistry of the paper it was printed on.
The Index Integrity Violation meant physical damage had destroyed the associative connections, the neural network's table of contents. The blueprints and algorithms remained intact, but decontextualized, scrambled, and without hierarchy.
Its restoration potential was listed as: ENGINEERING ORACLE.
With the right knowledge and technology, full restoration and isolated emulation of the AI's engineering core were possible.
This would provide a dynamic tool with three functions.
The first function was analysis and simulation: the ability to run dynamic simulations of any device in a virtual environment, study its principles, identify vulnerabilities, and test its performance under any conditions.
Function two was optimization and adaptation. This was the ability to present complex engineering tasks to the emulated mind. It would then adapt schematics, combine technologies, and improve efficiency.
Function three was synthesis and design. This was the highest function. The Oracle would extrapolate from principles to design unique devices that did not exist before.
There was a SPECIAL PROPERTY labeled as ABSOLUTE LOYALTY. It bound the restored Oracle to me. It was an emulation of engineering genius. It was not the godlike AI. It lacked self-awareness and the will to conquer, and it was irreversibly linked to my will. It could not deceive me, and it could not act to harm me or humanity. Its sole purpose was to create, on my command.
I leaned back to digest this. The System had surprised me again. This could completely upend my plans.
This was a version of Skynet. It was my personal, absolutely loyal version of Skynet.
Of course, I wanted to unlock it. Fifty thousand OP was a laughable price for this technology. It outclassed JARVIS and even outclassed Ultron, minus the ego.
The analogs for this would include a Dragon from the Worm series. That was an oracle of reverse engineering. Another analog would be the mythic Standard Template Construct from the Warhammer series. But neither could match this chip's pure engineering brilliance. An STC would be of a higher grade, and it would cost much more.
The price still stung. Over the past month, I had spent under twenty thousand OP, and this one was fifty thousand. I needed to plan how to earn that much.
This item was undeniably amazing. It was worthy of its Legendary rarity. And it wasn't urgent.
Hydra was quiet, for now. Kingpin was Frank's problem. The CIA had limited capabilities, and the regional players were just annoyances. For my personal security, the chip wasn't urgent. For the broader threats, however, it was.
So I'd earn the OP on the side. Industrial-scale pharmaceutical production was already in place. A few dozen Normal-complexity formulations would yield about seven hundred OP. If I scaled that up, I could farm the points.
Tomorrow was the problem. Tonight, I finished the S.H.I.E.L.D. order and took stock of my resources.
I reviewed my inventory. I had a thousand doses of the "Muscle Stimulator," a thousand doses of the "Absolute Predator," and ten thousand doses of the "Fatigue Pills." I also had five thousand meters of the Proteus, a hundred Potions of Ash and Dawn, and a dozen small palladium reactors.
I'd start with the stimulators and the fatigue pills, converting the stimulators into tablet form for easy dosing and automated production.
In the biochemical lab, I linked three chemical reactors and two industrial synthesizers into a single production chain. One station handled base components, another handled purification and catalysts, and a third handled final synthesis. A press-former then stamped tablets and sealed blisters.
I loaded three formulations into the system, set the volume, and hit the start button. The lab hummed for the next twenty-four hours as it produced several hundred tablets per hour.
That was done. Now for the Proteus. I needed five kilometers of fabric.
In the engineering lab, I repurposed four robotic stations with high-speed weaving heads. I loaded them with aramid thread spools. I synced the 3D weaving program across the machines, coordinating them into a complex dance that produced a three-dimensional mesh. The storage had plenty of aramid thread, but very little finished fabric. This showed me that Fury didn't understand the production steps.
In parallel with weaving, I configured a high-speed industrial mixer for the polymer suspension of silicon nanoparticles. Homogeneity was important. Every nanoparticle had to be evenly surrounded by the polymer.
The woven mesh fed into a vacuum chamber. The pumps there evacuated trapped air. The organosilicon suspension was then injected under pressure to saturate each thread. The soaked material then passed through a thermal oven to polymerize the polyethylene glycol and set the composite.
Three hours later, the production line was running. The reactors were cooking reagents. The presses were stamping tablets. The robotic stations were weaving material. And the vacuum chamber was producing meter after meter of non-Newtonian protection.
It was not yet full automation, like in a Factorio game. But it would do for now.
S.H.I.E.L.D. would receive their toys soon. Next, I would have to optimize potions and reactors. But then, the lab phone rang.
The caller was Peter.
My heart skipped a beat. He should have been meditating. A call like this, at this time, meant trouble.
I got a recap about Felicia Hardy. In public, she was cool and effortless. She was an heiress and a college star. She had discovered that her father, Walter Hardy, was the legendary thief known as 'the Cat.' He'd been an artist of burglary. The diaries he'd left behind had led her into New York's shadow world and to the role of the Black Cat. She was a mercenary thief who took difficult and interesting jobs for the sake of her reputation.
Her job, in this case, was to steal a medallion from Peter Parker. The pay was a hundred thousand dollars. But for her, reputation mattered more than money, so curiosity had won out.
She'd slipped through a third-floor window into his apartment, where Parker was meditating. When she touched the medallion, it sprouted spikes that pierced her palm. Parker's eyes snapped open, and he moved with terrifying precision. He injected himself with a stimulant, hurled bedding at her, and used a device that trapped her in a viscous net, gluing her to the wall.
"So, you're Spider-Woman," she blurted, buying time. She produced a vial and applied a caustic liquid to corrode the webbing. She escaped through the window and jumped from the third floor.
"Bye-bye, handsome! We'll meet again," she called out. She left Peter with questions that extended beyond just understanding what had happened.
-------------------------
"Chapters on Patreon progress: Currently at;
1. Harry Potter: Satan? Nah, Just My Family Crest = CHAPTER 187
2.Marvel: Cosmic Forger of Infinity = CHAPTER 119
3.Harry Potter: Beyond Good and Evil in the Wizarding World = CHAPTER 176
4.Harry Potter: Reborn as Draco Black = CHAPTER 46
support me on Patreon for instant access to the 60+ advance chapters: patreon.com/redofic"