I woke to a warm weight on my chest. Smiling fondly, I stroked Snuffle's head a few times before pushing him off, much to his disgust, as he grumbled, trying to get more pets out of me. Able to breathe once again, I relaxed until Snuffles decided that was enough rest and it was time for breakfast. Hopping up, tail wagging, he tried to drown me in licks.
I was so relieved that he was still a cuddle monster—even as a hunk of metal. More to the point, it was still nice, not as good as when he was a ball of fur, but the sharp edges of metal had been smoothed out, and he was still somewhat warm, care of the fusion reactor humming in his chest.
Laughing, I shielded my face. "Push off, I don't want to be licked!" I eventually got him off as he bounded to the floor and stared back at me expectantly. "Very well." Groaning, I delicately rolled onto my side and then off the bed to stand, only for my legs to collapse under me.
Laughing at the aching pain, I hobbled to get Snuffles his food. Leaving him to wolf it down, I considered getting back into bed, but in the end, got dressed. My loot was calling for me.
Once at my workshop, I set about what I couldn't be bothered doing yesterday: organising all the stuff I got from my delve. Most of the components I'd scavenged went into the various labelled bins around the room. Them put away, I moved onto the laser engraver, which I carefully took apart.
My Reverse Engineering gave me a rough idea of how to put it back together, but I'd need to fabricate some parts for it. Which reminded me. Putting them to the side but keeping them all together, I dragged the fab and, with a bit of help from Snuffles, levered it onto a steel workbench. Once drilled into place, I set about trying to fix the wires I cut.
And figuring out what the bloody things were.
At first, I thought they were power cables, but taking off the cover, I could see that it had an internal source. It took a bit of playing, but I figured it out, and it was a fucking pain. Most of the processes were internal. I could load scrap into it, and it would break it down, then use it to make the items.
It would need to be mostly the right material, like metal, glass, plastic and the like. The more it had to alter the material, the longer and more power it took. The only thing not internal? The designs.
Which blew my mind. I had to provide it with the designs. That was… kind of a problem.
I might be able to knock together a basic interface with my cogitator, but that would take a lot of trial and error. Signing, I left the incredible but currently useless machine in the corner and started to look through the chips and sword.
The sword was actually the easiest. I broke it down and stripped everything that wasn't the shield emitter from it. From there, I slowly deconstructed it, noting where each part went so I could rebuild it and figure out what made it tick.
By the time I put it away, I was confident I could get it working again, and once the fab was up and running, I might even be able to make something similar. Not nearly as powerful mind—the archeotech could stop a lascannon bolt before failing.
Tummy rumbling, I grabbed some food, then cracked on with the chips. I made sure the commander's one was set aside, but worked through the others. The first few I broke beyond repair, but I was learning, and by the eighth, I had a good idea of how to connect to them and what made them tick.
It was an interesting design. Something I might copy if I ever had a lab or something that I only wanted a few select people to use.
Lastly was checking over the bionics and robotics parts. It took a bit of fucking about and swearing, but I managed to break them apart and then hit a brick wall. They were far more advanced than A) I'd been expecting and B) I could actually understand.
I could still break them apart and learn something, but I would have to be very careful. Not something to knock out quickly. Securing them in one of my safes, I cleared up the last few bits and pieces, then stood in the centre of my workshop.
I was tempted to jump right into the programme for the fab, it would allow me to do so much, but I decided against it. I needed to do the stuff I didn't do yesterday. Locking up, I headed for the Pit.
---
"Gwen, how are they?" I asked as I stepped into the puppy care room.
Looking up from the squirming mass of puppies, Gwen smiled. "Very good, Aleric. Even the weak ones have improved. We are through the worst of it now, and they aren't at risk."
"That's a relief." Reaching over the waist-high fence, I patted the bitch. "Well done, girl. Well done." I couldn't help but chuckle at her; she looked so put-upon as the pups fought to get milk from her.
That was one of the first things I changed when I took over.
Gone was what best could be described as a puppy farm. But even that didn't do it justice. Hundreds of dogs were pumped out, the deformed or weak were culled, and the rest were thrown into a Hunger Games scenario.
Now it was far more caring. There weren't nearly as many dogs, but the ones we had were of a far higher quality and, more to the point, would live longer than a few years, unlike before.
I was lucky to get Snuffles when I did and to give him the supplements I did—he should live a normal length of time. Well, if I hadn't modified him with bionics. Even then, he wouldn't live that long, but getting into rejuvenation treatment like the nobles had was high on my to-do list.
Squeezing her shoulder, I asked, "How are you doing?" I knew how hard she took their deaths sometimes. How such a gentle soul could survive down here, I would never know, but I was determined to look after her. Not that I needed to at this point.
There were dozens of partly upgraded cyber mastiffs that would tear apart anyone who dared to threaten her. I'm not even sure I could command them to hurt her; she was clearly their favourite. And for good reason, she was a dog whisperer. She just understood them on another level.
She had far surpassed me in training and looking after them by this point, even with my eldritch knowledge, which said something. She had absorbed all I had to teach like a sponge.
"Yeah… good."
I didn't believe her for a second. Squinting, I stared at her, waiting. After a long pause, she finally blurted out, "Ohh… okay. I'm sad they didn't make it. If I was slightly faster, I could have saved the last few."
Sighing, I flicked her on the forehead, breaking her flow, before wrapping her in a tight hug. "I know Gwen. I know. But if you didn't get to them in time, no one could. We'll see if we can get some better scanners to look at them now we're having regular litters. Okay?"
"Okay." Was her muffled reply.
"Good. Now, why don't you introduce me?" I knew I'd asked the right question when her face lit up. "Ohh you are going to love them. This one is Fluffy. She is such a madam." I let her chatter wash over me, nodding in the right places and asking questions when needed, but otherwise just relaxed in the ruthless positivity that was Gwen.
I did snort at the name.
Naming them silly names had almost become a tradition by this point.
---
If I tweaked the data tethers, maybe that could work. It would let the proper sequence of connection protocols initiate. More to the point, it should let me actually save designs that work and get feedback from the machine on why it didn't print or had stopped.
I glanced round the meeting room. Everyone was still arguing over the bribes, so I quickly lost interest and went back to thinking through my fabricator problem.
The fabricator was ready to go, and I could even get it to print now and again. But it kept getting stuck, and I had no way to find out why. That meant restarting the build from scratch, a long and complicated process that I was very tired of by this point.
My programme was basic. It would never let me print truly complicated things, but it would print simple components incredibly well, down to the nanometre. Which might finally allow me to start working on my carapace armour. I had the know-how of which components, how they were made, how they fit together—everything. I just couldn't produce the parts accurately enough to create a suit.
It would take several iterations to get where I was happy with it and would only be able to produce a limited number, but having a custom-made, fully enclosed carapace armour would increase my survivability by a massive amount.
I jerked as I was dragged from my thoughts, first by a kick from Zardelle and then an elbow from Skyla. Refocusing back on the conversation, I caught the tail end of it. "Thank you, Hann. And the Pit?" Selina asked me.
Glad I'd been nudged, I said. "Going well. We've just had a new litter of puppies and are still seeing noticeable improvements from one litter to the next."
"What is our progress in getting them parcelled out amongst the gang?"
Shifting slightly in my chair, I now had a seat at the table. Some of the looks when I was invited to sit, rather than just stand near the back, were oh so sweet. Years of work paying off. I was fully in the gang now; there was no backing out, so I may as well go all in. So, a seat at the table to get some control over the gang was a must.
It had taken a while, but I deserved to be here. My place as Zardelle and Orleth's second helped massively. Combined that with my success with the dogs and I was all but guaranteed a place, not to mention my contributions from Peggi or my general fixing of important shit.
It was safe to say I was indispensable to the gang now. Which was good, but not all positive.
I gave Skyla, who stood over my shoulder, a nod to explain. She probably knew more than me anyway, but I wanted to make sure she got exposure at these meetings. It was incredibly valuable for her to get recognition in these meetings with all the higher-ups present. A sure-fire way up the ladder.
Stepping forward, she spoke with a clear, loud voice that screamed confidence, even if I knew differently. I caught the slight twitch of her jaw, telltale signs she was stressed.
"Slow but steadily picking up. We are still short-handed, and I estimate we need a few years until we will have full coverage."
"Good. Thank you. Zardelle?"
"We have a mission with the Magma Clade. We don't have all the information, but it looks like a standard mission. Sabotage a rival's factory."
"Status of the unit?"
Zardelle turned to me. "Aleric?"
"Good. All supplies have come in, except grenades. We are still waiting for a shipment. But otherwise, we have tested all the equipment, and it's good to go."
"Even the scrabber rounds?" I grimaced at that. They had been an absolute bastard to sort. They were explosive rounds for heavier calibre guns, mostly stubbers, but some autorifles could take them.
They were notoriously unreliable.
It had taken far too long for me to go through them, making sure they wouldn't blow up in our faces just by looking at them wrong.
Luckily, I could offload a lot of the work to others once I had made a process. Even so, it was a nightmare and not worth it in my opinion. "They're all ready. We still have a batch going through, so we'll still be topped up after this mission."
"What about the weapons? Didn't you mention last time, Zardelle, that your sword was fluctuating?"
"Yep, but Aleric has fixed that now."
Nodding, I said. "All weapons are 100%. All the backups are also ready to go. I have started working on other units when I've had time."
Lanto cut in. "You are working on Torq's people?" Nodding, I raised an eyebrow. He was the one to ask me to look at them first. They were another elite unit. Heavy hitters. More of a hammer than the scalpel of the Red Corsairs. "Okay. Slight change of plan. Can you look at The Talons?"
Blinking slightly surprised, I didn't recognise the name of that unit. "Sure?"
"It's one of mine." Peggi said. Ah, that would explain it. I rarely dealt with her people, mostly her and her second if they had a tech issue, but rarely with their teams responsible for more… aggressive intelligence gathering.
"Thanks, Aleric. So, what's next?"
Tapping the table, Peggi raised her hand slightly.
"Very well, Peggi." Selina said.
Taking a moment to gather her thoughts, she said. "As you all should know, but for those new members. The system governor is nearing death. The nobles are jockeying to get into position. Normally the governor's house, House Malbrex, would be uncontested. But with the ever-skyrocketing priest tariffs, their position has weakened. So, we can expect this to get messy; we know at least the House Valtorin are putting out feelers to take the throne. But there are dozens of others. How it will play out, I have no idea at this stage, but I think we should prepare for the worst."
"Any other news? We know anyone that might be trying for it?"
"Yes, House Nyrath and Caelith are carefully stockpiling supplies. Along with many of the guilds bound to them. We only know about it from our access to their systems. Otherwise, we'd have no idea."
"Hmm... so it's more than just a thought then?"
"Yes. Unless things change quickly and the governor's house position is strengthened soon, I'd say it is almost guaranteed."
"And we have what, ten years?"
"Yes. The data we pulled from his systems confirms it."
"As we feared." Selina said, nodding to herself. "So, what are our options?" Looking around the room, she met everyone's eyes at the tables.
"Another large recruitment drive?" someone standing asked.
"Lanto?"
"Could work. If we get a few thousand more, we can start training them, so when we take losses, we can replace them quicker. We can also double up the guards at our borders."
"Do we have the supplies for that?" Seleina asked Dressi, who was still the quartermaster for the gang.
"Depends on how aggressive you want to be. Now? No. But in a few months, we could start, depending on supply. But if other gangs and guilds are stockpiling…"
"Good point. Call in some favours and get as much as we can for as long as we can before the supply starts to dry up."
"Got it boss."
"Anything else?"
"We've got some autocannons." Orleth said. "They're fucked and basically scrap, but if Aleric can work his magic on them, we could use them as turrets at key positions."
"Aleric? Lanto?"
I glanced at Lanto, waiting for him to speak first. When he waved me on, I said. "It should be possible. At least, for the ones I looked at. But it'll take time; I would likely need to fabricate most of the parts. Unless we could get them?"
"No." Peggi said. "Maybe a few years ago, but not with current tension."
"So, yeah, I could, but it'll take time."
Humming, Lanto leaned forward in his chair. "I think it is a good use of your time. Some of them at key points would be very effective. How many do you have Orleth?"
"Ten reasonable ones and three that are more rust than gun."
"Okay. Ten would be very good."
"What about the nearby gangs?" Zardelle asked.
"What about them?" Lanto asked, his question was somewhat ruined by the approving look on his face.
Smiling at him, she answered anyway. "We have dozens of smaller gangs near us. Some in the larger settlements of the hive and a few out in the wastes. They are nothing now, but if they get funding…"
"Agreed." Lanto said. "Something needs to be done. The question is… what?"
Selina spoke first. "Don't stir up anything for now. Keep an eye on them, maybe pick off a few if we can do it quietly, but I don't want anything that can be tied to us. We don't want any more attention on us if we can help it."
"I'll see what I can do. If I can have your support on some of the operations. Zardelle?" Peggi asked.
"Always." she said, grinning.
"Okay, I'll leave that with you two for now. But keep Lanto in the loop."
"What about the cyber mastiffs? Can we get more of them?"
From my side, I felt Skyla imperceptibly tense up. Shifting, letting her know I would answer, I kept myself relaxed as I thought about how best to answer. I could increase the amount, but that would not only run the risk of decreasing the quality but also slide back into the puppy farm style we had before. Something I wanted to avoid if possible.
"Not at this time. In a few years, we might be able to. But our major problem is the handlers. To actually make use of the mastiffs."
"How many handlers do you need? Some of the new recruits could go your way."
I looked questioningly at Skyla. "We need dozens right now to finish the ones we have, but we will need hundreds if we want to expand." Skyla said, starting off sounding slightly unsure but gaining confidence as she spoke.
"With the two breeds we have, brakk and bulldrak, we have a good foundation, and they are spreading through the gang. Mostly at checkpoints or with hunting teams, but…"
I still thought they were silly names, but was outvoted. The bulldrak were a heavier, sturdy breed with thick fur, reminding me somewhat of a mastiff. The Brakk was slimmer and were the hunting dogs, very similar to labradors or golden retrievers.
I could see her hesitate, clearly having something else to add, but not wanting to. Catching her eye, I nodded encouragingly. Disagreeing with Selina was a good way to get noticed.
As long as it was for the right reasons.
And you followed her lead when she gave out commands.
"I don't think we should pull from the recruits."
Selina made to speak, but Lanto beat her to it. "Agree." Glancing at his second, also at the table, he said. Tulah, go through the trusted soldiers and veterans and see if there are any that are interested in becoming a handler. There should be."
We continued to talk around the subject a bit longer, mostly reiterating what had already been said.
"Anything else on this?" When no one said anything, Selina continued. "Good. Then what is the fallout with the end of the Tidefall?" Perking up slightly, I focused on Mira, Peggi's second.
"Nothing yet; we are still trying to get a clear picture of what happened. Alaric's account helped, along with several others that came out a bit before him."
"Were they involved in why the Tidefall ended so abruptly?"
"No, but we've been swarmed by Tech-priests. Making an educated guess, I'd say it was related to that crystal that was released from the containment fields. Regardless, we have hundreds of the priests poking around, same with the other settlements that have access to the ruins."
"What about the people that got out?"
"Their stories are more or less the same." Mira continued. "They got in, found some good stuff, a few relics, or data slides, that sort of thing and then got out as soon as possible. Ironically, it was the least experienced or smallest groups that survived as they didn't stick around."
"Did they bring anything out we need to know about?"
"Some of the information slides they had sent the Tech-priests into a frenzy."
"Do we know what was on them?"
"No idea." Peggi said, taking over. "But it got them active and sent out a handful of communications when they got the slides a few days ago. Even more have arrived, some bearing the mark of Archmagos Viel, one of the head Tech-priests in the hive. So it must have been important."
"Keep an eye on it. Now our protection racket and Enforcer bribes..."
Pretty soon, I zoned it out again and turned back to the problem spinning around in my mind. Turning it over, thinking of possible solutions. I was disturbed again, this time by people standing up. Finally, the meeting was over. I normally liked them more or at least paid more attention, but I was so close.
I made a quick circuit of the room, speaking to a few people before ducking out as early as possible to hurry back to the workshop. As I left, I nodded at the two guards by the door before glancing proudly at the cyber mastiff sitting by their feet. They were one of the bulldrak and not fully augmented yet, just the armour, jaws and sensory kit.
Still an intimidating sight.
They were some of our first success cases. We'd only gotten better since then.
At the other end of the corridor, still clearly a step above them, was Snuffles. As soon as I stepped out, he perked up, ears popping up inquisitively and catching sight of me, his tail started wagging, creating a clanging sound as it hit the wall. I swear, I only needed to attach a blade to it, and it'd become a lethal weapon. If it wasn't one already.
I could have removed his tail when he was converted; it made no difference to him, but I liked him having it. I didn't like them without, so all the dogs we bred had their full tails. "Come, Snuffles, back to the workshop."
Striding there, I nodded at some of the people I knew on the way, nodding in thanks as they moved out of my way. Which was very cool. People not asking, just moving out of the way. With crystal clear memories of my time as a child and having to duck and dive not to get flattered by a crowd, I took a large amount of pleasure from it.
More than I probably should.
Reaching the workshop, I let myself in, eager to get started. But a wine and a ball dropped at my feet told me I had other plans. Looking longingly at the cogitator, I shrugged.
Patting Snuffles on the head, "Very well. You want to play with the ball? Should I throw the ball? I'll throw the ball." Picking it up, I fake threw it. Snuffles just stayed there looking at me, unimpressed. "Too clever for that now, aren't you? Here we go."
Throwing the ball down the length of the room, Snuffles scrabbling after it. I didn't know if it was my aim that had gotten better or if he had gotten better, but we definitely had fewer accidents by this point. When I first started throwing balls, he was like a bull in a china shop—bumping into the furniture and knocking any parts left out all over the place.
Or maybe I'm just tidier. Probably that. I had organised bins for each of the components now, rather than the piles of bits and pieces I'd had before. It was Orleth who demanded I tidy up. She came by to grab something one time and refused to leave until the room was properly organised.
I would never admit it, but I was far more effective with the place tidy than I'd been before.
After half an hour, I decided to change it up; going to a drawer, I grabbed a handful of treats—a smoked meat of some kind. I had no idea what it was and, honestly, didn't want to know. But Snuffles liked it, and it wasn't harmful to him. I'd checked.
Calling him over, I said. "Sit. Wait." Making sure he was settled, not that I had any doubt that he was, far too well-trained. Although by his bum shuffled, wiggling in anticipation. He knew what was coming next.
I went around the room hiding the treats, breaking them into pieces as I did.
With the last one hidden. "Good boy. Find them. Find them." Off like a rocket, he ran to the last one I'd hidden. Munching it up, he haphazardly searched the room until he had them all. I swear, he had the best senses in the gang, probably the underhive, and he still followed the same seemingly random search pattern he did all those years ago when I did this the first time.
He found them all, so I couldn't really fault him. It was just funny watching him sniff around searching, looking at me to make sure there were still some to find. Going back to sniffing, looking at me, finding one. Getting all excited and then repeating the entire process.
Wanting to get to my work, I grabbed his Kong, a cone of some incredibly resistant polymer, very similar to rubber, just far hardier. Even his bite couldn't crush it, not that he was trying particularly hard. Popping in a biscuit I'd had commissioned by a lovely lady on the Bridge, I called him over, holding out a hand. "Paw. Good boy." As he placed his in mine and delicately took the Kong and ran off to the corner to play with it.
Once more thanking my lucky stars for spotting the lady, Florence, cooking. She was now a major supplier for us, getting us treats and biscuits for the dogs.
Finally, with some peace and quiet, I moved to the cogitator. Time to get this done.