Chương 19: Ch. 17 - Debt & Treasures

Central was about an hour away from B-Block while staying indoors. The same metal corridors widened and narrowed at seemingly random spots. But each time it narrowed was a checkpoint to the next block. It was called Central for a reason. It was in the middle of everything and it had everything. Shops, Restaurants, Guard Stations, Entertainment, Mom's new workplace. It was also the place I'd most likely find someone to buy at least some of the loot I had on me.

The first shop that caught my eye was "Pilot's Trash, Your Treasure." Shops were springing up and closing all the time, especially in Central. The entrance was through a bead curtain that jangled at the lightest touch. The inside was simly lit with random crap scattered loosely from the floor to the ceiling. From scrap metal to gems. But it was all an illusion, or projection more like. I pressed a foot at a piece of scrap closest to the floor and it went through.

The proprietor chose to display his shop like a hoarder house.

"One second," said a voice from somewhere behind the counter. There was more junk behind the table somehow but the voice was nowhere to be seen.

"Hello," I said.

"I'm looking to sell some stuff."

"Oh! More treasures!" A rough looking middle aged man with a reverse mohwak and white hair jumped from behind the counter. His hair was split down the middle and the hair he had left went in opposite directions. He had a thin build with a bubbly face.

"Please show me." He placed a tablet on the desk, the same way shops in the Dungeon did. These tablets weren't all that difficult to procure from my understanding. In the early days they were brought in by the hundred of thousands. I palmed the tablet and linked it with a simple press of the accept button. He gently took the tablet back, shaking it gently from the noticeable tremor in his hands.

"I see," he said.

"The treasure you have are from the early floors." He thought for a moment.

"But you have a good amount. And this stuff can be repurposed. I can offer five thousand credits for the lot." The items I had left were mostly scrap metal. All the expensive parts, the like the baby kaiju remains were taken by the tax man. I sighed, knowing those would've sold for at least a little more.

"Yeah. That's fine. If I trade some for store credit would you give me more?" He pondered a moment and showed a surprisingly full set of teeth.

"I can give, 8000 store and 5000 credits. Is that alright? Alright with you?"

"It'll work. Let's see what you have?" His face lit up like a beacon.

"Of course!" I have so many. Many things to offer. It's a shame most sold already, but I have what I have. And to a pilot like you. Very worthwhile."

"Do you have a 'Shift' module? That would be of great benefit to my young partner," said Caddie.

"No. No shift. Very rare. Hard to come by. But I have a few common upgrades. Still expensive. Easier to come by but still less than ideal. Strong pilots sell unneeded items to me. Other shops too. But me as well."

"Uh. Sure," I said.

"Let me see." He handed the tablet back and I swiped to the right. There must have been thirty pages of just junk.

"Caddie, can you help parse through this to find something I could use?"

"Of course," said Caddie.

"Done. He has an energy and mana module. Both E rank, but it is better than nothing. Especially with the new upgrade belt you got. It has my full recommendation." I eyed the price of 5000 and sucked through my teeth.

"I guess I could do a mana module," I said.

"Alright, let me get you all the stuff." I pulled from Caddie, item after item until my arms hurt. Each piece of scrap clattered to the ground until I formed my own little hoarder hill. Once I was done, I had to shake my arms from the workout.

"You wouldn't happen to know someone who works with augmentations?"

"Oliver can!" yelled the shopkeeper.

"I am Oliver. I can make. Make the augmentations. Is there a style you are looking for?"

"I recommend we find someone more skilled, Stefano. It requires a steady hand." Oliver shrunk, hiding his hands underneath the desk. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

"That was uncalled for, Caddie," I said.

"How do you know he can't do it?"

"Please, Stefano. Augmentations are delicate. A wayward loop could have it dislodged from your person. It's not just a fashion statement." Oliver was practically underneath the counter, making himself as small as he could. But a side of me understood that Caddie was right. Still, I knew what it was like to be told I'd never be good enough.

"How much?" I asked. Oliver slumped to the ground, ignoring my question.

"Oliver, ignore my companion. How much?"

"I really think you should reconsider," said Caddie.

"No. I understand your point, but worst case scenario it'll be like not having one, which I just did, twice. Oliver, how much?"

"I can do necklace for rest of store credit." I was practically stealing from him at that price.

"Alright, you're hired, Oliver." I reached into Caddie who, despite it's protest, let me pull the augmentations. They were like gems. Small and shining with a colorful brilliance. Changing colors every second. I placed each one on the counter. Oliver raised himself slowly to his feet, pulling the tablet from the counter and sending the 5ooo credits to my account. His shaky hand took one gleaming gem and inspected it.

"Can you make a necklace from them?" I asked.

"Yes. Will need a day. I will need full day." I grabbed his hand and shook it, holding a big smile on my face.

"Then. I'll see you tomorrow," I said. With the fresh 5000 credits, I needed to check how long it would take for Aegis to be repaired. And how broke I would be. Luckily, being in Central meant it was only another hour to get to the hangar bay. A thought crossed my mind that I should probably ask Luna for her contact info. The hangar was a buzz with a dizzying amount of pilots and mechs getting ready for after the reset. As soon as the radiation stabilized, the first groups would be sent.

Luna was somewhere, and it took me a while to find her. Or more precisely, her to get to my squad barracks. She was going back and forth between squads for the past number of hours.

"What fresh new ideas do you think the Dungeon will have to kill us?" said one pilot.

"How do you think I would know? But did you hear about Squad Lancer. Rumor has it they don't have to go to the first floor like everyone else. That they are starting at the third floor," said pilot two.

"What? You think they're bypassing floors? How?"

"If I knew that I'd tell you. It's an advantage for sure. They're not in the rut like the rest of us." Bypassing floors was impossible. But if it could be done, it meant you had fresh resources, a fresh squad and a game plan to get further. It meant you were cheating. I needed to know how that was possible.

"Caddie?" I asked.

"Is it?"

"It is possible," said Caddie.

"You would need a lot to make such a possibility work. For starters, someone with the tinkerer augmentation. A drop that requires S rank intelligence as a prerequisite." Luna made an appearance, just as I was about to ask for more information. She didn't sit. She just scrolled through her tablet like she wasn't picky on a dating app.

"I only have five minutes. Please be quick," she said.

"Alright, I'll cut to the chase. How much are the repairs going to be?"

"Ha! I have been running around so much that that wasn't a priority. But I'll check." She scrolled through the tablet a few times until finding the page she was looking for.

"It's estimated at 35, 300 credits." I was waiting for her to tell me she was joking. She didn't.

"Luna. I can't afford that. I'm a solo Delver right now. That and on top of the embark fees. That's so ridiculous."

"Sorry. I don't really have anyway to help. It would be hard to get to the third floor find a repair bay. Especially after the reset. I'm looking at your inventory. Why don't you sell some of the equipment you have? There is no point in sitting on it if you can't use it."

"No. Not going to happen." She paused, looked over my shoulder and pulled me aside.

"Look, you could take it on as debt. It'll give you one free pass. But you have to come back with everything owed and then some. I recommend you don't do that. I really really recommend it. Look under your sofa or start a swear jar. But you could." Her look was that of experience. Like she has seen others have this happen to. It meant I effectively had to make double. Alone that would be impossible. Alone… A plan was formulating in my head.

"What if you came with? I can help." She dropped her tablet. The screen cracked.

"You can't be serious. First, how did you know. Second, it's not like I can just drop what I'm doing and join a random squad. Every squad I've been sent to denied me when they saw my pilot skills. I'm not an asset" she said.

"Look. I'm technically squad leader right now. That means I can pick a crew. Caddie told me you went to the Academy. He told me about your pilot skills. It's fine. If we get you in a Tank, I think we can make something work. I'll be the guy up front and you help support me." She didn't say a word. I put a hand on her shoulder.

"Please." She nodded, her lip quivering.

"I guess you need my contact info. Are you sure? I'll be really pissed if you're lying to me. It will still take a day before the repair on your Aegis is complete. By then the rest of the squads will have already gone out."

"No. If I'm going to take on the debt, I can't make that much on my own. I need help. Please, Luna. And the squads clearing a path for us, works. There might be less, but it means we might be able to find you a tank on the first floor because not everything will be found." She nodded again, picking up her tablet. Caddie head butted into it before I could pull out my comms unit, spider webbing the screen even further. Luna was practically shaking.

Breathing in short quick bursts of breaths like someone just told her she won the lottery. In truth it didn't feel like that, but if Caddie was right, then it meant that she could get an tinkerer augmentation as a cache. Then it was a matter of doing what squad Lancer had done to skip floors. It wasn't something I could do now, but it would set the groundwork for the future. It meant I could, eventually, reach the 21st floor.

"I have her information. Welcome to the team, Luna Arashi."