Chương 609: Chapter Eighty-Five - M.E.O.W, That's Right!

"There's no such thing as cyberpsychosis. That's an urban legend started from the prevalence of certain pieces of literature and video game media. There is, however, cyber-dysmorphia, the discomfort brought about by having a limb or body part replaced by a synthetic. Strangely enough, some people are more comfortable when their synthetic replacement has less in common with their organic parts.

The separating being clearer and more obvious makes it far more comfortable to handle than if the replacement prosthetic is poorly designed to look like the part it's meant to simulate." --Lecture by Professor Wells, 2046 There's actually another option as far as mechanized units go.

"Oh?" I asked. I was still looking at the smaller, lighter mecha that was apparently within my now very much reduced price range.

"What's that?" Since you want to prioritize protection, what about a heavier, more armoured frame? It wouldn't have the stealth capabilities of your previous machines, but it would make up for that by being significantly harder to damage.

"Throw it up on the projector," I said with a gesture to the spinning image of the fast scout mech. It flicked away, and was replaced by a whole new cat-shaped mech. This one looked... fat? Like an overfed house cat. It was one chonky boy, with relatively short legs. The legs looked like they were mounted on pistons thicker than my thighs that could shift the entire thing upwards. This motherfucker was armoured though. Big plates of curved armour, looking like something off of a world war two tank.

The fuck-off large gun on its back reinforced that image some. It was mounted in the centre-rear of the mech, in a large, boulbous turret.

"How big is that gun?" I asked. 155 milimetres. I nodded, then looked over the rest of the cat. The 'paws' were massive things, with fat wheels beneath them, those sorts of not-quite-ball wheels that some robots used, only they looked reinforced. They'd have to be to support all that weight on them. This unit, the Mechanized Exploration and Operations Walker Mk IV is designed to endure maximal amounts of damage, both kinetic and explosive, as well as from acidic attacks.

The cockpit has a self-regulating environment, capable of being closed off from the outside world for years at a time.

"Damn," I said.

"What about other guns? I mean, that big one's... big, but I wouldn't wanna use that on a model one. Bit of overkill, you know?" Of course. The model shifted, and some of the armoured panels slid open to reveal spaces where gimbal-arms could move out of the mech. Two at the front, two at the rear. They held small machine-pistol looking things. Again with the low-calibre guns, but... yeah, they'd work against anything below the twenties.

Another pair of sections at the front moved back, revealing two holes by the front 'shoulders' of the mech, on either side of its head. These are a pair of 75 millimetre cannons. Small, but respectable. Their traversal is extremely limited, however. The mech has a self-detonating ERA system. Explosives that you can detonate the moment an enemy nears without damaging the mech itself. Holy shit... that was kinda rad. I worked my jaw, then narrowed my eyes.

"Wait, what was its name again?" The Mechanized Exploration and Operations Walker.

"The... M. E. O. W?" I asked.

"Myalis, what's the other mech's name?" The Cybernetic High-Efficiency Exploration and Tactical Assault Hybrid I sighed.

"Yeah, of course. How much do they cost?" The M. E. O. W. Mk4 comes in at a respectable seventeen thousand. The CHEETAH at a slightly lower sixteen thousand five hundred. I worked my jaw as I thought about it. Myalis had the hologram split to show off both mechs at once, including their price tags. The difference was... not much, honestly. I made more than that in an hour. A good day of work would give me more total points than either mech cost, and viewed that way, it wasn't a terrible deal either way.

But I didn't have the points for both, even if I was rather tempted to get both. My brand new Bastion deserved to be filled with lethal amounts of mechanized war mechs. I had ideas for others too, but imagined that it would be better to hold off for a bit.

"Damn," I muttered. Having a difficult time? How about we focus on something else for a moment? You mentioned a passing interest in self-modifications?

"Huh? Oh, yeah." I looked around, then found a convenient seat to one side of the garage on top of a workbench pressed up against one wall.

"So, I've done the skin thing, my hair, which is more cosmetic I guess, and I've got some organ shit. That leaves, uh, muscles and bone, I guess? Like, if I want a baseline improvement across everything?" This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. That's a sensible way of looking at it. Yes, I think I would suggest a change to either if you wish to continue improving yourself physically. Did you have any preference?

"Muscles would be nice," I said as I flexed my one bicep.

"But... eh, I don't need to be much stronger, and I want to survive better. Not so much be faster or stronger or whatever. So... bone? How would that even work?" There are plenty of methods to replace your skeleton. I believe most of these methods fit on a sliding scale of intrusive to unintrusive, depending on how brave you're feeling about full-body transplants.

"Right," I said, stretching the word out.

"That's way too far. Got like... really good vitamins? Space milk for stronger bones?" I think I can offer something better than some calcium. How about bone sheathing?

"What?" I asked. A bone sheath is a covering placed over your natural bones, usually made of a material that's tougher than the bone itself. It's essentially bone armouring. Good sheathing can extend between bones as well, filling in the gaps of your ribs, for example, and creating a more solid connection where you have ligaments. I nodded along.

"That makes some sense. How much tougher are we talking here?" Not that much, I'm afraid. Common human bone sheaths use titanium alloys as a base, but I'd suggest a graphene-magnesium alloy. Quite light, relatively durable. Harder and stronger than your current bones, though don't expect your bones to suddenly be unbreakable. Right, I imagined that unbreakable would either mean thick and heavy as shit, or something very alien in nature.

"And installing this?" A simple procedure! A spool is inserted through your skin at the base of your spine and a small army of nanomachines carry strips of the alloy out through your body and weld them together over your bones over the course of two to three days. That would be the least intrusive option.

"Huh," I said.

"And I won't feel it?" I asked. You'll weigh about four kilos more.

"I thought this shit would be lightweight?" I asked. Catherine, lightweight isn't weightless.

"How much?" I asked. I was ready to flinch at the answer already. Seven hundred and fifty-six points. That was... not that bad, actually.

"Cheap," I said. That's assuming you don't mind taking something that will require some time to install itself. It's nowhere near the cutting edge of what you could have, but I believe that it's your best current option before moving into the full-body-replacement territory, in which case saving a few points may well be worth it. Yeah, that made sense.

"Okay... yeah, let's do it." New Purchase: Graphene-magnesium bone sheathing Points Reduced to: 24, 561 New Purchase: Nano-regenerative surgical suite Points Reduced to: 24, 261 A decently large box appeared before me, about as big around as a basketball, though it was a little flatter. I opened it, and discovered a sort of plastic... bin thing, with a large strap running around it.

"Is this... a fucked up fanny pack?" I asked as I lifted it. The plastic shell was hard-ish, with some squishy padding on the interior. Place it around your lower waist, beneath your clothes. I'll alert you once it's ready to be disposed of. I frowned, but did as she said, tugging up my shirt to expose my stomach and back, then biting the hem to hold it in place while I fit the pack on. The belt was wide but just large enough that I could buckle it on the front.

"Feels weird," I said. It wasn't that heavy, but it was certainly obvious that it was there. You'll only need to wear this for a few days. It's hygienic enough, and you can shower with it on. Tense up for a moment.

"Huh?" I asked, then I tensed up as several pin-like things poked me in the back.

"Ouch, fuck!" I snapped. There, incisions complete! Congratulations on your ongoing bone improvement procedure!

"Thanks," I said flatly. Have you come to a decision with regards to the mechs?

"Hmm... not yet. Lemme ask Lucy what she thinks. Plus she's gonna wanna have a look at the Bastion too. It's kind of a big thing, right?" Lucy would help, because she was the best, even if she didn't know jack or shit about this kind of thing. She'd probably pick the one that she felt was cutest, or the one that would keep me safer. Eh, either way was fine by me.