“It’s always fun to try out new Class 1 weapon types. Occasionally you find something new that you can add to your arsenal, and now and then you have to go apologise to some poor civilians when their house explodes.”

  -Samurai “Whoops” shortly after the incident causing his renaming.

  I let Rudy do the honors of cleaning out the remaining bits of hive, and after buying some disco-ball looking thing from my Esoteric Single-Use Explosives Catalog that shot out a bajillion lasers what was once a planetarium-sized room filled with evil plants was now a planetarium-sized room filled with evil plant smoothie.

  This tunnel was just as ominous as the first, and this time we didn’t have a drone to go scout ahead for us. Rudy did consider getting a new one, but visibility was a much higher priority in the near pitch-black cave and he instead purchased a set of goggles that had both infrared and night vision functionality. It was a likely bet that we were going to face up against a bunch of Antithesis, so getting the confirmation of the drone was somewhat redundant.

  As for me, I had a completely different purchase in mind. “Cal, I need a way to throw a punch.”

  I decided to roll my eyes and politely ignore the snort of amusement that I heard from behind me at the time.

  Finally addressing your crippling lack of range, are we? Well, I do have several firearm catalogs that would help alleviate your current shortcomings at a-

  “No guns,” I deadpanned.

  Just teasing. Don’t worry, I didn’t miss the specific choice of words that you used and I think I have something that would be right up your alley. From the Class I Hex Crusher Armaments Catalog, the JAB Ranged Attack Module is almost exactly what you are looking for.

  I blinked, then blinked again. Mostly in befuddlement. “There is no way it’s actually called that.”

  JAB, in this case, stands for Joule-Assisted Ballistics.

  Didn't that technically describe like… every type of gun? “That still sounds fake.”

  It might be. Regardless, the module would essentially allow you to convert the kinetic energy produced from your gauntlets into a ranged attack by transferring it into a specialized fluid compound and expelling it as a form of solid-state plasma. This usually requires an individual setup to fulfill, but this specific purchase would instead work as an add-on to your Newton Mark III gauntlets, as they directly interface with each other even before my modifications.

  Something about that last part struck me as odd. “That’s…quite convenient, isn’t it?”

  Correct, because the Newton Mark IIIs were originally designed by the Hex Crushers. They also just so happen to fall within the purviews of the Kinetic Melee Weapons Catalog, hence their inclusion in the Class II version.

  Quite the coincidence, wasn’t that? Actually, I doubted that it was a coincidence at all. Knowing Cal, as soon as I locked into my use of gauntlet-focused combat he intended to move me towards that specific catalog. “Who even are these Hex Crushers anyways?”

  Oh, you’d like them quite a bit. Six-armed, eight foot tall behemoths specialized in melee combat. One of the Protectors’ more reliable front-line species despite being relatively young to initialization, only a few thousand years ahead of humans. Brutish, crass, but most invigorated in the throes of battle. A lot like you, actually.

  Okay, that last part definitely felt like a back-handed compliment, and I even gave a snort. “Let’s get back to the JAB. What’s the range?”

  Somewhat dependent on how much energy is put into the expelled fluid, but fifty feet is a safe estimate. The fluid can technically go as far as one hundred feet, but any more than that and the plasma itself will start to dissipate. Unlocking the Class I Hex Crusher Armaments Catalog would require 180 points, then purchasing a twin set of the JAB Modules would be 240 points in total, 120 for each arm. The canisters each come with about 100 shots, and the reload would be 15 points each.

  I let out a hiss. Just above 400 points was more than I was expecting for what was essentially my equivalent to a handgun, but I guess that's par for the course with how non-standard it was compared to the much simpler firearm. Maybe that was just the miser part of me throwing a fit. At least with the ammo capacity, the weapons would pay themselves off very quickly.

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  …Yeah, this was the right choice. “Sold.”

  Unlocked: Class I Hex Crusher Armaments - 180 Points

  Point Total: 1569

  Purchased: JAB Ranged Assault Module x 2 - 240 Points

  Point Total: 1329

  Two attachment…things appeared on the floor directly in front of me. They looked quite similar to Rudy’s disc launchers actually, just a solid black like the rest of my gear instead of the white and gold of his setup. The one exception was the fluid, contained in a tiny glass canister in the module and letting off a soft gray glow after just the slightest of shakes. Each module snapped perfectly onto the Newtons just below the wrist, leaving the JAB's nozzle facing out right above my hand.

  The literal glow of the attachment grabbed Rudy's attention. “New equipment?”

  “Yup. Cal, tell me how to use my new toy.”

  Activation is based on the position of your thumb. Place it on the side of your pointer finger when in a fist, then punch forward.

  I obliged, throwing a half-serious punch out into the darkness of the tunnel. The exact moment my arm was fully extended a silver bolt of plasma blasted out of the gauntlet at impressive speed. My punch tilted a bit too far to the left, causing the bolt to careen into the side of the tunnel and take out a small chunk of the hardened surface before sputtering out.

  “Oh, that's beautiful.” A soft cackle let itself out from behind my lips. I'd have to work on my aim, as it was a little more complicated than ‘point-and-shoot’, but once I figured it all out any single digit within ten paces was dead.

  Actually, speaking of equipment, I took this chance to holler back to my freshly minted Samurai cohort. “How's your gear coming along, by the way?”

  “Almost where I want to be, just about two hundred or so points shy of where Lycia said would be the bare minimum for the setup I had in mind,” he replied, before pausing for a second. “Actually, I should probably just buy the first part now since I have the points. “

  A second later a small box appeared into his palm, one that I recognized as having a very familiar set of two discs. Just as I did before, he put a disc on his neck and temple respectively and was promptly assaulted with searing pain.

  Now it was my turn to snort. “New augs?”

  “Yeah…” he groaned, holding his head. “A warning would have been polite.”

  “Nah, it's all a part of the new Sam’ experience.” Fairly certain what I said was bullshit, but I wasn't exactly going to tell him that. “Better than other possible hazings; trust me when I say that you don't want to get hit by a Model Five's spines.”

  “Ooh, I heard those are far from pleasant.”

  “Mhm, and it sure doesn't get easier the next three times.” Rudy visibly winced at the statement.

  He started looking around the tunnel we were in and its whole lot of nothing, which confused me until I registered that he was testing his new purchase. ”Oh, that’s much better.”

  “What fun toy did you get?”

  “Pretty standard aug-gear, just with the ability to interface with any drones that I buy down the line. Would even have worked with my old drone had it not been wrecked at this point. My old ones were…significantly under par to say the least, hence why I needed the tablet.”

  An older response bubbled back into my mind. “A cosmic fluke of metal and wiring,” I mumbled to myself, holding back a chortle.

  “What?”

  “Nothing. I’m guessing you’re planning drone-focused weaponry?”

  He made a so-so motion with his hand. “Kind of yes, kind of no? Less that the drones will have weapons, and instead that the drones will be the weapons, if that makes any sense. All I know is that I should never have a gun in my hands with how terrible of a shot I am.”

  “Hey, no-gun solidarity,” I cheered lazily, but my mind went back to something else from earlier. “By the way, I saw Campbell giving you one hell of a death stare back there. Uh…any idea what that was about?”

  Rudy blanched for a second. “That…could be a number of things. If I were to guess, it's probably because I’m a Samurai now. He’s talked about wanting to be one, but killing Antithesis as a part of your regular and not initializing from it is a pretty blatant disqualifier. So it must be irritating for someone like me to be one now, when I can best be described as…a bit of a pussy.”

  My eyes narrowed at that last part. “...I’m gonna guess those words were used by Campbell himself. Don’t use them. And who cares if you're a Sam’ and he’s not? Sounds like a problem he needs to work out for himself. Just don’t let him push you around because of his unresolved dirty laundry, alright?”

  Rudy opened his mouth, but no counter argument followed, instead remaining silent for a moment. “...Fair enough.”

  Our brief chat was cut short by my mask’s sensors, raising my hand up to see what the commotion was about. No surprise that it was Antithesis, but the readings were noticeably louder than before.

  Must have been enough that even Rudy’s unaugmented ears could make out the incoming stampede. “Sounds like they are bringing out the main force this time, Max.”

  “Yep.” Thank god he couldn’t see under my mask, as I was probably showing a very disturbing face again. “This is where the real fun begins.”