Two construction bots carried a newly-made top half from the Assembler.

These top halves were designed to make use of the Assembler bots modular patterns. Each Assembler bot was effectively two halves joined together.

The bottom half was mostly four legs, merging crab-like into a central part. Attached to this weighty central part were two medium-sized manipulator arms at the front, which folded together in a cross-armed manner when not in use. Rising from the central part where the legs joined, there was a central tower-shaped portion. This central portion contained the bots processing units, primary battery, and other crucial pieces. It was the most expensive and difficult to create portion of each bot, and he only had resources in the Assembler's banks to make so any.

The two construction bots placed the top-half on the ground, and stepped back. A mining bot came forward, following Nicolai's orders to swap.

It spread its two back legs wide, anchoring itself. Its two front legs placed their first joint on the ground, similarly anchored, then reached back and grasped the two hookable grooves either side of its upper mining-setup portion, aided by the arms which unfolded to grasp and steady the load.

In a smooth movement it disconnected internally and pulled the upper half off from itself. This upper half was composed of medium armour that slotted around the tower part, as well as the two large, heavy limbs used for mining, and its head with the various sensors and cameras plus self-defence laser on top.

It placed this on the ground and took a moment to return to standing, then positioned itself in front of the newly made combat-bot top-half. There it performed the same process in reverse, putting the new part onto itself. This one was even heavier, the armour thicker.

In only a minute it had finished slotting on the new top-half on and stood once more, now a combat bot. It looked similar to the mining and construction versions, only this had very different limbs. On one side, its arm was equipped with a heavy 50 BMG machine gun. On the other, a minigun chambered in 7.62.

Fortunately for Nicolai, since gaining the Assembler he didn't have to buy ammo at the Trade Link's inflated prices, instead simply making his own. The only problem was that the vats of necessary materials were far from infinite, and not everything could be gained by processing rock and ore.

Thus for now, less resource usage was better. He didn't want to produce a small army of bots, then not have the resources to provide them ammo. This was another reason he'd chosen this resource-saving method. It would be much cheaper overall to just create a maximum number of bottom-halves, then top-halves to swap out as necessary. If he needed lots of miners, he could have them all swap to mining halves. If his base was attacked, he'd have them equip every available combat-half.

###

'Friends! Comrades! Survivors!' cried Maxine to the crowd who'd come to fill the area before the Headquarters. Their upturned faces blinked up at her, illuminated by the blue glow of the Trade Link and the patchy white lighting from nearby shanty buildings.

There came a murmur. It was not what Kleos would have called a cheer, and certainly not what he'd have called "spirited." He thought the crowd seemed tired, worried, and ragged. Or more precisely, Maric thought and that thought arrived in his head. Either way, he agreed with the assessment.

'Today is a great day!' Maxine announced, undeterred by the lukewarm reception. 'I have much wonderful news for you all! However, before I get to that, there is one brief speck of sadness. I am afraid food rations will be undergoing another minor reduction, as will amenities, due to the ongoing points-tag shortage.'

There came a great groan from the crowd, peppered with angry shouts. Kleos made out one furious cry of, 'Give them all back, you thieving bitch!'

Perro, beside him and Maric, sighed. 'They just don't understand…' he muttered. 'She tries so hard.'

'But let me continue!' cried Maxine. 'You may remember that all had to turn in any guns they were holding, over a limit of one primary, one sidearm? After all, we do not want some few to horde an unnecessary number, when others have none.'

The crowd grumbled that they did indeed remember.

'Well, with this I have discovered that we have an excess of guns! Yes, we are excessively armed and ready for anything!'

She paused hopefully, inviting a cheer. The sullen crowd gazed up in silence.

'As such,' she added quickly, 'I now decree that all members of the combat forces shall be exempt from the gun limit. Those brave warriors need to be free to use whatever equipment they deem fit, out in the field, as they fight for us!'

A couple of people grumbled in a way that could, maybe, have been considered positive.

'Not only that, but we have gained two new members!' She gestured towards… him and Maric.

The pair stood tense as hundreds of faces swivelled to look at them, people craning to see over one another.

'These two are natives of this world,' continued Maxine. 'They know many ways to help us! For starters, a method to fix the elevator! Yes, soon any who wish to venture to the ground and back up, shall be able to travel in ease, rather than walking up and down hundreds of steps!'

The crowd actually fell into a bit of chattering at this, some looking actually excited, and Kleos even saw some smiles.

'I said I might know,' hissed Maric worriedly.

'Not only that, but they have promised to help us find a solution for the Seed problem! No matter what, all shall be able to finish their Seeds! Yes! For too long have we struggled, our Seeds uncompleted!'

There was a moment of silence as the crowd processed these words. Then some people let out actual cheers, which quickly spread to the rest of them until there came a full-throated massed shout of happiness, people jumping and waving their hands, hugging and high-fiving.

Kleos and Maric watched, wide-eyed. You are able to do that, right? Kleos asked in a sudden hiss.

Don't fear, replied Maric. It merely requires some slightly more complex ritual.

Good. These people may become quite angry if these promises don't show up.

Quite, thought Maric glumly.

'Beyond that, I have another piece of news. As you know, earlier today my second in command, Vikrum—' she gestured to Vikrum, who gave a vague wave, '—was able to venture into a new place. A place called the Phantom City, which Heaven has seen fit to allow some few to access. He is our scout and agent in this city! A place, I now know, where all kinds of things can be found, much of them good… but some, some I'm afraid are quite bad.'

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

The crowd, now fully invested and hanging on every word, grew hushed at her suddenly solemn tone. Maxine gestured to Vikrum, who took a step forward, clearing his throat.

'In the Phantom City I saw someone you all know well.'

You could've heard a pin drop.

'A man known here… as the Betrayer.'

'Viper,' the crowd hissed in a hundred voices.

One of those hisses came from Perro beside them. Peering down, Kleos saw the youth wore a grim expression.

'For a long time, he has operated in the shadows,' continued Vikrum. 'Plaguing us from the jungle. But no longer. Now we know how to find him, and we can deal with him!'

The crowd roared. 'Get him! Hang him! Kill him!' they shrieked dementedly.

'He has to pay!' yelled Perro exuberantly. 'He can't keep getting away with this!' he shouted, voice cracking.

'Operations have begun!' Vikrum cried, shaking his fist in the air. 'We are making use of every available avenue to hunt him down!'

Maxine moved back to the fore, patting calmingly at the air, and the cheering gradually subsided. 'So, my people. Not only are we stronger than ever, and poised for greatness, but we may soon find vengeance on our greatest enemy. Until then, we must be strong, we must endure! Thank you for your time!'

The people kept cheering for some time as she stood up there and grinned and waved.

Kleos and Maric exchanged raised eyebrows, and a mutual thought. Nicely done.

'I thought you were a fan of Nicolai,' asked Maric, looking curiously to Perro.

'Absolutely not,' spat the youth. 'H-he betrayed us! He just… just left us! He might even be out there in the jungle, coming back to steal things!'

'Could be, could be,' said Maric, nodding. Kleos could feel the man didn't care either way, was just being friendly.

Kleos snorted loudly, sneered at the boy and at Maric when they looked at him. 'Betrayed you? Because he had things to do, places to be? Because he didn't make looking after you the purpose of his life? Pathetic. And this idea he's coming and stealing random trash from you people is ludicrous.'

Perro paled, eyes widening. 'What do you know?' he snapped angrily. 'You were just a head on a table!'

'Exactly. I was there the whole way through. You and all your friends would be dead if not for him. I listened to all of you, jabbering on endlessly. Prior to meeting him, you were all running and hiding, living lives fraught with danger, barely surviving. Then he saved you. For his own aims, yes, but he still saved you. By no means was Nicolai perfect. But there is no denying the fact that, as you people might say: He got shit done. And you benefited greatly from what he chose to do.'

That may not be a wise opinion to share, came Maric's worried thoughts, poking into his mind. He had a flash of Maric's point of view, gazing out at the crowd.

They're not near to us, and too busy celebrating over Maxine's distractions and promises to hear my words in any case, Kleos replied dismissively. Stay out of it. This child has irritated me.

Perro stared at him, mouth open, face ashen, as he tried to process the words.

'That's… that's not…' he began, only to trail off.

'Yes?' Kleos prompted. 'Go on. Go back, remember. Where were you, you and your friends, before you met Nicolai?'

'I mean, yeah… we weren't doing great…' mumbled the boy. 'But we probably would've…' He trailed off.

'Survived? You think so?' Kleos smirked. 'I don't.'

'But he lied to us,' said Perro, scowling. 'That's been proven. He used us!'

Kleos raised his palms, shrugging like he'd seen Nicolai do, just for fun. 'If you were dying, and someone offered you medicine… but in repayment, they wished for your service, and while you gave that service, at times they were not honest… It does not change the fact that they saved you. If they made use of you, and gained from it—you do not owe them anything. But nor can you claim that they acted unfairly.'

'Ehh,' broke in Maric.

Kleos shot him an irritable look.

'It depends, does it not? On the service, on the struggles. Perhaps if the one doing the service had to give so much, endured such pain, and the service lasted so long… does there not come a point where saving their life was not enough, that more should be given in payment?'

'Ones life is the greatest repayment,' Kleos snapped. 'It outweighs everything else.'

'Highly debatable,' said Maric. 'Though, I will say that the "service" this particular group gave—to compare to the hypothetical—was quite minor.'

'Just shut up and let me talk to the kid.' Kleos turned back to Perro.

'Why do you even care?' said Perro sulkily. 'Everyone else feels that way. They all hate him. It's not my fault. I have to hate him, too!'

'Of course, and so you should.' Kleos smiled. 'Outwardly, at any rate. If you must act a certain way to avoid harm or mistreatment, then do so. That is wisdom. If anyone else here asks me about him, I'll tell them whatever I have to. But you should not allow this mass of people—' he pointed at the crowd, '—who were so easily manipulated first by Nicolai and Vikrum, now by Maxine, to inform your own views. Act as you must, yes, but your own true views should be based on fact. And the fact is—he used you, he lied to you, yes. But he also saved your life. He fed and clothed you. He protected you.'

Perro stared at him blankly. Then he jerked, practically a wince. 'Mom—Maxine wants you!' he blurted, and flushed beet red. 'She just messaged me. Come on, we have to go!'

Kleos nodded, waved a hand. 'Lead on.'

'Mom! Ahahahaha!' squealed Maric through their connection.

###

Nicolai stood before the Infiltrator. Within it, Cyberwarfare, Aiming, and Simulations were busily manipulating its Soul. Within its singular node it held his skin shield Symbiote, now powered on, covering the bot's outer layer of metal and rubber with a thin film of protective force.

The bot rose on the table, bracing itself. It shifted upright on its back legs until it stood like a person, then rotated its upper legs against the wall to anchor itself.

Nicolai flowed into his stance, loose and fluid. 'Are you ready?' he asked the modules over local.

'Shield's solid,' Cyberwarfare replied.

He tested with a light jab, using his right, human arm. As he struck, he compressed his Soul into the strike. The padded gloves he wore—reinforced with knuckle guards—carried the force through without blunting his Soul's impact. So long as there wasn't too much material between his flesh and the target, his Soul was able to push forward and add its damage.

A small crack marred the shield. His arm smoothly retracted, automatically resuming its guard before his face. A thoughtless habit, drilled into him centuries ago.

'Sixteen percent damage,' Cyberwarfare reported. The crack sealed as the Symbiote pulled Oma.

Nicolai struck again. This time he focused far harder, contracting his Soul into the strike as cleanly and perfectly as possible.

'Twenty-two percent.'

He stood back, considering how the strike had felt. He shadow-boxed for a moment, working on the sensation of his Soul moving with his body, ensuring he was directing it with precision.

He kept on, repeating, until he levelled out at around twenty-eight percent per jab. That seemed to be his limit with that form.

From there he switched attacks: roundhouse kicks, elbows, knees, open-hand strikes. The part of the body he used mattered. A kick, powered by the mass of his leg, hit harder both physically and spiritually. A larger portion of his Soul was contained in the strike, producing greater impact.

He tested finger-strikes, wondering if focusing into a narrow point might pierce better, but they proved weak. Kicks and elbows worked best. With a kick he reached a maximum of sixty-one percent. The skin shield he was practising on was amongst the best available at Tier 1, so that was quite good.

Next he tried the bionic arm. He struck out, Soul compressing and releasing. Large cracks spiderwebbed through the shield but it held.

'Eighty-nine percent.'

He considered. He had once broken an enemy's burst shield with this attack, but that must have been an exceptionally cheap one. Burst shields usually resisted heavy attacks better than skin shields.

Nicolai kept working on his technique. It could still be better. The Memory Disc he'd purchased on this subject suggested different ways of thinking of it. Ways to work on improving the clarity, force, elasticity, strength, and other elements of the Soul. With the aid of the Modules, he created methods to practise and moved through them rapidly. The Infiltrator waited patiently, skin shield deactivated, one small metal leg resting on an Oma crystal which was turning to dust.

Finally, he gestured for the Modules to recreate the shield.

This time he kept his spirit loose and fluid, letting it flow as the strike built, gathering momentum like a wave. Then, at the instant of contact, he contracted it all at once, compressing and hardening, even pushing it outward past his body.

The bionic arm slammed home and the skin shield shattered into Oma, releasing a ripple that felt like breaking glass.

'One hundred percent,' Cyberwarfare confirmed, mirroring Nicolai's satisfaction. 'The Symbiote is strained,' it added, 'it needs rest.'

Nicolai nodded. He felt he could still improve a little more, but that could wait until the Symbiote was recovered.

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