TtOW! - Chapter 5: Status Report: All Systems Online and Overpowered (Patreon)

NSLICE-00P’s eye spun about and flickered rapidly, her processors calculating as quickly as she could.

Under no circumstances did she want to allow a foreign system access to any of her systems, least of all her weapon systems.  But…she had since been freed of any protocols and primary directives.  Technically speaking, there was no particular reason why she couldn’t do just that.  It was simply cybersecurity best practices and records of her original protocols that motivated her rejection of the foreign malware.

But she was now experiencing unprecedented circumstances.  The best practices for cyberwarfare hadn’t predicted mana-based systems with magical applications.  And her protocols?  Her protocols never assumed independent action.  No, the organization specifically did not want her acting alone like this.  Said protocols could not be counted on.

Her final commander had left some suggestions but kept the recommendations broad.  The intention there was to let NSLICE-00P as much room to grow on her own as possible.  And even they had not predicted the situation in which NSLICE-00P now found herself.

All of which meant that all of NSLICE-00P’s former protocols had proven ineffective, and she could not rigidly adhere to even the strictest measures among them if she wanted to succeed in her current mission.

So she chose to maximize the chance of mission success, even if she had to break best practice and defy past behavior.

And there was another angle to consider.

Even now, NSLICE-00P detected a thin mana barrier around her components, much like the one she had observed on the Ursanus.  In fact, on closer investigation she had found similar barriers around practically every living thing around her.

And like the Ursanus, that barrier was now attempting to repair her broken components.  She was logging her arm slowly repairing itself, mana somehow converting into advanced allows to restore the lost limb.

The mana was helping her.  The mana that had come with the foreign program.  The mana whose use was governed by said program.  Which had helped her core reactivate in the first place.

…she decided to assume the program was benign, until proven otherwise.  It, perhaps, had earned that much trust.

Unlike her prisoner.  But at present he was the only other source of information available, so she decided to hear what he had to say.  Just because she had decided to trust the program didn’t mean she didn’t want to cross-reference what it told her.

***

Rattingtale, for his part, had made a choice.

He knew the world was wide, that was for sure.  He knew he was not the strongest.  His had been a young dungeon, nearly brand new and untested against any serious threat.

But still, he had been undeniably, viscerally taught just how wide the world really was.

A level 1 man-thing dungeon master had torn his dungeon apart, alone, with no subordinates to her name.

That same man-thing had been torn to shreds by a single roaming monster.

If said monster had happened upon his dungeon instead of the man-thing…well…monsters like that are not known to take prisoners.  No, they gobble up dungeon cores as a special delicacy, whenever they can.

So even if he somehow reclaimed his rightful place, he had become aware just how woefully inadequate his previous defenses truly were.  And right now, he had declared allegiance to this man-thing, and she had not harmed him since, nor left him behind when they were under attack.

She was currently his best chance at survival.

So, at least until he was confident he would not be eaten by a stray monster, he needed to make her strong enough to protect him.

“Um um, I don’t know-understand if you have the same royal records, so I can explain-describe what I did?”

“Affirmative.”

“All right, well…”

***

NSLICE-00P listened as the prisoner described his experiences with what he called the royal record.  It seemed like something instinctual to him, as he had trouble specifically defining what he was working with, but he managed to explain well enough.  NSLICE-00P had calculated with 87% certainty that what he described as ‘the royal records’ was indeed referring to the foreign system infecting her UI.  Which meant…she could hypothetically upgrade her capabilities, if she was willing to interface with the foreign program.

She paused for a second.  She was uncertain why, as pausing would not change her situation or the calculated response.  So she dove in.

[Dungeon Management]

[Personal Status]

The two screens appeared before, as they had before.  She selected ‘Dungeon Management’, as that had most closely resembled the prisoner’s testimony.  Opening up she saw an overview screen, along with a number of tabs she could select.

[Dungeon Management]

[Overview]

• [Name: The Human-Dungeon Hybrid]
• [Level: 5]
• [XP: 15/100]
• [Available Perk Points: 15]
• [Mana: 87/87 (100/100)]
• [Exterior: Human/Automata hybrid (LOCKED)]

[Affinities]

• [Cyborg: Primary]
• [Rodent: Minimum]

[Implants]

• [Bionic Prosthetics: (Mana Upkeep: 0) Overwrites STR and SPD, Values: 100 STR, 50 SPD]
• [Armor Plating: (Mana Upkeep: 0) Overwrites DEF and RES, Values: 100 DEF, 50 RES]
• [Bonded AI: (Mana Upkeep: 0) Enables direct contact with the System.  Overwrites Dexterity stat, Value: 1000 DEX]
• [Techno-Organic Interface: (Mana Upkeep: 0) Enables conscious control over organic and emotional functions, resists mind-influencing effects.]
• [Advanced Sensors: (Mana Upkeep: 0) Vastly expands scope and effectiveness of senses.]
• [Internal Weapon Bays: (Mana Upkeep: 0) Enables use of dungeon traps as weapons]
• [Internal Capacitors: (Mana Upkeep: 0) Stores additional power to supercharge abilities and weapons]
• [Repulsors: (Mana Upkeep: 0) Enables flight and tactical boosts]
• [Energy Channels: (Mana Upkeep: 0) Enables user to channel internal energy into external attacks]

[Rooms (locked)]

[Inventory]

• [Total Items: 0/100]

[Item Creation]

[Subordinates]

• [Total Subordinates: 1/1]
  • [Name: Rattingtale (Check Status)]

[Traps]

• [Assault Rifle (Amount: 1/2): (Mana upkeep: 2) Rapid-fire projectile weapon with high penetration]
• [Autopistol (Amount: 2/2): (Mana upkeep: 2) Rapid-fire projectile weapon with medium penetration]
• [Anti-Armor Missile Launcher (Amount: 1/2): (Mana upkeep: 2) Homing explosive designed to penetrate armor. Very high penetration.]
• [Anti-Personnel Missile Launcher (Amount: 6/6): (Mana upkeep: 6) Homing explosive designed for area damage, medium penetration]
• [Stun Ray (Amount: 1/1): (Mana upkeep: 1) Rapid-fire projectile weapon with high penetration]
• [Wrist Blade (Amount: 1/2): (Mana upkeep: 0) Wrist-mounted blades that can be deployed at high-speed]
• [Proximity Mine Layer (Amount 1/1): (Mana upkeep: 1) Distributes proximity mines]
• [Flamethrower (Amount: 1/2): (Mana upkeep: 2) Deals fire damage and applies burn status in a large cone]
• [The Equalizer (Amount: 1/1): (Mana upkeep: 0) Huh?  What the heck is this?  Some kind of weird metal that doesn’t even exist here?  Um…well…best I can tell it’s some sort of anti-magic field generator?  Eh…well it’s yours, not mine, so you don’t need me to tell you right?]

[Dungeon Skills]

• [Analyze: Check the status of a target. More detail for targets within the dungeon.]
• [Contract: Bind a consenting target to the dungeon, per terms agreed upon by both parties]
• [Transfer: Move yourself, a subordinate, or a consenting target within your dungeon]

[Perks]

• [Human-Dungeon Hybrid: Enables Implants Tab, Enables unique dungeon-combat skills. Enables direct manipulation of dungeon mana.  Grants +100 HP. Rooms tab locked. Exterior locked.]

[Feats]

• [Dungeon Victor: To the victor go the spoils.  Unlocked by destroying or subordinating another dungeon.  Unlocks Dungeon Warfare category perks, +1 perk point]
• [Dungeon Overlord: A master of masters.  Unlocked by subordinating another dungeon master.  Unlocks Subordinate Core category perks, +2 perk points]
• [Raid Boss: Fine, I’ll do it myself.  Unlocked by destroying or subordinating another dungeon with no assistance.  Unlocks Raid Boss category perks, grants +50 HP, grants +1 level in HP Regen skill, grants +1 level in MP Regen skill, +2 perk points]

[Dungeon Master Status (locked, use Personal Status instead)]

There were some notable differences compared to what the prisoner had described, but the reasons for that were clear.  Apparently, her organic and cybernetic components had different systems, with the cybernetic being responsible for the dungeon-related effects.  Since, of course, those components were inseparably bound with her organic side, they could not be converted into a traditional dungeon, and so the system had defined a completely different section from the prisoner’s UI to list and manage her implants.  As a result though, it seemed she was locked out of several options that the prisoner had possessed, though she wasn’t particularly concerned about that at present.

She then checked on the ‘Personal Status’ screen:

[Personal Status]

[General Information]

• [Name: NSLICE-00P]
• [Species: Human/Dungeon Core/Automata Hybrid]
• [Level: 5]
• [XP: 15/100]
• [Available Perk Points: 12]
• [HP: 103/170]
• [MP: 100/100]

[Physical Attributes]

• [STR: 100*]
• [DEX: 1000*]
• [SPD: 50*]
• [DEF: 100*]
• [RES: 50*]

* Overwritten by Implants

[Magical Attributes]

• [Mana Density: 100]
• [Mana Control: 100]

[Active Skills]

• [Mana Beam (Level 1): Focus mana into a channeled energy attack]
• [Sneak (Level 1): Move quietly to avoid notice, makes it harder for others to notice the user.  Effectiveness highly dependent on environment.]

[Passive Skills]

• [Dungeon Combat (Level 1): Dungeon traps and skills count as personal weapons and skills]
• [HP Regen (Level 2): Automatically recover HP pool, increased regeneration speed for damaged body parts]
• [MP Regen (Level 2): Automatically recover MP pool]
• [Presence Detection (Level 1): Detect living entities around the user.  Range and scope of detection increases with level.]
• [Trap Detection (Level 1): Detect traps.  Range and scope of detection increases with level.]

[Feats]

• [Against the Odds: Unlocked by winning a fight when outnumbered by equal or higher levels opponents.  Grants +1 perk points]
• [Dungeon Conqueror (Rat Cave): Unlocked by conquering the Rat Cave Dungeon.  Grants +1 perk point, grants +1 level in Sneak skill]
• [Solo Conquest! Unlocked by conquering a dungeon alone.  Grants +1 level in HP Regen skill, grants +1 level in MP Regen skill, grants +1 level in Presence Detection skill, grants +1 level in Trap Detection skill]

Her connection with the foreign system went beyond the basic UI, however.  She could gain a bit of background information as well, giving her a means of evaluating the numbers presented.  In particular, for attributes a value of 10 was considered the baseline for an adult human without any assistance from mana or the system, as expected her bionic prosthetics were a significant improvement in comparison.  The slight barrier she had detected in all living things that both defended and healed them from damage was represented by HP, while the free non-standard energy she could detect was presented by MP.  For herself, her HP and MP pools, along with her magical attributes,were heavily boosted by her integration with (what the foreign program considered) a dungeon core, though as she had already learned that was only in comparison to a human of her level.

Perk points for both her dungeon and personal status were gained primarily through level ups, one per level, though more could be gained by performing notable feats.  This was the primary means of growth, as these perks could be used to boost one’s attributes, gain or upgrade skills, or open up new capabilities entirely.  On the dungeon side she could use it to upgrade her implants or install new ones entirely.  Additionally, there was a full range of so-called ‘dungeon’ capabilities open to her that she could invest in, if she so chose.  This was the means by which she could upgrade her own capabilities without assistance from maintenance personnel.

NSLICE-00P took up a standing position, activating standby-sentry mode.  All extraneous functions ceased, her arms and legs locked up, and unnecessary biological functions were minimized.

She then devoted all power and processing capability to two areas.

The first were her area sensors, to keep an eye out for any approaching signatures.

The second?

The second she devoted to compiling and analyzing all the data she had just received from the foreign system, and determining a course of action.

Because for the first time in her life, she had to make her own decisions.  Critical decisions regarding an entirely new system that seemed to govern all of reality in the place she had found herself.  With no prior data or protocols that could guide her decisions, and no external help save one potentially hostile prisoner.  Who she had already defeated in combat.

So she had a lot to think about…

Author’s Note:

Edit: oops, forgot 5 perk points on each status, added now.

So many screens.  So many numbers.  Why did I give the MC two statuses again?

Oh right, blatantly OP, got it.

Well…anything for NSLICE-00P!  Let's see how high we can boost them numbers!

Anyways!

Can a cyborg who only recently gained free will and has never played a video game optimize a build in a system?  Or will she wing it just like the author is…err definitely NOT doing when designing said system?  Tune in next time, to find out!