TtOW! - Chapter 50: 'Bear'-ly Starting Out (Patreon)

After mediating a sudden altercation between her subordinates, NSLICE-00P calculated for a long time, updating all her protocols and predictions. Now that she had essentially reestablished contact with NSLICE network, she no longer needed to assume purely independent action in a pre-industrial society.

As such, she added growing the NSLICE network to the list of directives. In fact, acquiring bases for new NSLICE units had been one of her most common mission types in her past. The only difference was NSLICE-00P had a method to conduct processing on her own now. She could partially resume one of her old directives, once she modified the protocols for the different conditions and methods.

And the NSLICE network would speed up her search by a significant margin. Upgrades to her personal sensors and intelligence gathering abilities would always run into diminishing returns, given that she was a single unit who could only be physically present in a single location. With a growing NSLICE network, that was no longer a limitation. Her search capabilities would scale ever upward as more units were added to the network, providing not only more eyes but more processing hardware and communication nodes.

And when she finally did find a commander, she would be able to offer the services of an entire network, instead of a single unit.

And so her calculations concluded. Her next order of business would be expanding the NSLICE network. Which meant upgrading her subordinates. From NSLICE Excellion Formantus Rattingtale the Third’s logs, the NSLICE upgrade had come available when he hit level ten, so she would endeavor to bring her current subordinates to that level.

However, that would have to wait. Local authorities had requested her presence, after all, so she would check in with them tomorrow to avoid any legal complications.

But there was something else she could do to expand the network right here, right now.

• [Subordinates]
  • [Subordinate Summoning]
    • [Cyborg - Primary]
      • [Cyber-bear Cub: A bear cub upgraded with cybernetic implants.  Currently more cute than anything but has terrifying potential.  Cost: 25 mana to summon.  Upkeep: 5 mana.]
      • [Cyber-rat: A basic rat monster upgraded with cybernetic implants.  Its ability to network with other units improves swarm behavior, and implants can offer surprising capabilities. Ultimately still a rat, though. Unlocked by evolving a Cyber-Rat with Cyborg and Rodent affinities. Cost: 5 mana to summon. Upkeep: 1 mana.]
      • [Cyber-spider: A basic spider monster upgraded with cybernetic implants. Because who doesn’t love spiders that are harder to kill with fire? Unlocked by evolving a Cyber-Spider with Cyborg and Arachnid affinities. Cost: 5 mana to summon. Upkeep: 1 mana.]
    • [Fire - Minor]
      • [Fire Slime: The most basic Fire-attribute monster possible. Just animated mana with a Fire-Attribute. Might be able to start a fire if left on something flammable for long enough. Cost: 5 mana to summon. Upkeep: 1 mana.]
      • [Fire Elemental (small): A being of living Fire magic. Its flames and mana are not yet the greatest, but it can grow by absorbing fire and mana, and its immunity to most physical attacks makes it a tricky opponent for the unprepared. Cost: 25 mana to summon. Upkeep: 5 mana.]
    • [Holy - Minor]
      • [...Holy monsters? What…what does that even mean? Where would they even come from? UGH. You know what, you’re just going to have to wait on these. Even if I WANTED to figure it out anything we could do is probably going to require meetings and approvals and stuff. Just…figure out how to evolve your own monsters with it or something if you want these now.]
    • [Rodent - Minimum]
    • [Earth - Minimum]
    • [Arachnid - Minimum]
    • [Slime - Minimum]
    • [Light - Minimum]
    • [Nature - Minimum]
    • [No Affinity]

She had seen the Cyber-Bear Cub before, but predicted a lower technological level for the monster’s implants, something in line with the local society much like the Item Foundry. But her other subordinates’ evolutions had demonstrated this was not the case, so it was reasonable to assume the similarly named Cyber-Bear Cub would also have compatible upgrades.

She also had access to Cyber-Rats and Cyber-Spiders directly now, thanks to her subordinates’ evolutions. Even units that did not start with cybernetic implants might one day upgrade into NSLICE units, and doing so might unlock their cyber-variants for immediate summoning. That had implications for the future, implying it might be worth testing a variety of subordinates for similar effects.

She also checked her two new affinities. As the Fire Affinity was slightly stronger than the others, it seems a stronger monster was available for summoning, though unfortunately no new cyborg options were available yet. Perhaps she could also unlock a Cyber-Fire Elemental in time, though she could not predict how the cybernetic implants would be applied to what was described as a non-corporeal, non-organic being.

Holy Affinity...did not seem to be available at the moment. It seemed as though there was something special about that particular affinity. NSLICE-00P filed it away for further investigation.

But all this provided data to consider for the future. She could try summoning basic monsters from other affinities and seeing if she could upgrade them with cybernetic components. Or…perhaps she could try upgrading some of the affinities, to see if stronger affinities would unlock more compatible monster types?

The foreign program's message regarding the Holy Affinity implied it would also be possible to apply other affinities to monsters upon their evolutions, which might be how her subordinates accessed NSLICE upgrades in the first place, so that was another possibility.

In any case, future experimentation would be required to make those decisions. And there was a decision she could make right here, right now.

A magic circle appeared in her monster hangar, glowing bright.

A flash of light filled the hangar.

NSLICE-00P logged a reduction to her maximum mana as a new mana bond formed.

A weak cry filled the hangar.

[Total Subordinates: 13/13]

• [Name: --, Species: Cyber-bear cub, Level: 1, Upkeep: 5, (Check Status)]

Yes, NSLICE-00P had decided to summon a cyber-bear cub.

More cyber-rats and cyber-spiders were not necessary at this time, especially as she had several rat and spider subordinates to upgrade first. Likewise, she did not deem a bear monster as necessary previously. Her subordinates’ only role was local intelligence gathering, and the rats and spiders were better suited to covert activity. A bear monster would have been inefficient at the intended role at best, incapable at worst.

But a network of NSLICE units had a significantly broader mission set, and NSLICE-00P already had protocols to command integrated units. The vast majority of which dealt with combat.

So it was desirable to add more combat-specialized assets to the network. In fact, she would have needed to do so even if she hadn’t been able to convert them to NSLICE units. 01R’s experiences had demonstrated the weakness of relying solely on stealth, even for the purposes of intelligence gathering. Her subordinates needed more firepower to do their jobs effectively if she wasn’t in the immediate vicinity.

And in her experience, monster bears made for highly effective combat assets, as one had nearly terminated her. She predicted using one as the base for an NSLICE unit should produce a highly efficient outcome.

A small bear cub, about the size of a medium dog, appeared in the hangar.  It had metal armor around its torso and arms, though with more gaps than NSLICE-00P’s, revealing its furred body underneath.  And it had a metal helmet that went down the left side of its face, with a robotic left eye.

The robotic eye slowly lit up as its components came online. NSLICE-00P connected to them and integrated the cub into the network.

Then she determined a problem.

The entrance to the monster hangar appeared a bit small for the cub…

Even as she was calculating, the cub stood up, fell over once, stood back up, and then leapt towards the entrance of the monster hangar. He appeared on the other side and fell to the floor.

It seemed the monster hangar’s entrance did not necessarily conform to physics. As with many things NSLICE-00P had observed since arriving here.  As long as the monster was considered ‘small’ it could fit in and out of the hangar, regardless of its size relative to the hangar door.

Which made a certain amount of sense given that the hangar implant itself could not possibly fit within NSLICE-00P. But still she rushed to record as much data on the phenomena as she could, her processors heating up as they struggled to calculate how all this was possible.

Meanwhile the cub cried and rolled about, reaching for NSLICE-00P’s leg. She picked the cub up and held him aloft, looking him over for damage.

“Observation: No damage to friendly NSLICE unit detected.”

The cub cried at her.

The bear monster seemed to be younger and less developed than the other monsters, and so could not form coherent language. Yet, the dungeon-monster bond still enabled communication of intent and their AIs were integrated and communicating directly, so NSLICE-00P could understand his cries to a degree.

“Analysis: Friendly NSLICE unit is requesting increased physical contact. Analyzing…no particular cause or benefit could be determined. Analyzing cost…no particular cost to request predicted.  Request may be fulfilled with no loss to efficiency. Responding to request.”

NSLICE-00P brought her arms in, pulling the bear cub against her torso. The cub batted at her, trying to wrap his arms around her and climb up her torso. He tried to climb on her shoulder, then slipped and fell. NSLICE-00P caught him right as he did.

“Analysis: Friend NSLICE unit seems to lack coordinated motor control. Readjusting combat efficacy predictions. Result: Friendly NSLICE unit will require unit upgrade routine to achieve minimum combat effectiveness.”

The cub cried in protest as he nuzzled her.

“Designating unit: 01B. Statement: This unit summoned NSLICE-01B to be a primary combat asset and is thus aware of NSLICE-01B’s combat potential. This unit will conduct upgrade routines until NSLICE-01B’s performance meets expectations.”

01B paused as NSLICE-00P gave him a name. He settled into her arms.

Well, NSLICE-00P was already going to prioritize the subordinate upgrade routine. Adding an additional unit was not particularly inefficient.

This new unit would develop adequate termination capabilities soon enough.

Author’s Note:

Muahahahaha cyber-bear get! The tough thing about NSLICE-00P is she doesn’t make impulsive decisions based on what would be really cool. Which, you know, is probably the right way to approach being Isekai-ed and generally good for one’s survival chances. But the good thing about NSLICE-00P is all we have to do is convince her the cool decision is logical and efficient and she’ll do it!

Because yes, cyber-bears are extremely efficient. That cyber-bear cub rolling around on the floor and tripping over itself? That’s peak efficiency, you know?

Anyways!

What will NSLICE-00P do with her expanded network? Will 01B develop minimum combat effectiveness? Is summoning cyber-bears the efficient thing to do? Tune in next time, to find out!