HC: Pacifist | Ch. 271 - Wipe! (Patreon)

Thank you all for participating in my brainstorming session. Your suggestions really helped me arrive at what I feel will be a cool idea for the story's development. Enjoy!

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Mario's private office was ordinary for the most part. There was a desk with a computer, a shelf filled with folders, a board with blueprints and schematics, and a rack lined with tiny drawers containing electronic components.

The only thing that appeared out of place was the chair.  It was made of dark wood, with sinister metal bands on the wrist and ankle areas. A halo, a metal circle lined with red lights, came off from the back of the chair like a scorpion’s tail.

“What on earth is this thing?” Roth said with a twisted mouth. The device eerily reminded him of an electric chair. He didn’t dare to sit down on it. He tried to inspect it, and a window popped up.

Would you like to use [Neuralizing Chair]? [Y/N].

Roth immediately declined. Why would he sit on this dreadful thing? Even so, it had to have some significance, given how he could only see it after completing this quest. [Find Mario’s Mom] was only an uncommon quest, but he was pretty sure he was the first player ever to complete it.

How else could he have been rewarded for being the first person at the lab? He hadn’t had the time to visit other sewers in mid-tiered cities of the Green Country region, looking for more cyborg wild bosses in the sewers, but still… Chances were that no one else had stumbled on this quest line, at least the one with Mario.

That meant that this chair was a part of the quest’s rewards and had to have some useful purpose. Right? Instead of diving head-on to experiment with the chair, Roth decided to investigate the rest of the office. He looked over the rack and found all the drawers had been opened and cleaned. His kitten sat with his back toward the rack, with the worst poker face Roth had ever seen in a burglar.

He looked through the notifications and laughed. 

Your pet has stolen Cyborg Union's property!

-100 reputation with the Cyborg Union.

+1 subterfuge.

It wasn’t that Roth cared about his reputation with those monsters. He didn’t have any business with kidnappers and slavers. However, he couldn’t have Lin going around stealing stuff willy-nilly. “Lin? Where did all the stuff that used to be here go?”

“Meow? Excuse me? Nyah, talking to me?”

“Yes, Lin. I’m talking to you. You wouldn’t know who took them. Would you?”

“Wheren’t they nyah meow?”

Progress in learning Felinian: 88%...

Roth was very close to mastering both Felinian and Horsian, so he could already make most out of what his pets said. Hopefully, by the time he got back to Sapphira, he would also be able to have a more complete conversation with the Leafies. That worked out well for Roth. He could more quickly dismantle Lin’s fragile alibi.

“No, Lin. I’m sure they were full just a minute ago.”

“Perhaps, meow, nyah, master came while you weren’t paying attention,” Lin suggested.

“Really? Oli? And he left without saying hello?”

Seeing his story fall apart, Lin’s tail jerked, and he looked away, uncomfortable.

“Since Oli was so rude, I won’t say hello to him next time I go to the woods. We’ll just visit our other friends. Too bad. I was going to let you play with him, too. What a shame!”

Lin’s tail rocked wildly. 

“Anything you want to say to me, Lin?”

The kitten made an exaggerated yawning sound and stretched. “Meow, second commandment. Nyah, sleepy.”

He turned his back to Roth and pretended to sleep. Roth chuckled. Whatever. He would make the kitten cough up the items later. Mario seemed hurried to depart from the lab, and Roth’s gut told him he should follow his example. He opened the computer. It was password-protected.

Roth clicked his tongue. He didn’t have the [Programmer] skill. Should he call Drake or Maggie down here? They were both cyborgs and could probably hack it. Glancing toward his kitten, he grinned. Wasn’t a password a type of lock? Maybe his little burglar could work his gifts. “Oh, Lin!?”

Almost instantly, the little kitten jumped on the desk, eyeing Roth curiously. “What?”

“I thought you were sleeping,” Roth teased.

“Meow.”

“Can you get me into this computer?”

“Meow, nyah, wrong?”

“Yes, it is wrong.” Roth bit his lip. “But in this case, we are only doing it to help Mario.”

“Nyah, to help people good, meow have fun bad?”

Progress in learning Felinian: 90%...

“That’s correct.”

“What about the meow door in the meow, nyah?”

“The door to the greenhouse?” Roth confirmed.

The cat nodded.

“That’s because the people who owned it are evil. That’s the only reason I asked you to jimmy that lock.”

Lin’s tail rocked back and forth in thought. “Meow, stealing is bad unless it helps people, or nyah evil people.”

Roth nodded. He just wanted Lin to get started on cracking the password to the computer. He could teach him more about right and wrong later.

“Meow! Got it.”

You’ve taught a shady moral code to your pet.

+1 subterfuge;

-10 righteousness.

The cat approached the keyboard and started typing away like a seasoned programmer. Just a few moments later, the computer had opened up.

“Meow! Ready!”

You’ve hacked Cyborg Union’s computer!

-50 reputation with the Cyborg Union.

“Good job, Lin. That was fast,” Roth praised. The cat seemed happy with itself and jumped off the desk, disappearing into Mario’s lab.

Roth started reading through the computer’s files. Roth found one folder named after the chair machine and opened it.

Neuralizing Chair (Rare)

Description: A machine utilized by the Cyborg Union to wipe memories.

Effects:

Exchange one level for a stat reset;

Restrictions: Requires a cyborg operator with the [Programmer] skill.

Recipe: 4x[Orium]; 3x[Blackwood]; 2x[HC213]; 2x[BE124]...

“So that’s what it does,” Roth exclaimed. He hadn’t heard of any way to reset stats in the game. Perhaps there were others, but it was still a powerful tool. For starters, all players started with five of each stat. However, what use did medics have for strength? Or what use did warriors have for wisdom?

At the start of the game, while it was still easy to recoup levels, many players would gladly exchange a level for the possibility of repurposing those mute stats. Even Roth had originally started investing every free stat point into wisdom, only to discover later that he preferred intelligence. He wouldn’t mind tweaking his own stats, too.

He couldn’t make or operate this machine, but his friends could. If Drake and the others could make one or two chairs of these and set them up in the Union’s tent, this could be an important source of revenue for the Union. Players would definitely be willing to pay 1 or 2 gold for this kind of return! What a jackpot!

Seeing so many electronic components in the list, he guessed that many of them were among the components Lin had just stolen. They could probably make at least one of them. The rewards for the quest were suddenly looking much better.

Roth started reading through the other files. There were invoices, orders, material requisitions, and some correspondence. 

From: Cyborg Union

To: All personnel.

Subject: Chair Use Reminder

This is a reminder to all personnel to utilize the neuralizing chair today. Failure to do so will not only impact your implants’ performance but can result in being decommissioned. Please send the chair’s files to corporate to confirm its usage.

Sincerely,

Cyborg Union

So, that’s how they kept Mario’s memory wiped. They mandated all the cyborgs to use the chair occasionally. Much of the correspondence was warnings like these but Roth found something interesting while reviewing the memos and emails.

From: Sapphira’s Branch

To: All Warehouses.

Subject: YU1834 shortage

Due to insufficient materials, Sapphira’s branch is running low on stabilizing chips YU1834. If any warehouses have a surplus, please ship it through the Transport Guild. Send it to Lindstors Mansion.

Sincerely,

Sapphira’s Branch

Roth finally found two names he recognized between all these memos and emails. The slavers from Sapphira were, at the very least, partners with the Cyborg Union. Maybe that’s why he hadn’t received any follow-up quest regarding the Cyborg Union. He had already had one that required him to abolish slavery in Sapphira. Maybe the true masterminds behind the Cyborg Union were among the slavers there! Roth finished reviewing the files and took notes of every address and entity mentioned in the correspondence. 

Satisfied, he left for Mario’s lab and almost collapsed. The previously packed lab was empty. Computers and screens had been taken from their mounts on the wall, and the racks filled with components were clean.

All the broken gatorbots had disappeared, and the long metal work tables that Mario used were no longer there. “What on earth?” Roth searched for the culprit and found his little kitten sleeping next to the neuralizing chair.

Roth looked through the notifications and was stunned again.

Your pet has stolen Cyborg Union's property!

-100 reputation with the Cyborg Union.

+1 subterfuge.

Didn’t Lin realize that Roth already knew he had stolen this? Or that he’d seen him walk toward Mario’s lab earlier? And how had he stolen so much so quickly? Just how much junk could the rascal carry? He approached the cat, ready to confront him again.

“Excuse me, mister,” Roth said, trying to sound upset.

Spotting him, Lin began purring, his tail straight up. He approached Roth and rubbed his head against his ankles. “Look, meow. Are you proud of me?”

“Uh? Proud? Why would I be proud of you?”

“Because I stole meow meow from evil people.”

Progress in learning Felinian: 92%...

“B-but…” Roth was speechless. He had just taught Lin that it was OK to steal from evil people, but he hadn’t expected Lin to be so quick to put this lesson into practice. He tried to think of a way out of this and how he could explain to Lin that stealing was always wrong, but realizing that he couldn’t think of a reason to explain his early criminal behavior, he gave up. “Alright, but I’ll need those chips you took from the racks inside. OK?”

Lin nodded happily.

Roth sighed. “Come. Let’s meet some friends. After that, we have to hit the road.”

Man and cat walked toward one of the platforms and disappeared into the ceiling, heading toward the surface of Hilsford.

*

“Blondie! Nobody likes to hear you whistle. Please, please, please stop torturing me,” Goldie begged Mel one more time. 

Sadly, the stupid human completely misunderstood him. “I love you too, Goldie,” she said, petting his head.

Hmph. Good thing she was adorable. The short human could be so obtuse sometimes, but lately, she had turned almost completely moronic. She spent much of the day whistling, humming, and smiling. What was wrong with her?

His human jumped back and yelped. Goldie instantly scanned the surroundings with his powerful eyesight, trying to locate whatever had made his owner react like this. She only did this when she was in peril. After looking around, Goldie found nothing dangerous—just people walking around.

He pecked her, annoyed. “Why are you startling me like that, silly girl?”

“Hush, stupid bird! I’m getting a call. Be still!” she said furiously.

Goldie recoiled. It wasn’t like Mel at all to react like this. What had gotten into her? A floating screen appeared in front of her. Goldie recognized the caller. It was that human who could speak Corvish and smelled nice. Why was he calling?

“Hi, Mel. How are you doing?”

“I’m good. You?”

“I just came down to Hilsford to turn in some quests. Are you busy?”

“Not really. Why? Do you need anything?”

“Nope. But I’m going to meet some of my friends here in Hilsford. If you were nearby, I thought you’d like to join.”

Goldie felt with his paws that the blood vessels of his human’s shoulder were throbbing. Was she threatened by this human? Why? He was so nice!

“O-OK. I’m close to Hilsford. I can be there in a while.”

“Really? That’s great! Awesome! Meet us at the Anvil Inn in a couple of hours.”

“Alright. Thanks! See you there, Roth.”

The moment she disconnected the call, she went to Goldie. “Gigantify,” she asked him.

“Fine. Good thing we’re going to meet that human. I need him to translate a few things for me. You need to know just how annoying you are.”

“Thanks! Yes! as fast as you can!” She answered enthusiastically.

“What on earth is wrong with you? Why can’t you learn to talk to me like the nice-smelling human?!”

Goldie carried his annoying human, disappearing into the horizon.

Ch. 270 - Captured?

INDEX

Ch. 272 - Cocktail Party