Volper

by Ros Per

  - “Why are you talking to me about the real value of that place anyway?”

  - Do you really want to know? Honestly? It was interesting to see your reaction, and information about the estimated value can be obtained from the Server. True, this price doesn’t always correspond to the sale price, or rather, it rarely does, but it helps to somewhat understand the pricing policy. -

  - “Wait, I didn't have cost information anywhere,” I was surprised.

  - And here comes the fun of our Server. The Server has almost all the data and everything, but some algorithms prohibit it from freely issuing information, and until the person knows about a certain function, the Server will not display this info in the neural interface. For example, go to the property section now, and in the detailed information about it, you should have a line with an estimated value. -

  Following his advice, I immediately went into the interface and to the property tab. There was an additional line in the description of the building “Base of the bandits”. Well, that wasn’t so bad, my spirits were already beginning to gradually lift again.

  The Den "Base of bandits" {Rename} (you own 73% of the building)

  Description: 52-story building, the lower floors of which at one time were being used as a base by bandits under the leadership of a man named Alckor {Edit Description}

  The estimated value of your ownership share of the property: 8,999,044 credits

  - “Judging by the surprise I can see in your wide open eyes, you looked at the value of your part,” to this, I just nodded in response. – “Then let’s move on to the issue of renting. As I said, I can’t buy it now. Therefore, I suggest you rent out your part to us for three hundred thousand a month.”

  - “Let's do it another way,” I began, thinking about the fact that I didn’t have much time left. Now, if I had planned to play a dozen or so years, then I would have agreed to rent it out to him. - How much can you pay me per day?”

  - “Next week, I will be able to pay six thousand. And then, we shall see.”

  - “I suggest you pay the amount you can, daily, but no less than two hundred and fifty thousand. Wait, listen,” – I stopped him, seeing that he was opening his mouth, trying to object to something. – “You will pay me each day, until you pay a total of nine million. As soon as the total amount reaches nine million, the building completely becomes the property of the outpost.”

  Carefire became thoughtful after hearing my lucrative offer. Think hard, play hard. He’d already started drumming his fingers on the table. On the one hand, when renting, he has less expenses per month, on the other hand, he can buy this property - and then do whatever he wants to the building, and there won’t be a strange replicant who can suddenly demand to be given back his part of the building.

  - OK, I agree. Server, confirm the contract!

  Having quickly run through the text of the agreement that had been presented to me, we confirmed it at the same time. After that, Carefire immediately transferred my first payment of two hundred and fifty thousand. And in the interface, near the ownership percentages, the text “Frozen under the contract ...” appeared, and then the link to the contract itself.

  “So, having dealt with this matter,” - continued Carefire. – “We can go and see the trophies. Look through the file, there is a complete list of what we took there.” - I immediately opened the list that was sent to me.

  Grooved Cartridge 4.2х8 – 89,654 pieces

  Grooved Cartridge 4.2х12 – 76,486 pieces

  Grooved Cartridge 4.2х15 – 92,758 pieces

  Grooved Cartridge 4.2х17 – 123,458 pieces

  Grooved Cartridge 4.2х21 – 11,874 pieces

  ...

  ...

  ...

  Grenade "OH-3" – 1,234 pcs

  Grenade "OH-5" - 875 pieces

  Grenade "OH-7" - 112 pieces

  Grenade "OH-10" – 8,462 pcs

  Grenade "OH-15" - 985 pcs

  ...

  ...

  ...

  Total items: 64,758

  Total amount of server’s evaluation: 45,842,654 credits

  Quickly scrolling through the list, I kept my eyes on several positions and minimized it. I will sort it out in a tranquil and peaceful place and then decide what to do with this treasure. I told the commander about my decision.

  - Ok, but one thing: please be quick! In two weeks, I have a planned delivery, and the space in the warehouses will need to be freed up.

  - Don’t worry, I'll figure it out by then!

  - Then, shall we move on to the next point?

  With these words, he got up and walked over to the safe. He got a black backpack out, which was about thirty liters in volume, but made not from cloth, but from something similar to polymer plastic. Approaching me, Carefire handed it to me and proudly said:

  - It’s for you, enjoy! It served me for more than a dozen years. This is my way of expressing my gratitude.

  Taking the backpack, I realized that it doesn’t bend at all, only the shoulder straps are mobile. Having opened its information, I almost jumped up like a child, seeing such a precious gift.

  Shockproof backpack "Gambit"

  Main slots: 1 large one

  Volume: 30 liters

  Loading capacity: 240 kg

  Installed modules:

  - Miniaturization system: they reduce the size of items by three times

  - Gravity compensators: they reduce weight by 30%

  Condition: 61%

  Weight: 1.2 kg

  - “Well, it’s really the coolest present I’ve ever received,” I muttered thoughtfully.

  - You deserve it! What remained in that base, where you went to, impressed not only my crew, but me personally as well, a lot. Also, we captured the whole gang, each and every member, and as they replicate, we will escort them to the nearest APS unit.

  - Where to?

  - The Alfarome Peace Squad, a law enforcement agency with the task of pursuing, capturing and bringing various criminals to court. So, these are all the points which I’d wanted to discuss with you. Although there is one more; but let's talk about it at the end of our conversation. Now come on, ask your questions. Judging by your letter, you have quite a few. -

  - “Yes, I do; there are a couple of question that need to be answered,” I agreed. “I’m interested in what happened to Gerion Carso. I have a contract with him that he hasn’t settled yet.”

  - Hmm ... If he entered into a contract with you as an intermediary, on behalf of the service of a research institute, then simply present them with a copy of the contract, and then they will pay you. -

  - “That's the problem, the contract was with him personally, and it was about the research into a set of ancient equipment.”

  - Then you have a problem. Gerion Carso was detained on suspicion of aiding persons dangerous to society and is already on his way to the investigative isolator of the APS branch at the sixth level. -

  - “There is no way of getting what is due to me, according to the contract?”

  - Well, if your contract has time limits or other force majeure terms, then you will receive compensation from the Server, and Carso will receive a serious penalty for non-fulfillment of the contract on his part. -

  - “Looks like I’ve been left empty-handed again,” after hearing that, I sent a copy of my contract with Carso to Carefire. The commander examined the contract for a couple of minutes, after which he delivered his verdict.

  - It's not all that simple. If you don’t mind, I will transfer a copy of the contract to an APS branch, and there they will look into the matter in more detail. If Carso has already conducted the research, then they will make him transfer the information. And, well, if he’d not had the time to do it, then yes, you’ve been left empty-handed. Something else? -

  - “Yes, there is another question that interests me. I noticed that I can perform most of what I knew before, and after the first application of it in battle, the Server gives me the skills associat
ed with them. And some of the skills somehow improve too fast, in my opinion. Of course, I knew how to do all of this before, but after replication, all the skills were at zero level, which means I shouldn’t be able to do that. To cut a long story short, I'm confused.”

  - Well, everything is simple. The neuro interface shows the current state of your body, and not your knowledge. When you perform an action, the Server assesses your level of knowledge and skills for this action, and if it considers it sufficient, it gives you a skill, like a sign of what you own and to what extent. Accordingly, at first, all skills grow at a tremendous rate. It would be more correct to explain ... Here, I remember the explanation. The body accumulates muscle memory and ligaments of reflexes. When your muscle memory catches up with your level of knowledge from your past life, you will immediately see the speed of your skill development slow down. Therefore, I recommend you restore your muscle memory as much as possible this week, at our range. To put it simply, work on your skills at our firing range. This way you will restore all your skills, approximately to the same levels that you had before the freeze of your cast. This also applies to abilities and expertise; try to restore them to the maximum. -

  - “Wait. You mean my skills?”

  - No, what did you say? ... Yes, it can’t be ... What, seriously? - Carefire leaned back in his chair and grabbed his head with both hands. –Volper, - he drawled, without changing his posture. – Tell me, please, how many skills do you have? - The commander's voice changed abruptly, becoming somehow ingratiating.

  “Twenty or so,” I didn’t see the point of hiding this information, but Carefire’s eyes got seriously round in response.

  - And how many of them require confirmation from an expert?

  “Well, about fifteen,” after these words, the commander was really surprised.

  - Now confirm my worst fears, tell me, how many skills do you have?

  - “Damn it, I’m telling you again about my abilities! I have no such item at all.”

  Carefire jumped out of his chair and began walking around the room, muttering something under his breath. Then he started up and turned to me.

  - Volper, you're just one of a kind. All the other replicants, not only on the first day, but in the first few hours, had already unlocked at least one skill, but judging by the level of skill development, most likely from the first wave of replication. But at the same time, you still haven’t received a single skill. Explain how that’s possible. Have you never performed the same action at least five or seven times in a row?

  - “No, I’ve been taught all my life that if you want to survive, never repeat yourself, so I tried to act as unpredictably as possible, especially considering that from the moment of the first replication, I’d constantly come across opponents much stronger than me.”

  - But after all ... how is it ... well, really ... you, this is the most ... - it seems that I’ve caused cognitive dissonance in his brain, and he cannot even find a word to describe his thoughts. – Well, how is it possible to do anything, without skills? Even the usual skill "Aimed Shot" makes it possible to make an ultra-precise shot! After all, the neural interface calculates your heartbeat, breath, a bunch of different variables and displays the point of contact before your eyes. Yes, preparation takes two seconds, and rolls back seven. But, after the first shot, it allows you to hit the target accurately. -

  - “Yes, I figure it all out in my mind, without your neural interface,” after my words, the commander froze in one place, like a statue.

  - It cannot be true! - He said that after being frozen for a moment.

  - “So for instance, let’s take shooting. Depending on the distance, you take the amendment to the derivation and lead the barrel to the left according to the bend of the trajectory. If you take into consideration that you have a cartridge with the mass of a bullet weighing around eleven grams, with an initial speed of about eight hundred meters, then at three hundred meters, the bullet deflection to the right will be approximately two centimeters. But if the sight is aimed at three hundred meters, and you need to shoot at one hundred, then you need to aim fourteen centimeters lower. This is just one example of my way of thinking. And so on. If I don’t even know the tabular conditions for a specific bullet, when shooting, it takes me about five to seven hours to get used to everything enough to know what to do by heart.

  - I'm shocked! - Carefire really looked shocked, too. -The server confirmed the data you gave me. But where did you get the data from? -

  - “Alex, please, you should answer my question first. How long do you teach rifle discipline?”

  - It varies, from a few of weeks to a couple of months, until you get the basic set of skills. And then for another month, you work out the appropriate use of the skills in different situations. But why? – Upon hearing his words, it was my turn to look at him with round eyes.

  - “How to explain it to you correctly…” – I began. “I studied shooting disciplines interspersed with different tactics and rules of warfare for thirteen years. At eight years old, I was sent to a military gymnasium, at fourteen, I entered a military school, and at eighteen, I entered a military academy. And the old warriors taught me in the way they’d been taught. They didn’t need any neural interfaces in their eyes, they hadn’t even heard about the tactical helmets and showed great shooting performance regardless. I agree: it’s much more convenient when the Server calculates all the variables for you, but I was taught the old ways.”

  - F***, what archives did they get your cast from? Given this information, I simply must offer you a chance to enlist with our outpost!

  - “No, thanks, I’ve already served my tour of duty.”

  - Volper, I will give you command of a special platoon! - repeated Carefire.

  - “Even if you offered me a division of rapid response troops, I wouldn’t agree. I don’t want to send more boys to the slaughter, I’ve had enough! I now have a new life, and I am responsible only for myself and live my life for my own pleasure.” After saying that, I got up and headed for the exit, realizing that if I didn’t leave now, the commander would continue trying to persuade me to join his ranks.

  - Volper, which grade title did you finish your military career with? – The question was addressed to me when I was near the door and already taking the handle. - Colonel? -

  - “You haven’t guessed it, major; just remember our first meeting and analyze everything well.”

  And after that conversation, I went out of the building and headed to the basement, more precisely, to the firing range, where I was planning to stay for the next week. When I approached the basement doors, I received a system message.

  Attention! Your reputation with Alexander Carefire has changed. The current status is "Respect"

  I just grinned. Old training methods aren’t always bad; they just need to be adjusted to modern circumstances, so I can also get skills at the range. Since I’m not a gamer, I’m missing many things that are obvious to them, but unlike them, I’m always ready to learn and always open to new knowledge. With these thoughts, I opened the door to the range.

  CHAPTER XVI: Training grounds

  Hiding around the corner, I dump the magazine case I used up into a small bag on my belt. I don’t have time to put in a fresh one, as another opponent jumps out from around the corner. I bat his gun away, kicking him and using his disorientation to pin his gun underfoot. I then make sure to bring my own submachine gun up and fire it into his head, three times. Having finished off that opponent, I immediately remove my foot from the gun so as not to lose my balance, and after a moment, the corpse crumbles into tiny nanite pieces.

  - “Not bad, but you have forty seconds and five targets left,” says a voice coming from the loudspeaker on the ceiling.

  - I know! Stop distracting me! - I snarled and popped out again.

  Sooner or later, I will be pissed with that idiot, and I will send him to respawn, even if I end up having problems with Carefire over it. It’s just that this moron m
akes me really angry! He’s been mocking me and annoying me with his sarcasm for three days now. But I haven’t even done anything to him; he was like that on the first day: the moment I entered the base, he immediately started hurling abuse at me and giving me shit. I’m trying to remember what he said: “You are nobody, a no-name! I don’t understand how such a worthless mule was allowed to enter MY training grounds ...” And he continued on like that. For the first fifteen minutes, he didn’t even let me say a word, generously bestowing me with various unkind “epithets”. I swear to god, I barely kept myself from punching him in the face! But there’s nothing to be done about it; you have to endure, because he’s in charge of the proving grounds. And without him, I can’t even get a test battle.

  I was shaken out of my musing by something odd about the farthest corner of the next building, highlighted by my neural interface. It’s great that I was able to get the “Scan the surroundings” skill yesterday, which works even in passive mode. This skill has just helped me for the third time in a row. I start to go faster, and at a distance of five meters, the interface begins to outline the enemy’s contour around the corner, with numbers inside the contour. These numbers show the chance of evaluating everything correctly, which is based on my five senses and the level of my perception. Given the data, the interface shows a probability of 78% that the opponent is just around the corner, and also in the same position as I the image being outlined for me.

  I activate the skill "Knee Glide " and in just a split second, using my eyes, I indicate the starting point and the direction I want to go. After that, my body starts moving, bending my legs the right way and slides me on my knees, under the aim of the enemy, who I figure had been expecting an upright foe. I’d had a lot of disorientation issues the first several times the neural interface took control of my body, but after a little practice, I got used to it. However, I should keep practicing. As I’d been explained, the constant use of the skill increases the level of mastery over time, which opens up new opportunities, a greater range of use, reduces the interval between uses and a lot of other options.