Chapter One Hundred and Fifty-Four: My Last Day of Shopping (Patreon)

We visited several other pavilions over the course of the day, sampling the various technologies on offer as well as scouting potential allies for the next alien assault.

Dr. Palmer’s conversation with Jetstream had led to a long call with BAE’s aviation division, and a contract for the ultra to supply enhanced turbines for a few experimental fighters. I added my own contribution, in the form of a thousand metres of nanocord, in return for some ‘consulting’.

YOU HAVE RECEIVED KNOWLEDGE FROM AN ALLY WHO IS ALSO AN EXPERT IN PROPULSION TECHNOLOGY.

GRAVITIC SYSTEMS UPGRADED TO LEVEL 5.

BLUEPRINT UNLOCKED: ANTIGRAV THRUSTER MARK ONE.

MODIFIES THE GRAVITATIONAL FIELD VECTOR TO PROVIDE MOMENTUM IN A CHOSEN DIRECTION. REQUIRES AN ENERGY SOURCE. WARNING: WILL ONLY CONVERT 50% OF THE TOTAL ENERGY TO KINETIC ENERGY.

COST: 4 KG BORON CARBIDE + 2 KG FULLERSTEEL + 4 GRAVITIC CONTROL ARRAYS + 1500 MP.

The antigrav thruster had been something I’d wanted for a while, and Jetstream’s tips had - somehow - provided what I needed to unlock it. Thrusters were a foundational technology - with them, I could add flight capabilities to my battlesuits, or build armored vehicles which could float above ground. Hovercraft, yay!

All that, however, was much farther away than the true prize, a weapon which offered an immediate benefit:

BLUEPRINT UNLOCKED: STARFALL MISSILE.

A NEW GENERATION OF MISSILE, THE STARFALL-I COMBINES AN EXPLOSIVE WARHEAD WITH A GRAVITIC THRUSTER AND A POWER PACK TO ACCELERATE IT TO UNHEARD-OF SPEEDS.

REQUIREMENTS: EXPLOSIVES LEVEL 10, ENERGY SYSTEMS LEVEL 5, GRAVITY SYSTEMS LEVEL 5, AFTERBURNER SKILL, 1 UNLOCKED MISSILE BLUEPRINT.

WEIGHT: 50 KG.

COST: 25 KG OCTANITROCUBANE + 4 KG STEEL + 6 KG BORON CARBIDE + 4 GRAVITIC CONTROL ARRAYS + 1 ANTIGRAV THRUSTER + 2 GRAVITIC SENSORS + 1 ONBOARD COMPUTER + 1 HEAVY POWER PACK + 1800 MP.

An incredibly expensive weapon, with a phenomenal list of requirements.

But a single line at the end of the blueprint showed its true worth:

DAMAGE: +5,000,000.

A missile capable of one-shotting a Lesser Carnotaur, even with Harden active.

Even better? I could add Sniper Shot or Deadly Shot for guaranteed hits or enhanced damage.

The one challenge was making octanitrocubane - also known as OCN - an incredibly powerful chemical explosive, and pound for pound worth more than gold - if synthesized normally. Fortunately, with Chemist now at Level 14 - the result of months of fullersteel and nanofibre weave synthesis - I could synthesize it in job lots if needed.

Which was, actually, not a great idea, considering it was almost twice as explosive as TNT.

These factors only drove home Paul’s reminder - I needed exceptional security in my warehouses. And on the vehicle I took to combat - in the next battle, I had no intention of relying on the generosity of Edward Windsor’s equivalent to get missiles.

Of course, I hadn’t told Gideon and the others of my newer blueprints. Best not to panic them, especially when I plan on storing a hundred-odd missiles under their feet….

As I bid farewell to the others that evening, a strange sense of nostalgia swept over me.

Something oddly familiar, yet… unknown.

Might it be something from my past, my subconscious signalling me to take note?

I glanced around. The nearest tent housed a delegation of Indian ultras, proudly flying their colours.

A tall man in a turban waved at me. “Hey, aren’t you Belessar?”

“The same. And you, sir?”

“Kalchakra. I tell the future, you know. Want to get your fortune told?”

A precog? I stepped up. “Why not? How do you do this?”

“You have to show me your palm,” the man grinned.

An exasperated sigh sounded from the tent. “Kalchakra, stop scamming the locals. You know damn well your palm-reading doesn’t work.”

“But I am the great Kalchakra!” grinned the turbaned ultrahuman. “I see the direction the arrows of time take you!”

KALCHAKRA

LEVEL 14

CLASS: SAVANT

AN EXCEPTIONAL STUDENT OF HUMAN PSYCHOLOGY, KALCHAKRA’S DAY JOB IS AS AN ECONOMIC ADVISOR TO THE INDIAN CENTRAL BANK. HOWEVER, HE SUFFERS FROM A TENDENCY TO BELIEVE IN ASTROLOGY, AND A COMPELLING NEED TO PERSUADE OTHERS THAT IT WORKS.

HARMLESS, UNLESS YOU ACTUALLY LISTEN TO HIS PREDICTIONS.

I sighed. “Maybe another time.”

“Smart move on your part,” muttered the voice from the tent. The speaker was a short woman in a purple bodysuit, decorated with tiny silver sequins, and a face-concealing mask.

“Shadow,” the woman introduced herself. “Shifter. Kalchakra, savant. Can we help you?”

“I’m not sure,” I confessed. “Had a feeling of something familiar around here.”

“We get that a lot,” Shadow said. “Are you a PIO?”

“A what?”

“A Person of Indian Origin, duh. Parents or grandparents from India, visited the desha few times…”

“That would be fairly personal information.”

“Suit yourself. Just saying, familiar feelings near the tricolour? Usually that’s a PIO thing.” She shrugged. “Makes no difference to us, but you’re always welcome to drop by and visit.”

“You do this for all PIOs?”

“Only for those who save the lives of a few thousand Indians. They had a massive article about you in the Mumbai Mirror, said you worked nonstop for twelve hours healing our troops. That true?”

“It was only six hours.”

“It also says you’re Agni’s boyfriend.”

“That’s personal information, too.”

“Sure, which is why it’s a full-length article in the Mirror.”

I scowled inside my suit and ran an Observe over Shadow.

SHADOW

LEVEL 5

CLASS: SHIFTER

TITLE: THE HEROINE WITH A THOUSAND FACES

SHADOW CAN TAKE ON THE FEATURES AND BODY SHAPES OF VIRTUALLY ANY WOMAN. THIS WOULD MAKE HER AN EXCELLENT INFILTRATION SPECIALIST, EXCEPT FOR HER ACTING SKILLS, WHICH ARE TERRIBLE. LIKE, REALLY TERRIBLE.

SHE HAS LITTLE INTEREST IN COMBAT, BUT IS KEEN TO BREAK INTO THE FILM INDUSTRY, AND IS STUDYING FILM TECHNOLOGY AT THE SATYAJIT RAY INSTITUTE.

SKILLS:

FACESHIFT (FEMALE): CAN ALTER HER FACIAL FEATURES TO RESEMBLE ANY WOMAN.

HAIR CONTROL: PERFECT CONTROL OVER HER HAIRSTYLE THROUGH MENTAL COMMAND.

SPONGIFORM: ON GAINING HER POWER, SHADOW’S TRUE BODY WAS CHANGED INTO THAT OF A SPONGIFORM. CAN ALTER HER HEIGHT OR DIMENSIONS TO BULK UP OR SLIM DOWN, ALLOWING HER TO IMPERSONATE A TARGET OF ANY SHAPE OR SIZE.

Ouch. Interesting powers, but that level.... a police constable would probably be more than a match for Shadow. It was probably for the best she wasn’t looking for a combat role.

“Cat got your tongue?” the teenager asked.

“Just thinking,” I shrugged. “Thanks for your time.”

<Belessar>: Have you heard of a paper called the Mumbai Mirror?

<Nanocloud>: Nope. Wait one. … Ah, here it is. Local tabloid in Mumbai, huh? Maybe Agni knows about it.

<Belessar>: They ran an article on me some time ago.

<Nanocloud>: Um. A lot of folks write a lot of articles about you.

<Belessar>: Should I be worried?

<Nanocloud>: No, not at all! Haha.

<Belessar>: Somehow that’s not as reassuring as I hoped.

<Belessar>: I don’t really want to be the guy who follows every mention of his name on social media, but you’d tell me if there was really anything important, right?

<Nanocloud>: … Maybe you should take a look.

<Belessar>: You’re scaring me a bit here, sis.

<Nanocloud>: Um. Dad says not to worry about it and he’ll talk it over with you. There’ve been a few, er, particularly unflattering articles but nothing that’ll make a real difference.