|Devola|
She scrolls through the data feed in front of her with quiet satisfaction and nods.
The battle is over. They are coming out victorious. There are no casualties among the androids, and Simon suffered no injuries.
Everything is satisfactory. At first, she thought that there would be a lot of casualties among the andorids because of the number of machines coming to the fortress, but she is more than happy with this outcome.
Her sister is currently directing the drones, which are scavenging machine remains, so Simon can dismantle them and convert them into usable resources. Devola is still amazed by Simon's power—his ability to turn any matter into common materials is something that can change the tide of any battle.
She already witnessed that miracle happening as they battled against the massive tide of machines.
According to Simon, he can even create a new fabricator with the same application. However, he mentioned that upgrading the current one would require additional charges. She doesn't fully understand what that means, but she is excited to see what he creates next.
Everything he makes is fascinating. Most of it is based on principles she does not fully understand. She wants to learn the foundation of each tech, but due to her busy schedule, she rarely has time to study all the blueprints Simon gives her.
She wants to learn. She will learn them eventually, but she cannot do that at the moment. She knows she will be busy the next few days or even a week. There are a lot of problem and kinks she need to fix, and among them are her and her sister's counterparts.
She turns and sees her counterparts walking toward her. They hesitate, clearly unsure whether they should approach.
She understands that feeling.
The feeling of not deserving the good things happening to you.
She and her sister carried that burden for a long time. It only vanished when Simon rescued them—when he gave them a second chance, they never believed they would receive. After that… It feels like everything gets clearer and the world becomes more vibrant. For the first time in a long time that they feel happy and have a purpose they can do happily.
She watches them fidget for a few seconds before one of them finally steps forward.
"C-Can we talk?"
She smiles gently.
"Of course. Come on. We can talk in my workshop."
They enter together, the twins glancing around in wonder. Devola feels a flicker of pride. With Simon's permission, she built this workshop to divide the workload.
Popola oversees the health of androids, the wall, and Simon himself. Devola handles maintenance for drones, turrets, and vehicles. Lucy assists by ensuring the weaponry remains in peak condition. Simon has already given them the tools and methods needed to maintain the equipment.
All of the tech Simon creates can last a long time—but without proper care, even the best weaponry can fail quickly.
As the door closes, Devola turns to them.
"So, what can I do for you?"
Her counterpart hesitates before speaking.
"W-We want to know how you can work for Sir Simon. H-How can he forgive our sins?"
Devola frowns slightly.
"Honestly… I don't know. When he found us—dying in the sand dunes—he repaired us even though he knew our sins. He rebuilt us, made us something more, while ensuring we still remained ourselves."
She looks at the twins and continues.
"He said it was not our fault. That the fault lay with Devola and Popola of the past. And even then, it wasn't entirely theirs. It was a plan doomed from the start—an untested experiment bound to fail sooner or later."
She smiles softly.
"I know the sins of our kind cannot be erased. But my sister and I chose to obey him—to atone through action." She meets their eyes. "I suggest you do the same. I won't ask you to forget our sins. We never have. But I ask you to atone for them."
Her voice softens.
"This time, we have someone worthy of our devotion."
She straightens.
"Your aimless journey is over. We have someone to whom we can offer our lives. So stand tall—and work harder. Our God walks among us."
After she says that, she can see a change in the twins' behavior. It is as if a massive weight on their back disappears, and now they are standing with a new purpose in their eyes. She can see their long-forgotten programming awaken and start to give them the push they need.
The push they need to serve Humanity with all their being. She knows they will carry the sins of their kind, but now she knows the twins in front of her will work hard, so some days, they truly deserve the second chance Simon gives them.
It is the same feeling she and her sister once felt.
She smiles.
"Now, can you help me? I need to repair all the turrets. I don't want Simon worrying about maintenance. I want him to rest. Would you like to learn how to operate drones?"
The twins glance at each other, then back at her, eyes shining.
"Please teach us!"
"Teach us, please!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
|Simon Blackmore|
When he wakes, he immediately feels it—his charges are fully restored, and a new shipment of [Resource] has arrived.
He sits up and looks around.
Something has changed.
The familiar hum of the fabricators is gone. All of them have been relocated. He smiles faintly—no doubt the twins moved them so he could rest. The window has also been tinted, blocking the harsh sunlight.
However, he can still see several androids outside, staring at him through the glass. They can be childish sometimes, just like humans.
He ignores them for now and focuses on the battle report. He waved his hand and let his Omni-Tool summon his portable computer. A hologram appeared in front of him, and he read through the report from Devola and Popola.
He underestimated the machines.
He underestimated the machines. He knows that there are many machines, and they possess powerful weapons, but he underestimates the number of machines and the potency of their weaponry.
He releases a sigh as he reads through the report. He lost 65.72% of drones and 51.83% of sentries in the battle, with half of the functioning drones and sentries damaged and in need of immediate repair.
Fortunately, he isn't the one handling that. Devola manages drone and turret repairs, while Popola handles android maintenance and wall reconstruction. It is already at 89% completion, with all Androids already at 100%.
That leaves him free to focus on upgrades.
So he can focus on upgrading his army using his newly recharged power.
For one, he needs to upgrade his Fabricator. Currently, it can only create matter from energy, but cannot convert matter into energy. It makes replacing things harder because I need to be the one who turns the things into [Resource] and then turns them into other matters.
However, with Matter-to-Energy conversion technology, it will be easier to change and swap things. It needs a few more charges to achieve this.
So, without hesitation, he adds another three charges to this specialization. As if everything falls into place, something clicks inside his brain, and a massive flood of knowledge, ideas, and blueprints pours into his mind.
As expected, the [Energy–Matter Conversion] is the right choice to upgrade. Now, energy scarcity is no longer a concern. If necessary, he can convert the ground beneath his feet into a source of power.
He releases a deep breath and nods his head. This alone already upgrades his current setup, but he is not done. He needs to upgrade his fabricator. They were the MVP in the previous fight, and he needed more of them.
So, he adds three more charges to [Fabrication] and feels another flood of knowledge, ideas, and blueprints appear inside his head.
Another surge of knowledge hits him. He grunts as multiple specializations synchronize. It isn't painful—just overwhelming. After a few seconds, the feeling is gone, leaving him with a massive amount of ideas and blueprints to play with.
He thinks for a few seconds and decides to spend the remaining four charges to create a new specialization. He is thinking of a way to improve himself. His armor protects him—but it slows him down quite a bit. It makes him a tank, and while it has its ups, the downs are something he does not want to have. He prefers a DEX-type build to a VIT-type.
He needs to improve his physical strength. He needs to create implants for his body and decides to pick [Genetic] as his new specialization. He put all four charges into this one and felt another rush of knowledge, ideas, and blueprints appear inside his head.
He can now upgrade his body using bio implants, but he decides not to do that at the moment. In his eagerness, he forgot to create a Cyberware specialization. He needs the neural port to control the mech.
He groans and does a facepalm.
"At least I still have others to operate the mech and heavy weapons."
Shaking his head, he stands and opens the door.
He shakes his head and gets off his bed. With a sigh, he walks to the door and opens it. As he opens the door, he blinks for a second at the increasing number of androids in Reunion City.
Most of them are YoRHa-type androids, but he can also see mass-produced androids among them. However, the majority of them are YoRHa-type androids.
And all of them look at him in awe and reverence.
A familiar blonde android, dressed in white, walks forward. He knows her. She is Commander White, the leader of the YoRHa organization. She gives him YoRHa's signature salute and says.
"Glory to Mankind!"
And the others follow suit.
"Glory to Mankind!"
Simon exhales.
…This is going to be a very long day.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Simon's Specialization (Day 8):
Solarpunk = 3 Charges
Miniaturization = 2 Charges
Efficiency = 2 Charge
Automation = 2 Charges
Stealth = 2 Charges
Energy – Matter Conversion = 6 Charges (+3 Upgrades)
Fabrication = 6 Charges (+3 Upgrades)
Surveillance = 2 Charges
Fortification = 2 Charges
Computer = 5 Charges
Hacking = 3 Charges
Cybersecurity = 4 Charges
Android = 8 Charges
Range Weapons = 3 Charges
Vehicles = 4 Charges
Biotech = 3 Charges
Medicine = 2 Charges
Defense = 5 Charges
Material = 2 Charges
Hard Light = 3 Charges
Aerospace = 3 Charges
Communication = 2 Charges
Energy Generation = 5 Charges
Terraforming = 2 Charges
Armor = 5 Charges
Genetic = 4 Charges (NEW)