[*Subject: Melbourne Acliate
*Level: 2
*XP: 4/200
Vitals:
*HP: 15/15
*ST: 20/20
*BE: 10/10
Attributes:
*Str: 15
*End: 14
*Per: 18
*Int: 21
*Agi: 19
*Cyb: 10
*Your cybersynergy has grown to the extent that your available augmentation slots have increased. Your maximum number of cybernetic augmentations is now 2.
Augmentation Slots: 1 / 2
Augmentations:
*G.E.U.D.A. (Aclito)
*Aclito Ability Unlocked: Wireless Interface
*The Aclito can now connect with routers and control devices remotely based on user input provided the appropriate devices.
*2 Allocation Points Available]
Melbourne gawked at the notification he had not noticed before when Victoria was in the room.
"Two allocation points?" thought Melbourne curiously. "What does that mean?"
In response to his thought, a pop-up window appeared in his vision.
[*Would you like to allocate points into your attributes now?
Melbourne willed
[*Please select the attribute that you would like to allocate to:
*Str: 15
*End: 14
*Per: 18
*Int: 21
*Agi: 19
*Cyb: 10]
Melbourne thought about it for a long while. What would he like to become? What type of warrior would he be? If he focused on allocating to strength and endurance, he would eventually become a walking tank. If he focused on perception and agility, he would become as nimble as a cat. This would be ideal if he wished to operate covertly and get out of negative situations. It would be ideal for sniping and infiltration if he wanted to hunt more cybernetic artifacts or work with some organization like the Red Cybers in the future. Intelligence was the most important attribute, but Melbourne's brain was already well ahead of his physical skills though, so he decided that he would rather focus on getting his body out of the gutter so he could hold his own against stronger opponents. Based on the way things had been going over the past month and a half, he would be getting himself into many more physical altercations in the future. Increasing cybersynergy wasn't very attractive at the moment as he had not yet had any trouble using his Aclito System. He didn't plan to get any new cybernetic augmentations, at least in the near future. He had a valuable attribute that Victoria had just made him aware of. His cybernetics were undetectable to basic X-Ray scans. Metal detectors wouldn't show him to be a cyborg either. Unless a valuable nanobot augmentation made itself available to him in the near future that would have similar properties that would allow him to avoid detection by military groups, he would have to decline any offers for further cybernetic enhancement if he received any.
After about an hour of contemplating, he decided to allocate one point into agility and one into endurance. While he wanted to become as agile as possible so he could be stealthy and fast, he also decided he wanted to become a well rounded warrior. Endurance was presently weak and he didn't want to end up in the infirmary again because of a single knife strike. Increasing his ability to tolerate damage before being fully out of a fight was going to be important. Maybe, he thought to himself, he would be able to take a few bullets in the future without armor if his cybernetics really worked towards making him a supersoldier. Not very soon, of course, but maybe after a few years of leveling up endurance.
[*Str: 15
*End: 15
*Per: 18
*Int: 21
*Agi: 20
*Cyb: 10]
The increased attribute points increased the upper limit of some of his Vitality attributes as well.
[HP: 20/20
ST: 30/30
BE: 10/10]
Melbourne meditated on this development and realized that it made some sense. Increasing endurance would increase his maximum HP and stamina. Increasing agility would likely further increase his stamina, hence the ten point increase in ST compared to the meager five point increase in HP.
After another two hours, Captain Gambria finally approved Melbourne to leave the medical bay. She had this authority primarily because she had medical training and the original onboard doctor was killed in the pirate attack. Normally, a captain wouldn't have the authority to clear someone medically despite having authority in all other matters. This situation was special.
Arian Horizons approved the continuation of the mission to the derelict ship. Because of the attack, however, the ship was now on the other side of Earth. This meant a four hour delay after the Seeker was finally ready to begin spending the fuel to synchronize its orbit with the derelict. Unfortunately, the pirates had shot the engines of the Seeker. This meant that the crew had to wait in Low Earth Orbit for a fuel ship to arrive from Luna even after the engines were repaired by E.V.A. technicians. While it took a ship coming straight from Mars less than a day to travel from Luna to Earth, they already had momentum going for them. A ship coming from the orbital shipyards of Luna had to accelerate and the journey would take about a day and a half for the cheap refueling vessels that Arian Horizons had hired to respond. That meant the crew was going to be marooned for the next sixteen hours. Luckily, the ship was already en route by the time repairs had been made and the orbital police had done their investigations. It did take almost the two days during the time that Melbourne was unconscious for the refueling ships to get their approval and to embark from Luna.
Melbourne floated to the ship's cupola and stared at the vast expanse of radioactive wastelands below. A land that matched the outline of Europe slowly zoomed by below as Melbourne thought longingly about the secrets the derelict and its mysterious neural interface might hold. He found himself anticipating the excavation of Cosmist artifacts more than ever before.