Chapter 83: Upgrading the Pursuer Again!
The moment the words left him, the Pursuer pressed the firing trigger on its specialized weapon.
A precisely focused sound wave engulfed Riot entirely.
Riot, which had been a fraction of a second from attacking, collapsed into extreme disorientation and pain. The symbiote churned violently inside its host, surging to the surface of the skin.
About a minute passed.
Riot, in symbiote form, finally curled in on itself, weakened to the point of stillness.
Even then the Pursuer kept the sonic weapon active, not releasing the trigger until Riot was completely sealed inside a specialized containment canister. Only then did it stop.
"Recovery complete."
The Pursuer left the site immediately after securing the symbiote.
Roughly thirty minutes later, Malaysian police and fire crews arrived at the scene, followed closely by media reporters from various outlets. They took one look at the crashed ship and the condition of the bodies inside and sealed the entire area without hesitation.
Inside the Life Foundation.
Carlton Drake, the foundation's actual decision-maker, was staring at the rolling footage of the crash on the main screen with an expression that had gone progressively worse as he watched.
The scene on camera was chaos. The forest fire was being fought back vehicle by vehicle. Life-1 lay tilted in a blackened wreckage field, and medical personnel in protective suits were removing bodies from the cabin one by one.
Carlton Drake's eyes were locked on the ship's remains.
He kept pressing the staff around him. "What happened? Why did the ship not land at the designated coordinates?"
"And the samples. Any word?"
He scanned the screen repeatedly, looking for any sign of the containers the crew had reported.
He kept telling himself they had survived intact.
They had not.
The Black female staff member beside him reported with audible reluctance. "I'm sorry, sir. We've made inquiries through every available channel. All samples are currently unaccounted for."
"Based on what we know, there are two possibilities."
"One: the samples were destroyed in the crash itself, broken apart by the impact. Two: the local government is deliberately concealing their existence."
Carlton Drake's expression darkened further at both options.
Neither was acceptable. Neither changed the fact that the samples were gone.
He issued his orders.
"Contact the Malaysian government immediately. I want a full accounting. Whatever it takes."
"You find them. I don't care what condition they're in. I want those samples located, one way or another."
The Life Foundation mobilized on all sides.
It was not going to produce any results.
The investigation was pointed in every direction except the one that mattered. Umbrella Corporation was not on their list of possibilities, and had never been. With the wrong direction locked in from the start, the outcome was determined.
One day later.
Matthew looked at the symbiotes arranged neatly in front of him and gave a satisfied nod.
The Pursuer delivered. Every time.
His attention moved to the Pursuer standing across the office.
He retrieved the canister containing Riot from the temperature-controlled case. The System panel opened the moment it was in his hands.
[Symbiote (Riot): Created by the dark god Knull. Bonds with a host to grant enhanced strength, shapeshifting, the ability to replicate a host's powers, and accelerated healing. Weaknesses: high heat and sonic frequencies.
Riot's most distinctive ability is transforming its limbs into heavy weapon forms for combat.]
[Optimizable defects: Heat vulnerability. Sonic vulnerability. Independent consciousness. Hive mind uplink.]
[Upgradeable capabilities: Raw strength. Shapeshifting. Accelerated recovery. Impact resistance.]
He read through the defects.
[Heat vulnerability: A universal symbiote weakness. Resistance to high temperatures is extremely low; sustained heat exposure causes death.
Optimization cost: 1,000 System points.]
[Sonic vulnerability: A universal symbiote weakness. Similarly, their resistance to high temperatures is also extremely low. Frequencies between 4,000 and 6,000 Hz cause extreme distress; prolonged exposure to this environment will cause the symbiote to die completely.
Optimization cost: 1,000 System points.]
[Independent consciousness: The symbiote possesses its own will and will at times actively attempt to wrest control from its host.
Optimization cost: 200 System points.]
[Hive mind uplink: All of the symbiote's memories are ultimately transmitted back to the Klyntar hive mind.
Optimization cost: 100 System points.]
"Optimize all defects."
[Optimizing all defects will cost 2,300 System points. Confirm?]
"Confirm."
[Optimizing.]
[Optimization complete.]
[System points remaining: 3,000.]
[Accumulated points needed for next Pass reward: 14,700.]
Matthew looked at the symbiote, now stripped of all independent will, and did not hand it to the Pursuer yet. He opened the Customization interface instead.
A custom modification was in order.
"I want Riot permanently externalized as armor, with the emphasis on offensive capability."
[Assault Living Armor: Significantly increases the strength of weapon-form transformations while slightly reducing defensive coverage.
Modification cost: 1,000 System points.]
[Heavy Assault Living Armor: Increases defensive coverage while significantly increasing offensive power and the range and capability of weapon-form transformations.
Modification cost: 3,000 System points.]
[Slaughter Living Armor: Living armor built purely for elimination. Massively increases defensive coverage while dramatically increasing offensive power; weapon-form strength is also dramatically increased.
Modification cost: 5,000 System points.]
[...]
"I select Heavy Assault Living Armor."
[Modifying.]
[Customization complete.]
As the notification cleared, a metallic sheen spread across Riot's surface.
Matthew looked at his now-empty System point balance and, as a precaution, dropped the symbiote and the Pursuer into the Fusion interface before doing anything further.
He was out of funds at the moment, but skipping the compatibility check wasn't an option. If the compatibility came back low and the fusion failed, the wasted cost would be considerable.
[Symbiote (Riot) + Pursuer: Compatibility 100%.]
[Compatibility is exceptional. Fusion requires no System point expenditure.]
Matthew let out a slow breath.
It made sense. Symbiotes bonded with practically anything. The Pursuer was no exception.
The last obstacle was cleared.
He pressed the fusion confirmation immediately.
The next moment, Riot became a streak of light and drove itself into the Pursuer's body.
When the light faded, what was standing in the office was something new.