91Uninspired
Mass Effect, Inspired Inventor
01
"Leon, come on! You're gonna miss it!"
Looking up from my tablet, I found the short, thin form of my roommate standing in the doorway, wearing a frustrated expression. "Sure, Kel. You nerd."
"Shut uuup~!" came a whine I was entirely too familiar with at this point.
Kel was actually Kelly—a fourteen year old girl with short, dark brown hair and a small frame, just starting to fill out as puberty hit her hard. She was the epitome of a tomboy. She was awkward and tended to overcompensate by being loud and boisterous. It was kind of cute, really.
Putting the tablet down, I followed her deeper into the orphanage, towards the recreation room on this floor of the multi-story building. I knew what was coming, but there was little I could do to avoid it. It was a tradition, and kind of an obligation at this point, that the kids of each class/floor throw a party for each others' birthdays, because who else was going to celebrate them if not us—given that the majority of the children here were castoffs, unwanted children who were given away. As opposed to the much smaller number of people whose parents had died and they hadn't had anywhere else to go, like myself.
St. Nicholas Home and School for Children was a large, donation-funded orphanage that functioned as a safe drop-off/child abandonment shelter, in addition to taking children off the streets. As the name implied, it acted as both a home and school for its residents, offering classes up through the high school level. Compared to the horror stories I'd heard about Miami's normal public schooling, and public schools in general in this day and age, I was happy for the private school environment.
I'd already been through school once and that was more than enough. Being forced into public school a second time, after I'd gotten this second chance at life? Hell no. As soon as I was able, I was planning to test out and enter the workforce.
As we entered the dark rec-room, I rolled my eyes and played along. When the lights came on and thirty other kids yelled "SURPRISE!" I chuckled, smiling and going along with it as I was handed a slice of cheap cake from some supermarket bakery on a paper plate, the words 'Happy Birthday Leon' written on the cake. Kel pulled me away with a couple of cups of soda and a plate of cake of her own in hand, leading me to the sofa where some a news report was playing.
"It's almost time!" she bounced in place, setting my cup and hers down on the table as she grabbed the remote and turned it up.
On the screen was a view of the inside of a domed structure, and through the top of the dome we could see a background of black with a single floating object taking up the center of the shot. A blue and green sphere, with wisps of white, surrounded by a sea of stars. It was a sight anyone on Earth would recognize: the view of the Earth from the moon.
I listened with half an ear as clapping sounded from the TV and a man walked onto a stage and began to speak, commemorating Armstrong Outpost as the first human settlement on Luna. Beside me, Kelly made a quiet, excited sound and I shook my head, though I could understand the feeling.
I loved science and technology, and especially anything to do with space. Ever since finding myself reborn in this world, I'd felt a certain… restless wanderlust any time I looked at the stars. I didn't want to spend an entire second life on the ground—or even in this solar system. My parents in this life died in a boating accident off the coast of Florida when I was just eight, leaving me with some money held in an account I couldn't access until I was an adult and their home, but no living relatives to take care of me—meaning I couldn't just stay in the home I'd grown up in in this world. That was how I ended up in St. Nicholas and met Kelly.
The sudden change in my situation hadn't dulled my love of all things science and space-related. If anything, being forced into an orphanage had set me down the path to studying my way out of school, and out of the grasp of the system, as fast as I could. At fifteen as of today, I had only one year left before I could get myself emancipated, gain legal access to the funds and home my parents left me, and be done with the school system. I was already reviewing colleges online and trying to find one actually focused on STEM and not trying to force students into the indoctrination camp that was 'humanities' courses. I didn't need to waste multiple semesters' worth of my time (and money!) learning the communist manifesto or how awful I was for the original sin of being born with 'privilege' to justify the continued existence of those courses and departments full of useless bloat, when I could instead be studying stellar bodies… and science, too.
Kelly had picked up on that drive and had begun putting in effort—going from tomboy to nerdy tomboy over the course of a few years. She had spent years studying me, learning my likes and dislikes, and had by complete coincidence found that we liked the same things.
She wasn't fooling anyone. I was aware of her crush, but at the moment I was too focused on getting out to do anything about it. Besides, we were just kids. Well, teenagers now. And while a little fooling around might be normal for most kids our (physical) age, I'd wait until she was legal before making a move—that way I wouldn't feel like some sort of scumbag. It was more for my own sense of morals than any worry about legalities, really. I was old enough (mentally) that if she called me 'daddy' in bed, it'd be kind of awkward. Hot, but awkward.
Taking a bite of my chocolate cake, I watched the windbag drone on, before finally getting to the point. "…And on this day, July 20, 2069, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the very first lunar landing, we declare Armstrong Outpost Luna's first colony and open for business!"
My head suddenly swam and I wavered where I sat. Beside me, Kelly asked something, then put her plate down and took mine from my hands. She tugged on my arm and I found myself pulled down into her lap as my head throbbed and the light suddenly burned, forcing my eyes closed. Cool fingers ran through my hair and I tried to focus on that feeling as it felt like my brain caught fire. I'd had the occasional migraine before in my previous life and this felt like that, only so much worse.
Until eventually, it was over, just as suddenly as it had begun. And in its place was something new. A feeling of potential and…
Loading…
A word swam into view in the darkness behind my eyelids. A moment later, it was replaced by more—an entire menu, like I was looking at a computer screen.
Leon Reynolds. Experience: 1550xp. Points: 16.
Shop
Tech Tree
Upgrades
Missions*
Log
Codex
What the fuck? I wondered, the thought that I might have had a stroke crossing my mind, but the fact that what I was seeing wasn't going away and was clear and legible kind of led me to believe that might not be the case. Curiosity got the better of me and I tried to play with it. Seeing the asterisk beside 'Missions,' I tried to mentally select it.
Missions*
First time:
1. Learn to navigate the menu.10xp.
2. View the options in the Shop. 10xp.
3. View the options in the Tech tree. 10xp.
4. View the options in Upgrades. 10xp.
5. Read the available Missions.10xp.
6. Read the Log. 10xp.
7. Read the Codex. 10xp.
8. Explore all menu options. 10xp.
9. Purchase your first Tech Tree. 10xp.
10. Purchase your first Upgrade. 10xp.
Daily:
1. Study. (5) 10xp/hour.
2. Exercise. 10xp/hour.
3. Tinker. 10xp/hour.
Main:
1. Achieve legal emancipation. 10000xp.
2. Earn GED and leave school early. 10000xp.
3. Get to space. 50000xp.
4. Reach the moon. 10000xp.
5. Reach another planet. 10000xp.
6. Visit every planet in the solar system. 10000xp.
7. Leave the solar system. 10000xp.
8. Make contact with an alien race. 10000xp.
9. Get xeno pussy. 10000xp.
10. Survive. (15) 100xp/year.
Side:
1. Achieve immortality. 10000xp.
2. Solve world hunger. 10000xp.
3. Achieve world peace (or close enough). 10000xp.
4. Uplift humanity. 10000xp.
"Leon, are you okay?"
I grunted and opened one eye, finding myself looking up at Kelly's face, partially obscured by the view of her breasts. "Migraine. Just hit suddenly."
She shook her head, making a quiet, chiding sound. "You've been studying too much—it's a Saturday, you should have gone outside and gotten some air. You're probably dehydrated, too. I'll get you some water. Then, why don't you go lay down and take a nap?"
I considered the offer for a moment before nodding. It would give me time to go over the utterly ridiculous menu that had disappeared the moment I opened my eyes and stopped focusing on it. I'm not going crazy. I'm not.
"Thanks, Kel." I accepted the hand up from her lap pillow and stumbled my way from the rec-room to my bedroom, where I began stripping down. I was one of the lucky odd ones out in my year, who actually had a room to themselves.
Kelly joined me a moment later, pausing in the doorway for just a second as I kicked my shorts away, my shirt already off. "Here, water," she offered, moving closer. "Drink."
Knowing she would insist and not let up until I did, I took it and drained half of the cold water in one go, before climbing back into bed. A nap in the middle of the day sounded nice anyway, once I was done investigating the anomaly that was the menu.
Kelly pulled the curtains shut, casting the room into darkness. "I hope you feel better soon," she smiled, before quietly leaving the room and closing the door behind herself.
Staring up at the ceiling in the cool, dim room, I wondered how to get the menu back. As if summoned, which I imagined it actually was, it returned and I began to explore every section, starting with the Codex, followed by the Log. There, I found an entry on the menu itself, which combined with the information in the Log gave me enough information to put together what was going on.
The short version was that yes, I had been reincarnated. Not just to any old alternate Earth with a similar development to my own, but specifically to the Earth of the Mass Effect universe, over ninety years before the Charon mass relay was even discovered. I remembered enough of the story to be worried, but not enough of the details, especially the deep lore, to really know just how fucked I was other than 'reapers are coming.' For me, I had last seen anything related to 'Mass Effect' more than fifteen years ago. After all, in my world I died in 2054 at the age of seventy, only to be reborn in this world seemingly less than a day later by the calendar in the 2054 of this place.
As for the menu, it seemed to be one part reward, one part challenge. A reward for dying with positive karma, a challenge to see if I could course correct this place.
Every day, I would accrue one point, with which to purchase new tech trees from the shop, upgrade existing tech trees, or buy upgrades for myself. I could also do tasks, listed under Missions, to gain experience and use that experience to gain points, at a rate of 100 experience to 1 point. Some missions were repeatable and stackable, such as studying or exercising granting ten experience per hour, while others were cyclical on a calendar, such as the mission 'Survive,' which gave me 100 experience per year—or one point per year, when converted.
The tech trees I could buy from the shop were limited at the moment, but would add a new option every six months. From what I could tell, so far it seemed that the trees available came from other science-fiction settings. The shop was where I could buy upgrades, which would show up under the Upgrades menu.
Shop
Notes: first three tech trees and upgrades come at a 90% discount. New tech trees and upgrades become available every six months (excluding this month). You may only purchase ten upgrades and tech trees per year.
Tech Trees:
1. Mass Effect. -10 points.
2. Stargate. -10 points.
3. Marvel (Cinematic Universe). -10 points.
Upgrades:
1. Fast Learner. -2 points.
– Assimilate and understand knowledge faster. This includes things learned the mundane way and knowledge imparted from purchased tech trees.
2. Mechanical Savant. -2 points.
– You're the machine whisperer. You understand any mechanical or electronic object, how it works, and the methods of its construction just by looking under the hood, so to speak. Gaining access to something's innards or blueprints triggers this effect.
3. MacGyver's Apprentice. -2 points.
– You just have a knack for finding a way to jury-rig things. Scavenging, salvaging, improvisation, and bootstrapping all come easily to you.
Eyeing my choices and counting up my points, I realized that I had enough to buy all three upgrades and one option on the tech tree. I went ahead and bought the upgrades. I felt just a little different after, but not in any real way I could put my finger on. It wasn't like I could suddenly run faster or jump higher—there was no physically observable evidence that anything had changed. And yet, I knew I had.
Shaking my head, I considered the three tech trees available. If this was real, and it seemed to be, then I wanted them all.
Given that I was in the Mass Effect universe, having a head start on their tech would be very nice. I could find ways to introduce it and get humanity on par with the other big races much faster.
The problem with that was that everything in the Mass Effect universe operated off of ME tech derived from Element Zero and its effects… and the Reapers were at the top of the food chain, there. The killer AIs had had millions of years to get good with the tech and to understand or predict most of the potential developments that would come from it. It was predictable. Expected. Accounted for. And while it would be nice to have, it wasn't a necessity right now. Especially with no access to eezo.
Stargate tech, on the other hand, had me salivating at the potential uses. I'd loved the series and devoured more content than I had for Mass Effect.
FTL that didn't require eezo or rely on the mass relays. Soft scifi tech like inertia dampeners and artificial gravity that would make space travel workable. Particle beams and other energy weapons, railguns, nukes, super nukes, and other things that again, didn't use eezo—in fact, most of them used mundane materials. Cloning, human enhancement including inducing psionic powers, genetic engineering. On the higher end of the tech tree, teleportation and energy to matter replicators that could just create whatever you wanted.
The biggest issue there though was that a lot of that tech required some prerequisites that I wasn't sure existed in this universe. Naquadah, for instance—the wonder mineral that was their equivalent to Element Zero. However… There were some loopholes. For instance, a replicator could make naquadah, and didn't need to be made from or powered by naquadah to do so. It was just a matter of getting that high on the tech tree. Which meant it wasn't immediately useful.
No, the reward for 'most immediately useful' tech tree went to the MCU tree, if it held what I thought it did. Tony Stark built a suit of powered armor and a clean energy source in a cave from scraps—using early 2000s tech and nothing particularly rare to do it. If I could get my hands on a, what was it called again? An arc reactor, then I could use that to bootstrap whatever tech I made. And that was at the low end of that tree, if I was right.
Clean, renewable energy. Power armor. Weapons and flight that didn't run off of hydrocarbons or any special snowflake elements and which could be built in a garage with some basic tools. Artificial Intelligence.
I made my choice.
There was no headache this time. Just a steady flow of information into my brain as I absorbed years of material. Mundane science, chemistry, medicine, physics, and more. Multiple doctorates worth of knowledge, and better yet, practical knowledge from experience downloaded straight into my brain.
My mouth fell open as I boggled.
I had thought that I would be getting something like what Tony Stark had known, and I was right… but also so very wrong. I hadn't anticipated just how wide the scope of what I'd bought was. Not only did I have Stark's know-how and experience up to the point that he built his first few iterations of the Iron Man suit—up through about the first movie, if I remembered correctly—but I also had Bruce Banner's knowledge, which included far more than just what he knew on gamma radiation. Erik Selvig's knowledge of theoretical astrophysics. Abraham Erskine's knowledge of the super soldier serum and vita radiation. Hank Pym's knowledge of the Pym particle. The knowledge of not one, not two, but three iterations of Peter Parker, the knowledge of how their various radioactive spiders were made…
And as it poured in, my upgrades dissected the knowledge and fed me ideas on how to use it. For instance, MacGyver told me that everything I'd need to build a mark 1 arc reactor could be found in a junk yard.
Okay, hang on. Just… just hold on, I pumped the brakes on my sudden enthusiasm to go out and start tearing apart things.
I needed to verify my newfound knowledge and a plan to do it. The easiest way would, of course, be to actually build something—and the arc reactor was stupidly simple, so that was the way I was leaning. But I would need tools and a workshop, and somewhere to keep whatever I made.
With the right parts and tools, I could build one in a couple of hours. It's just after noon, so I've got the rest of the day.
There was a shed behind the orphanage where they kept the gardening tools, lawnmower, and other tools—it was a place every orphan here knew well, as we'd all taken our turns doing various chores and light handiwork around the place. It would do well as a source of a few tools and a place to make my first project.
Assuming it works, I mused as I got out of bed and began getting dressed. Opening the top drawer of my dresser, I pulled a taped envelope off the bottom of it and counted my money, coming up with a couple hundred dollars.
I took the elevator down and with that, I hit the streets of Miami to go collect some junk.
Eventually, I got back to the orphanage, pushing a shopping cart full of junk (the cart having been left abandoned on the side of the road near a large apartment block, with many others just like it). I opened up the shed and pushed the cart inside. Turning on the air conditioner, I began clearing off a table as the room cooled down to a bearable temperature.
Once I had a clear space, I began setting up my basic lab. Some old ceramic flower pots and a couple of cinder blocks to shield the table from the heat made for a poor man's crucible—and I was a poor man, so it was the best I could do. The melting point of palladium was 2830.82 F, while ceramic could withstand around 3000 F. I had bought a couple of small bottles of acetylene and oxygen and a small torch, and a bit of work got what I needed to actually heat the palladium.
After preparing the crucible, I took out mallet, a cloth sack, and a small stack of ceramic pots from the shopping cart, smashed them into dust, and poured them into a cast iron pot. When I finished with the crucible, I pulled out a catalytic converter I had ripped off of an old junk car in the junkyard and paid $50 for and disassembled it, taking out the palladium and dropping it into my crucible.
I took a few minutes to flatten out and compact the dust, then used a cup to put a ring into it. From there, over the next half hour, I melted down enough palladium into a crucible cup to fill the ring, poured it into the mold I had made, then waited for it to cool. While that settled, I began cutting lengths of unshielded, twisted copper wire off the little spool I'd bought. Then, I got the ring out, cleaned and smoothed it up, and moved on to the next step.
It was only a little over an hour later that I turned on the switch that sent power from a nine volt battery to the reactor. Presented with power, it reacted and began to glow, producing its own power.
"Beautiful." My heart clenched in my chest as the reality of what I had done set in. The reality of my situation. The potential danger… and potential rewards. It was simultaneously the most terrified and most excited I had ever been, in either life.
I took a few minutes moving the broken parts and debris back into the buggy, while leaving the tools and things I could reuse later. Then, I shut off everything and closed up, before heading inside. After a quick bite to eat and a shower, I got to bed.
I lay there staring at the ceiling as the orphanage grew quiet. I began putting together a mental list of things I could make and what order I needed to make them in. Inexpensive things that would let me work my way up to bigger and better things.
I could go for repulsors immediately, with just a few extra parts. But that doesn't get me that much. Sure, they can be used for other things than just flight and weapons—basically anything that requires a cutting tool or generating heat. So a good general tool to add to my kit, but not something leaps and bounds ahead. No, what I really want is the mini-computer and HUD Stark built into his first true Iron Man suit, and the AI running on it. A computer small enough to run the suit, an AI, and all the shit required for that HUD…
We had small computers right now. Maybe even computers fast enough, with enough storage and processing power to run a Stark AI. But that was going to be expensive. A couple grand, at least. Money I didn't have. I'd also need an actual lab and equipment I didn't have, to make anything too complex.
Hang on. I bet I could go to the dump and find a couple of old computers that have been thrown out. Maybe some laptops. A laptop with a busted display is still a laptop. I could rig up a new display interface—I just need the thing to process. A couple of those, a couple of phones—because people throw away perfectly good older phones all the time, and they still have nice screens and stuff. I could connect them to run in parallel. A laser out of any older gaming platform is basically a small cutting laser if it's got enough juice. Some small motors and a phone, a box to put them in, and some other things and I could build a small 3D printer for milling metal. I could make a better crucible with repulsors and more ceramic pots. I could make… a series of crucibles, actually. A self-contained processing unit that could take anything I fed it, separate it by melting point, and produce bars of whatever metal comes out based on melting point. As for feeding it raw materials, well, there are lots of old, abandoned cars just sitting around in abandoned junkyards. Why not… find one of those abandoned junkyards and take it over? Build a small lab there and start producing raw materials?
I fell asleep to thoughts of where I could find something like that within reach of the orphanage.
Places like that are dangerous, though. Druggies, tweakers, and homeless congregate there to strip out metal to sell. So I'd better have some protection when I go.
The next morning, I got up and checked my menu. I had apparently earned three more points the day before and had gotten another today, and a check showed that completed missions had their own section in the log and moved there the day after they were done, instead of cluttering up the mission list.
Seeing as my dailies hadn't changed, except to add 'gather resources,' I got up and went down for breakfast. After that, I went out for a morning jog on the beach and then a swim—something I did pretty regularly, but not often enough to be called a routine. I made up my mind to change that here and now, since I was being rewarded in experience for it. It would mean changing my schedule a little to get up earlier, but that was fine.
Once I was finished with that and cleaned up, I headed out into the city to get started gathering materials before the heat of the day truly caught up to me. I snagged another metal buggy and made my way to the landfill. I'd brought a pair of dykes just for this and quickly cut a hole in the fence, well away from the front. From there, the hunt was on.