NOVEL NEXT Are You Sure You're Not Modded?
Bang whistled, “Damn… Those were some impressive moves. You're a Gold rank Merc too?”
I shook my head, “I'm a Copper Rank actually… I only just joined the Mercenary Guild last week.”
“Oh, then what kind of mods are you using?”
“Err… I'm not using any mods actually.”
“Eh?” Amber let out a gasp of surprise.
I turned to Amber who had a flabbergasted expression on her face.
“What's wrong?” I asked.
She came up to me, “You don't have any mods? Are you sure?”
I was a little surprised by how intense she was looking at me but answered her, “I… Don't believe I do? At least from my memory, I don't have any mods.”
“Then how were you able to do that flip at the end there?”
“I truthfully don't know… My body reacted on its own,” I admitted.
She frowned slightly but seemed to drop the matter and went to the side to contemplate to herself.
Bang then brought the shotgun to me, “I'm guessing you're satisfied with the performance? Do you need another piece?”
I shook my head and gestured to my hip, “Already have one here.”
“Oh, is that a Nebula Nighthawk? I didn't know they made those in that colour. That’s pretty neat.”
“Err… Thanks?”
I mean… It's my starter pistol…
That reminds me…
I pointed at the shotgun in his hands, “You mentioned that this gun could be customised. So what kind of customisation options are there?”
“Ah, that’s right, follow me back to the front and I’ll give you a demo. Hey, Amber! You alright there?”
“... If she’s not modded… No… Maybe she just forgot? But if it’s true…”
What is she mumbling over there?
Bang went to her and smacked her on the shoulder, causing her to jump and actually pull the ogre into a submission hold with his arm behind his back.
“Ahhhhh!! Ow, ow, ow!! I give, I give!! You’re breaking my arm!”
“Oh, oops… Sorry Bang, force of habit…”
The ogre gunsmith shook his arm, “Sheesh… What the heck were you thinking about? Come on, I’m going to show your girlfriend her new gun.”
“Oh… Hehe~ My girlfriend… Mmhmm~ She’s my girlfriend~”
She got happy about that huh?
We went back to the front of the store and Bang placed the gun on the countertop once more, pausing to press the button that made the metal shutter slide back up from the door.
“Right, lookie here, top rail accepts pretty much any scope you might get your hands on. Stock can be switched out easily with a push of this button here, side rail to fit a flashlight or even a laser. Also, the receiver accepts drum mags for it, just have to slide this into the chamber here and you don’t need to keep manually loading it. That’s fifty shells of non stop firing. And for forty thousand more Credits, it’ll get you this neat ammo switcher attachment.”
He took out something that looked like a touchscreen pad attached to a barrel.
The ogre unclipped something on the shotgun and pulled out the entire barrel before slotting the new one in.
He then took one of each of the shells and slotted them into the gun.
The screen came to life and it showed the shells that the gun was loaded with, the buckshot was first followed by the shield shredder and then the slug.
“This allows you to switch the position of the shells that you put into the gun, aside from the very first one that is already in the barrel,” He explained.
To demonstrate, he tapped his finger on the shield shredder and dragged it behind the slug ammo.
There was a soft click sound coming from the shotgun and he pushed the eject button which spat out the shield shredder round. Doing it again two more times ejected the slug and then finally the buckshot round.
“Cool,” I commented.
“Fifty thousand and I throw this in complete with a set of tactical attachments including a short range and mid range scope of your choosing plus a tactical light, a laser attachment, a drum mag and the ammo you wanted.”
“I’m sold.”
“Perfect then, let me just go get the stuff.”
He ducked back to the back of the store again, leaving Amber and I alone once again.
Amber took that chance to speak up, “So… Erm… Are you really sure you’re not modded?”
I shrugged, “Like I said, I have no memories of being modded so I don’t believe so.”
“Then… Do you sometimes feel yourself doing weird things? Like umm… Causing things to break just by being near them?”
I blinked at her, “I… Don’t think I’ve experienced something like that… Why?”
“Hmm… Nothing… I think I’ll need to have Mara give you a checkup to make sure of something…”
“Make sure of what?”
She gave me a serious look, “That you’re not actually a Psionic.”
“A what?”
Now it was her turn to blink at me, “Oh wow… You really don’t know huh? Remember the nobles I was talking about? They’re all Psionics. They have the ability to move things with their mind and even enhance their bodies with that ability.”
“Err… So you think I have some kind of psionic mod installed?”
She shook her head, “That’s something genetic. You can’t mod someone to be a Psionic. Although there have been tests done to attempt to do so, the nobles put a stop to it to maintain their noble status of course.”
I scratched my head, “Ok… I don’t think I’m a Psionic at least… Actually how would I even know if I’m one and why would that matter?”
“Try moving something with your mind.”
I shifted my gaze to the buckshot round that Bang had left on the counter after unloading the shotgun, staring intently at it and trying to imagine that it was floating upwards.
I wasn’t really sure what I should be doing so I simply tried to think as hard as I could about the shell moving.
And what do you know? Nothing happened.
All I got was a slight headache from concentrating so hard.
“Yeah… I don’t think I’m Psionic…”
Amber actually let out a breath of relief, “Oh good… Because if you were, it would be a clear indication that you are from one of the Noble Families… And if you were, I’m not sure if I could fight off your family just to be with you.”
“Eh? Why? Are nobles not allowed to choose who they are in a relationship with?”
She stuck out her tongue, “Bleh, those stuck up bastards all want to have the strongest Psionic in their family. So they resort to experimenting on themselves to try and have the strongest genes which include having children with other Psionics to strengthen their genes and what not. Pretty much all of them practice incest by the way.”
Right… I think I’ve seen that trope before… I shouldn’t comment on it then…
“So all nobles are Psionics?”
She nodded, “Yep, after the Psionic war, the UTG was forced to concede and give them special treatment. It’s a long story. I’ll tell you over some drinks next time.”
Now I’m interested, just how many wars were there?
Bang returned again and he placed several scopes, lights and lasers for me to choose from to equip my new gun. He was even throwing in a sling and weapon case for free as well. How nice.
Then again, I was spending three hundred thousand Credits on this.
I then remembered my shield and pointed to it, “What can you tell me about this personal shield?”
He leaned over the counter and squinted at it.
“Hmm… Looks like a G Two model from Apex Defense Systems. It’ll protect you pretty well in hazardous environments and could take several hits from ballistics but it’ll crumple quite easily against energy based weaponry. Where did you get this one?”
“Took it off a dead pirate I killed,” I admitted.
Bang nodded, “I’d reckon that pirate took it off a dead miner in that case. It’s a common piece of equipment for miners.”
Ah crap… I think I know who the original owner of this shield is then… Rest in peace Jerry…
I transferred the Credits to him and Bang helped me pack my purchase before handing them over to me.
“Pleasure doing business with you ladies. Come back if you ever need anything else, even if it’s just to service your equipment. Don’t worry, I’ll give you both a discount.”
Amber rolled her eyes at him, “Are we only getting the discount if we say that you’re the best gunsmith in this part of the city?”
“Hey, it’s a small price to pay isn’t it?”
“Be seeing you, Bang,” Amber ignored his comment and waved before pulling me out of the store with her.
The ogre waved back as we slipped out of the store and back onto the streets.
“So, where to next?” Amber asked.
I gestured to my new acquisitions, “I guess we can go back to my ship for me to drop this off and maybe look at ship upgrades while we’re there?”
“Sounds great~ Maybe we can have some fun on your ship while we’re at it~”
I didn’t get to say anything before she was already pulling me in the direction of the hangar.
Oh whatever, if it happens, it happens I guess?