Stray Cat Strut

Chapter Fifty-Two - Fingerguns

"A Joytoy is a member of the lower to middle class who participates in the personal entertainment industry. They provide companionship and sexual gratification to playing clients.

The modern Joytoy is often equipped with a range of cybernetic enhancements for their personal protection (C-IUDs, Bloodcheckers, STI-removal Biogear, ect) as well as personal enhancements to better serve their customers."

--Commodification and U - A Guide to Bringing Joy and Earning Credits, 2047

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"How many tokens do I have?" I asked. Somehow I ended up sitting on the edge of the bed again. Sure, I'd slept a good bit, but I was still a little tired, and standing around while talking to Myalis was always kind of awkward.

She was something of a voice in my head. There wasn't any way to interact with her directly, not like when talking to a person face-to-face, and even on a call with someone, I'd at least have a phone in hand, or a screen open on my augs. With Myalis I had neither.

Most of the time that was fine. It wasn't like I needed to see her or whatever. But it did make things a little awkward when I wasn't moving around or doing anything.

You currently have four tokens saved up.

I nodded along. That sounded about right. I didn't track those nearly as closely as I did my points, and even my points were... mostly being accumulated off to the side now.

"Four tokens, huh? So that's four class two catalogues? How much does class three cost?"

A class three catalogue would cost you three tokens. You could afford a single one at the moment. Speaking plainly, you have the choice between widening your spread of abilities and owned catalogues, or pushing one of your current catalogues up a tier which would help you hyper-specialise in one area.

I nodded along. "Yeah, I get that," I said. "So, oh wise Myalis of my brain, what do you recommend?"

I see three options before you. The first is as I mentioned, spend some number of points unlocking a number of new catalogues, then push these up a class with your current tokens. This option would widen the breadth of abilities and items at your disposal.

"Go on," I said.

The next two options are similar to each other. Either focus on your Esoteric weapons specialisation, or on your Sunwatcher Technologies, elevating either to class three. At that level, both options would give you incredible abilities when it comes to handling higher-tier threats.

"How high are we talking, here?" I asked.

The correlation isn't exact.

"What's that mean?" I asked as I leaned back.

Most Antithesis you're likely to see within your lifespan can be defeated with equipment purchased from class one catalogues. The greater the class of the catalogue, the further from humanity's technological base the items are, but that does not mean that near-human technology cannot defeat the enemy.

"Right, okay," I said. It was like... anyone could die by being shot by a shitty handgun. Some things made that harder, body armour and the like, but that didn't prevent that same gun from being dangerous. Higher classes of catalogues were like... upgrading from a dinky pistol to something bigger. It helped, but it didn't mean that it was entirely necessary. "So, why those two catalogues? I mean, besides the fact that I've invested in both already."

They're both catalogues that fit your current preferences in terms of combat and lifestyle. Your Esoteric Explosives catalogue provides most of the equipment that has been allowing you to punch above your weight-class, and the Sunwatch Technologies catalogue has been providing you with most of your weaponry, armour, and other equipment.

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Right, so it was a three-way choice between going wide, going all-in on offence, or continuing with a pretty large set of very thematic equipment that covered a lot of bases.

I flopped back onto the bed and stared up at the ceiling for a bit. "Okay," I said. "I think... logically, Sunwatcher Technologies feels like the right choice. It's got a lot of prosthetics, it's got armour, it's got weapons. My mech's mostly from there, yeah? So if I wanna upgrade that, then it's the way to go."

Indeed.

"But!" I said. "But... that's not what would be the most useful right now."

That went to the Esoteric Explosives catalogue, hands down. Explosives were what we were chucking at Phobos from the Big gun, and I'd left a dozen rounds behind of a few different flavours to see what worked.

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A higher class of that catalogue would mean more bombs and more variety, it would also probably mean a lot more oomph. We needed all the oomph we could get at the moment.

"Shit... I think the right call is getting Esoteric Explosives up. It's the right call for the short term, at least."

There would definitely still be longer term benefits to such a thing. For one, you would have greater access to esoteric ammunition for even your simplest projectile weapons.

"Right," I said. It wasn't like it would be a loss. It was just that the Sunwatcher Technologies catalogue would probably kick more ass in the long run.

Don't forget that the number of tokens you have will only increase over time. The destruction of Phobos will certainly contribute.

That was also true. I'd have one token left over if I bought the next class up for Esoteric Explosives. So I'd only be missing two more to bring Sunwatcher Technologies to par.

I'd probably get at least one from Phobos, that much Myalis had confirmed, so I'd at most be missing one more token. That couldn't be too hard to pick up, right? "Yeah, alright," I said. "Grab me that Esoteric Explosives catalogue, the next class up."

To be clear, the cost isn't limited to a number of tokens. The next class up is rather expensive.

"It can't be that bad, can it?" I asked.

Sixteen Thousand points.

I choked. "Holy fuck. How much... how much would the class four cost?" I asked.

Ten times as much. A hundred and sixty thousand points.

"Shit," I said. That wasn't breaking the bank or anything, but that was damned close to half my points gone, just for the ability to buy more stuff. "Damn. Is it worth it?"

I'd say so, yes. The increase in your potency will be considerable. And speaking plainly, banking points as you have serves little purpose. You gain nothing from having a large number of points left unspent. There's utility in being able to purchase what you might need when you need it in the future, but those aren't considered properly weighted purchases.

I sat up, then let out a long huff of a breath. "Yeah, okay," I said.

You'll make the purchase?

"I will," I said. "Just... do it quick, like ripping off a bandaid."

New Purchase: Class III Esoteric Explosives

Points Reduced to... 26,740

I chewed on my lip, but refrained from wincing. That was... still a lot of points. I was still fine.

Now, about additional upgrades...

"Urgh," I said. "No, I think I've spent myself out for the day," I said.

Very well, it's as you wish. I'll nag you again once there's more of a pressing need for new equipment.

"Nag?" I asked.

Do you need the word defined?

"No, I know what it means, I'm just impressed that you'd just... right out and state it. It's not exactly subtle."

I don't need to be subtle with you. It's one of the reasons I bothered to insert myself in your head, Catherine. You're refreshingly blunt and idiotic in just the way I like.

"Uh... thanks?"

Anytime... Just to be clear, I am currently making finger guns.

"With what hands?" I asked.

I am not at liberty to say.

Why did the super-smart alien AI in my head have to be such a shit? Couldn't I have a nice, polite, and reasonable one? Atyacus seemed fine. Very gentlemanly and polite. Sure he liked burning things, but that was all. I could live with a bit of pyromania. It was better than feline...omania.

Lucy walked into the room, apron on and spatula in hand. "Breakfast is ready!" she said.

"Oh, good," I said. A distraction. "What was it you made?"

"Bacon and scrambled eggs."

"Weren't you going to make some other sort of fancy egg?" I asked.

"Cat... for the sake of our relationship, can you please pretend that I intended to make scrambled eggs this entire time?" She batted her eyelashes at me sweetly.

"Sure," I said. No one could accuse me of not taking a hint or being a bad girlfriend. "Let's see about those eggs of yours."

"Oh my," she said.

I rolled my eyes, but followed her all the same. I was just surrounded by people that thought they were funny, wasn't I?

But hey, it wasn't all that bad. Myalis was providing me with some cool shit, and I entered the kitchen to find a plate with eggs and bacon and... "Bargain, get the fuck away from my breakfast!" I snapped as I caught the brat red-handed.

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