018. Parts Replacement (4)
018. Parts Replacement (4)
1. Sumire would manufacture parts needed for our base.
2. She would continue keeping the manufactory as clean as it is now.
3. She would comply unconditionally with any other labor required, excluding combat.
4. Additionally, Sumire would not leave the base without my permission.
5. She would not use the living quarters either. She would reside in the manufactory as she did now, with her daily life thoroughly controlled by me.
In exchange, I would protect Sumire's personal safety.
Oh, and of course, if she wished, she could continue making parts and equipment.
I would treat and support her like a Production Specialist Type biodroid legally assigned to Krädel.
......That was my proposal.
It was not a normal proposal.
The other party was a genuine Production Specialist Type biodroid whose manufacturing cost alone ran into the hundreds of millions of won and who had survived a post-manufacture rejection rate of over 90 percent.
Under normal circumstances, she could have received far better treatment.
Nevertheless, upon receiving a proposal that amounted to 'become my personal production slave,' Sumire smiled.
Not just smiled — beamed.
At the same time, a little darkly.
She laughed: Euhit— euhehehehehehit—.
"I-Is it really true......?"
"Really."
"Really, truly, I can keep living here as the caretaker and manufacturer of this manufactory......?"
"I said so."
I added,
"There are risks, but I thought you were worth taking those risks for."
As far as I was concerned, it was just something I said without much thought.
More than that, I considered it an objective fact.
She was an absurdly overpowered character with a market value in the tens of billions.
If I could exploit that broken character for free and have her manage the facilities on top of that, I could hedge against the risk of harboring a deserter.
Moreover, Krädel and the surrounding black market were remote areas completely outside the military's attention.
Because of that, there was no support, but as a trade-off, there was virtually no inspection either.
It was exactly right for deliberately hiding a person away.
As long as she didn't stray from this vicinity, there would clearly be no chance of being discovered.
So, in many respects, I had only stated the obvious.
And yet, had my words—'you were worth it'—somehow soothed the wound Sumire carried after a lifetime of never being recognized for the work she truly loved?
Or was Sumire just a weird one?
At my answer, Sumire wore a face that looked close to tears, then prostrated herself flat at my feet again.
And then, what she said was this:
"P-Please take good care of me......! Master......!"
I told her that Commander was enough.
***
In that way, somehow or other, I had acquired a Production Specialist Type biodroid.
I'd obtained her through a slightly irregular method, but I decided to let that slide.
If you picked apart every last thing like that, you couldn't survive in this harsh world.
Well, that aside.
"Anyway, since I've brought her on board, I'd like to see what she's capable of."
"Euhit......?"
Sumire was startled at how I gave her no time to rest and immediately dangled new bait.
She answered, her face lighting up.
"P-Please, order anything at your convenience......! I will do my very best......!"
Sumire's face as she exclaimed this was brimming with motivation.
It was an expression I hadn't seen once since being posted to Krädel.
And the first person I saw wearing it was not one of our official members, but a deserter who had ended up freeloading here.
Should I be happy about that fact? Or should I be sad?
Truly hard to say.
Since it was hard to say, I decided not to think too deeply about it.
Instead, I told her the contents of the order.
Naturally enough, the order was for her to produce parts for Laika.
More specifically—
"I want to raise the stat caps without changing the overall settings. Is that possible?"
I handed over the spec data and finally made that request.
Sumire began examining the data, her violet eyes rolling round and round.
A moment later, she gave her conclusion.
"I-I think I can say it might be doable......."
......She seemed to lack confidence a bit.
It looked more like a personality issue than a skill issue.
Once I actually heard her explanation, she presented a fairly plausible plan.
"W-Well, first of all...... most of her stats are on the excellent side. The only concerns are Tactical Judgment and Agility, and these are all circuit-related. It's a problem caused by low capacity relative to the core, so...... I think the Phase Resonance Circuit, which is composed of a mix of Red No. 3 and Blue No. 1, will need to be replaced with No. 2 and No. 4 respectively."
"Wouldn't No. 4 be too large to fit Laika's frame?"
"Ah, that can be resolved by replacing the Sensor Unit with a smaller one. There'll be empty space in that area......."
Aha.
"But is it okay to just swap out the Sensor Unit like that?"
"I could say it would be fine to replace it...... but really, we have to. The Delicacion currently installed isn't suited to a Rampage build."
"Really?"
I'd thought this was the default, actually.
It seemed my knowledge had its limits after all.
"For larger frames, this is the default. But Laika's HALO-15 frame is extremely slender. With a frame like hers, a sensitive sensor such as the Delicacion can weaken control during Rampage."
"So then?"
"Rather than the current sensitive type, a focus-type would be better...... for example, replacing it with Dunkel's Tomb Raider 68 or Halo's Proborok mk.3 would be advisable. ......Uh, which would you prefer?"
Well. I wasn't sure how to pick a specific model either. I wasn't the type to have every product's specs memorized.
So, if Sumire hadn't been here, I'd have planned to leaf through reference books and configure everything one by one from scratch.
Had Sumire noticed that fact? She hurriedly apologized.
"S-Sorry....... Um, I didn't think you wouldn't know even this much....... From now on, I'll explain things with your low level of knowledge in mind, Commander......."
Was I the only one who thought she had a strange habit of pretending to be timid while still saying exactly what she wanted?
I decided to let it go.
"So? What's the difference between the two?"
"Well...... if we replace it with the Tomb Raider, we'll be able to expand the two problematic stats by 1.5 tiers each. However, there's a possibility that Phase Sensitivity might drop by half a grade. Conversely, if the Proborok mk.3 goes in, there won't be any stats that decrease, but the stats that increase would only go up by one tier each."
Aha.
"Then go with the former."
"Th-The only S-rank stat is Phase Sensitivity — will that be all right?"
"Yeah. I'm the type who doesn't get hung up on meaningless records like that."
"I see......."
Sumire seemed a little disappointed.
But my thinking was firm.
So, was she planning to vent her surging manufacturing desire in a different way?
Sumire began putting together a full body-reconfiguration package entirely on her own initiative.
"Anyway, if we configure a few more parts...... hmm....... We might even be able to raise Melee Strike by half a grade...... hmm....... Ah, and skill modules. It would be good to add more skill modules too. There are two empty slots, after all....... A-Actually, there was a skill combination I wanted to test with a Rampage build......."
Hmm.
I appreciated the enthusiasm.
I did, but.
As the person placing the order, there was one factor I absolutely had to bring up.
"Hey, wouldn't the budget get way too big if we overhaul everything like that?"
Krädel wasn't exactly a wealthy base.
It was dirt poor, if anything.
In that regard, I handed Sumire another document.
It was the base's total budget and a list of a few material items I'd kept without selling.
The moment she saw the first line of that document, Sumire wilted.
"Heuek......."
"Too little?"
"Yes....... It's little......."
Sumire answered in the most resolute tone of anything she'd said today.
"I-In my humble opinion...... it would be better to take out a loan and do everything at once...... that would prevent paying for the same work twice...... and you wouldn't have regrets....... There's a saying in this world: 'for that money, you might as well......'"
"Even if I regret it, I'll do it in stages. So, for now, work something out within this budget."
"Yep....... Heukit......."
Sumire went back to the drawing board, this time with the difficult added constraint of an actual budget.
The conclusion she reached a moment later was as follows.
"Then...... the Sensor Circuit I mentioned earlier...... the Sensor Unit...... and, if we push the budget just a tiny bit, how about adding exactly one skill module, not two......?"
Hmm. A skill module hadn't been part of the original plan.
"There's a reason you're recommending it even if it means pushing it, right?"
"Y-Yes, there is."
Sumire then asked a question in return.
"By any chance, as things are now, doesn't Laika collapse limply and become unable to move a single muscle after her Rampage ends?"
"Uh...... more or less, yeah?"
Rampage was a skill that burned up all the energy that ought to be used slowly and in portions, in a single instant.
Naturally, after using the skill, her energy was depleted, and Laika would end up in a state where she couldn't so much as twitch a finger.
So, every time combat ended and we returned to base, one of my roles had become hauling Laika back like a piece of luggage.
And visually, that situation might have been incredibly funny.
But if I thought about it carefully, it wasn't something to laugh off.
That meant my one and only combat unit kept becoming completely incapacitated in the middle of the battlefield, leaving me to withdraw on my own with Laika on my back.
If we were ambushed by Legions during that process, it would be a catastrophe.
Especially since we'd be entering battle zones from now on, and there was a high likelihood that the Legions there wouldn't be tidily cleared out with a single burst of Rampage.
Therefore, I was now planning to change Laika's operational doctrine.
Rather than activating Rampage whenever needed as we had been, I'd use it cautiously, only when an escape route was secured.
Of course, if restrictions were placed on Rampage usage, Laika's performance on the battlefield could only decrease.
Until now, she could easily match up against enemies a tier higher through Rampage, but going forward she'd have to fight with only her natural stats.
"Honestly, that problem is why I'm pushing the parts replacement."
If the parts were replaced and her base stats rose, she'd be able to fight better even without using Rampage.
Whether that would be enough, honestly, I wasn't sure...... but at the very least, it would be better than not doing it, wouldn't it?
"I thought as much......."
Sumire, who had been listening quietly, murmured.
At that point, unable to contain my impatience, I asked directly.
"So? What does this have to do with the skill module?"
"Ah, well......."
Sumire took a brief deep breath and continued.
"T-To give you the conclusion first...... there is a skill module that can solve that problem."
Well, well.
"There is such a thing?"
"Th-There is, but."
"But...... when I asked the manufacturers, they said there wasn't?"
It hadn't just been one manufacturer.
In fact, once I realized Rampage left her collapsing afterward, I sent inquiries to every major manufacturer. My question was whether they had a skill module that could solve the problem.
The replies that came back were uniformly 'we do not produce such a skill module.'
Had the manufacturer employees all just given me half-hearted responses?
Or had such a product been released by some small-to-medium manufacturer whose name I'd never even heard of?
As I wondered this, Sumire answered quietly.
"Ah, it wouldn't exist among off-the-shelf products."
"Huh? Then?"
"The thing is, actually...... I have a module I modified separately myself."
......Whoa.
"Don't tell me you can customize skills too?"
"Ah, yes."
Sumire answered nonchalantly to me, who was asking in disbelief.
But this was anything but ordinary.
"Skill customization? What's that?"
Was it because my reaction was unusual? Laika slipped in and interjected.
I answered simply.
"It means modifying a skill module so its effects or parameters are tailored to a specific biodroid."
"Aha......!"
Laika let out an exclamation of admiration.
And then, a moment later, she tilted her head.
"Euhe-eh?"
Apparently, that explanation hadn't been enough for Laika to understand what skill customization was.
For someone like Laika, there was a far simpler explanation.
"Just think of it as creating a new skill you need."