Chapter 321 Mecha-Droney

Chapter 320

Mecha-Droney

Alexander leaned forward.

It wasn’t really necessary. With Electrokinesis pumping through his Core, enhancing his physical senses to their absolute max, he could see what he was doing in perfect detail.

He laid the final, redundant track onto the circuit board with Metallokinesis. After scrutinizing his work one last time, he slid the board back into place, then replaced the layers of armored panels one by one, welding each as he went.

It wasn’t his best work, but after confining himself to the workshop for days, he was struggling with a deep restlessness and a creeping sense of apathy toward all of the small yet necessary detail work that went into completing his vision.

Thankfully, for now, the work was done.

Droney beeped. Excitement.

Alexander stretched, reaching for the ceiling, which also felt like it had begun closing in on him. His joints popped, relieving some of the tension and discomfort.

He glanced around the room.

The workshop had been designed with space in mind, but only now did he realize how small he’d been dreaming when he designed it, and not just because of the machinery. Drones lay stacked on top of each other, blocking the entire wall where the component baskets, bins, and trays should have been accessible.

Because his ring was almost full, and the remaining space was being reserved for what rested on the work table running down the middle of the room.

Alexander stood and made his way down the table, one hand running over the individual pieces of the Orbital Assault Combat Suit. Repairing the damage left behind by Flashpoint had been easier than expected, but he’d still spent the better part of a day modifying it.

He understood himself well enough to know that he would continue to fight without it when he thought he could. In a weird, messed up way, risking his life to grow stronger had become core to who he was and what he wanted to achieve. Whether that was because the System rewarded such behavior, or because that was simply who he’d always been deep down, he didn’t know.

He also didn’t care to linger too long on the thought. It was a little bit too ‘chicken or egg’ for his liking.

What mattered was that he wanted options. And the original suit was not designed for operators to slip in and out of whenever they felt like changing things up and throwing down with their fleshy meatsack instead of cutting-edge armor.

He’d fixed that.

The other piece of equipment on the table was a two-meter-diameter sphere split into two hemispheres, each hollowed at the center so that they would perfectly encase one particular drone.

Alexander glanced at Droney, who was hovering in the air, its blue visor fixed on its own ‘combat suit.’ “You ready, buddy?”

Droney beeped again, louder this time.

“Then let’s begin,” he said, fighting back a stupid grin. “Activating Droney Mech Chassis, version 1.”

The chassis would still form the control unit for the Machine God System, but Droney’s decision to serve as its heart had earned it a slight renaming.

With a thought, Technopathy activated both halves of the heavily armed and armored chassis. The powerful hovertech kicked in with a gentle hum that quickly stabilized and blended into the background ambience of the workshop.

Droney rose above the table, hovering between it and the ceiling, then turned its bright blue visor toward him.

Anticipation built across the bond. Excitement too, growing stronger as the two halves of the chassis lifted higher into the air and moved into position on either side of the little drone.

There was a brief pause as Droney and the mech-suit ran simultaneous calculations, then both pieces accelerated at once. They snapped together around Droney, sealing it inside, then twisted sharply in opposite directions. Internal locks engaged with a heavy thump that Alexander felt through the air.

It would take an act of god to pry the thing off Droney. Or a command signal that only he or the little drone itself could send.

For a moment, the two-meter sphere hung motionless in the middle of the workshop. Then a band of brilliant blue light spread across its front, wrapping partway around the face of the chassis in an imitation of Droney’s visor.

A completely unnecessary holographic imitation.

The mech-suit had omnidirectional visual and audio sensors embedded throughout its armor. There was no front, technically speaking, and certainly no reason to waste power announcing which direction Droney happened to be looking.

This reproduction of a NovelPhoenix posting was not authorized by the author; their chapter there supports the creator.

Except Droney had insisted.

And it looked awesome.

Alexander waited.

Across the bond, he could feel Droney working its way through the diagnostic sequence, checking power systems, hovertech, sensors, capacitors, weapon interfaces, and the thousands of internal electronic components that made it work. Every result was checked, then checked again with an intensity that made it obvious how much Droney had been looking forward to this.

Alexander couldn’t really blame the little guy.

He’d packed the chassis with almost everything he could fit inside it. Layered armor and redundant power systems had taken priority, followed by enough sensor equipment to turn Droney into a flying surveillance platform. Capacitor banks let Droney store excess electrical charge, allowing it to unleash lightning at its own discretion while also providing additional capacity when Alexander channeled Electrokinesis through Soul Circuit.

As for weaponry, Droney had gotten its wish. And then some. He’d not only installed a heavy plasma railgun as its main weapon, he’d added several of the System-tech components taken from Santiago’s corpse.

Including one of each of the dead man’s napalm hand nozzles, shoulder missile assemblies, and laser optics. Each had been modified to better fit the mech-suit, but the process had been relatively easy because the System-tech was already hyper-miniaturized. They also lacked any sort of ammunition feeds or energy storage.

Because they drew power from the soul. He understood that now, but it still felt like magic.

Alexander had kept the Skipper for himself. The rest of Santiago’s weaponry had been installed in other components of the Machine God System. He was looking forward to stress-testing everything in an hour, though he would have preferred more time and a much softer target for the shakedown cruise.

Droney beeped. The sound reverberated across the workshop.

Alexander feigned a wince and rubbed at his ear. “You’ll need to work on your inside voice, little guy.” He paused. “Although you’re not so little anymore, huh?”

Droney beeped again, softer, but still loud.

He nodded. “Mega-Droney.”

Droney shook itself from side to side, then beeped once more.

Alexander frowned. “Mecha-Droney?” He huffed. “You’ve been spending too much time with Annie! There are over a thousand channels, can’t you find something better to watch than Barkforce?”

Droney ignored him, instead rotating and flying slowly back and forth around the room. The cramped workshop didn’t give it much to work with, but the diagnostics continued to report green across the board.

He waited quietly for a few more minutes, letting Droney get comfortable with everything it could reasonably test within the workshop.

“Ready to head upstairs?” he asked when Droney completed its third diagnostic pass.

“MECHA. DRONEY. IS. READY.”

Alexander chuckled. “I’m sure it is, but for now you’ll need to downsize to Regular Droney while we grab something to eat. We don’t want to reveal the surprise too early.”

Droney let out a long, low beep.

He narrowed his eyes. “You know that I can sense you faking disappointment, right?”

A pulse of amusement flowed through the bond, then Droney sent the signal to disengage the mech-suit. The internal mechanism clicked repeatedly, releasing layers of locks, and the two halves separated.

With a thought, Alexander swept the two pieces, along with the OACS, into his ring.

Droney drifted over to him, taking its usual position above his shoulder. A narrow articulated manipulator arm extended from inside the little drone, reaching out to make contact with Alexander’s shoulder.

It was one of the smaller upgrades he’d installed in the past week. Its real purpose was to give Droney a secure physical connection to the Droney Mech Chassis.

It also gave the little guy a way to reach out and touch him when needed.

Like right now.

Alexander grinned. Then he theatrically snapped his fingers and triggered Blink.

The workshop vanished, and a heartbeat later, both of them reappeared upstairs in the living room.

Annie screamed. For a moment she flailed her arms, trying to catch the armful of snacks and drinks she’d been carrying toward the sofa, before remembering she was superhuman. MetaMetal unfurled, quickly seizing everything and returning them to her hands.

“Damnit, Alex!” she said. “How many times do I have to tell you to stop teleporting everywhere? You’re going to give me a heart attack!”

He reached out and grabbed a handful of popcorn, stuffing it into his mouth while she glared up at him.

Then her glare turned into a mischievous smile. “Are you ready to fight the Matriarch? She’s not gonna go easy on you, believe me.”

Alexander swallowed, then patted her on the head with his popcorn-fingers as he passed. “I’m about as ready as I can be.”

Behind him, Annie growled a string of curses, which he politely ignored. In the kitchen, Augustus was busy preparing lunch. A dozen ethereal hands raced around the room, grabbing utensils, flipping meat in the pan, adjusting the temperature gauges on the stovetop.

“Where is everyone?” Alexander asked, slipping onto a stool.

Augustus glanced up at him, then went back to what he was doing. “They joined the hunt. The Triple S mercs found a large pack of Tier 2 beasts, some sort of cross between a moose and a bear, and invited anyone who wanted to tag along. I stayed behind to prepare lunch.”

Alexander nodded. He glanced toward the living room, where Annie was busy getting comfortable, Barkforce already playing on the holo.

“What’s your excuse?”

Annie half-turned and stuck her tongue out, but didn’t take her eyes off the holo.

He chuckled.

“Don’t give her too much shit, Alex,” Augustus said, lowering his voice to barely a whisper. “She asked the others if you were going, then decided to stay behind when she found out you were still in the workshop.”

Alexander frowned. Annie had been acting a little more protective ever since he returned from the wizard world. He’d probably be doing the same if one of the others had been trapped in another reality for a month while he was unable to help them.

He couldn’t undo what had happened, but hopefully she’d return to normal soon.

“Did you finish it?” Augustus asked.

Alexander turned back to the old man and grinned.