Chapter 154: Hermes

Chapter 154: Hermes

I saw a notification for experience points off from the corner of my vision and I quickly pulled up my status to confirm.

Status

Level:

25

EXP:

1720/2500

Musculoskeletal:

211

Neural Reflex:

65

Visuomotor Coordination:

87

Endurance:

59

Sensory Perception:

127

Upgrade Points:

0

Upgrades:

Stealth +7Hacking +5Cybernetic Engineering +10Stealth Technology +10Software Engineering +11Electrical Engineering +10

Enhancements:

SAID: Zenitech Sebastien v2

Bio-Coprocessor: SocialCorp Lightning II

Optics: Mirage Tech Clear-Sights mk.12

Cyberarm (Left): Nova Tech Heracle Mk. 3

Cyberarm (Right): Nova Tech Heracle Mk. 3

Auditory: SocialCorp Echo IV

Vocal: SocialCorp Orator III

Cardiovascular: BioGen Lifepump 5

Sensory: Halls Corp Argus Elite Custom

Additional Processing: Halls Corp Custom ST

Miscellaneous: Halls Corp HSU Custom Shade

Yep, I’m not mistaken. Where did it come from?

I quickly glanced over at the vital readings of my test subjects and, as I suspected, one of the subjects had passed away.

They were all still strapped into their seat as I had just returned to the workshop, so I ran over to the subject in question.

“Lanus, what happened? You were monitoring them closely this entire time, correct?”

“I’ll have to check to be sure what I can or cannot share, but that shouldn’t be a problem. Was there anything specific you were looking for?”

“Do you think you can share everything that you can with me? I don’t need access to all your proprietary stuff, but I’d appreciate it if you could share all the basic scientific knowledge you have.”

Yes! So they did have something. It’s so much better to use theirs as a base to build upon than to start from scratch.

“...Understood. I’ll get in touch with you soon.”

Once our call ended, I sat there as I brainstormed other methods to acquire more knowledge. I pulled up the list of publicly known cassettes SocialCorp sold, but none of them satisfied me. It was apparent they only kept much of the advanced topics to themselves. If it was compared to what the system offered, they only went up to approximately three to five points worth of knowledge.

However, my eyes lit up when it landed on several other cassettes that offered knowledge in something other than the academic fields.

They had basic weapon-handling cassettes, too. Extrapolating that, it should mean it was possible to have knowledge related to handling aircraft, vehicles, naval, power armor, and other specialized equipment too. Many of these fields took years to train qualified professionals, all of which could be shortened if I had a cassette for it.

How did they record the contents of those cassettes in the first place? It isn’t like they could type it into their terminals...

As I mulled over the issue, Claire walked into my office.

“Here are the financials for this month. We have a little more leeway now that Sensorial has launched more products with us, but the cost of your big project still weighs heavily on our books.”

“Thanks...” I skimmed over the important bits while I shelved my thoughts. “Cost of training has shot up?”

“You can ask Thorne for that one, but we’re basically expanding big time again. Your new fancy bird in the air will need more pilots, and he’s been getting some of the elite teams ready for your power armor.”

Right, that is the next priority. I have to finish up with what’s on my plate as quickly as I can.

“So...Weird questions, but how would you go about recording how to specific skills like shooting a gun or driving a car?”

“Hmm? Why are you asking?”

“I was wondering how they did it for the cassettes.”

“Oh, don’t they just record a walkthrough of it like a training video of someone’s experience? It’s how they do the tutorials in VR games. They really work! Nothing beats first-hand experiences, but second-hand experiences come pretty close.”

“I see...”

As convincing as Claire was, I think I should just buy one of those cassettes to see for myself.

Time flew by fast, especially when you were as busy as me.

With the addition of the new mechanical engineering specialists, we quickly optimized the cybernetic leg. It was previously dubbed the prototype XJ4, but I came up with a proper name for it called Hermes.

We went all out with it and since it was meant for internal use; the budget was up to me. The specific variant made for the volleyball team was optimized for jumping and short distance abrupt movements while the one for our security was still under development.

The entire project had made me watch many of their practice sessions and I ended up coming along for the actual tournament as well.

It was only the preliminaries, but I could already see numerous teams from various corporations gathering in one of the big stadiums.

A corporate executive from SocialCorp organized the event, so it was to be expected, but it was still surprising to see the scale of it when it was only the preliminaries. The gymnasium appeared like what I would see at a national competition. It helped that every team dressed the part.

Thorne and I followed along with the team to our assigned court. While they talked about strategy, I examined the surrounding competitors.

A large majority of them had cybernetics for all four limbs. The rules only allowed the use of two, but if you had more, you could still participate by using the tournament-provided limiters.

From the cyberware people used and their company logo, I could tell the participants heavily leaned toward cybernetic companies.

There was still a decent amount of corporations in different fields, as everyone tried to butter up to a SocialCorp executive.

Having seen enough, I glanced over at the list of all the participating teams once more. I grinned at the fact that all of them were from corporations below C-Class. Joey didn’t tell me if my team needed to win or not to catch the executive’s attention, but my chances were definitely higher, the lower the quality of my opponents.

After spending so much time and resources on this, if it doesn’t work out, I would be quite sad. It wouldn’t be a devastating setback, but I’d rather take part in the social circle among the powerful corporations sooner than later.

Soon, the tournament got on its way, and a gigantic projection of a man drew everyone’s attention. The man was wearing a lab coat and had a bowl cut. He was quite lanky, and he was wearing glasses for some reason. However, the most distinct feature about him was the design of his glasses, which resembled lollipops.

“I’ll get straight to the point. I would like to see some good volleyball. I won’t tolerate any cheaters, so you have been warned. Let me see your friendship, passion, and teamwork overflow while you overcome your opponents!”

I had heard this guy had started this tournament on a whim after reading a manga found in the dungeons. I had tempered my expectations of what he was like, but this...

I have no idea what to say about him...