Published at 17th of September 2024 7:19 am

Chapter 144: Process of Elimination

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After reading for what felt like an unhealthy length of time, Perry listed out his favorite choices. Each of these specializations had multiple perks, but because of the way Cross-Class was worded, he could only choose one of them.

Industrial Tinker:

Mass Production: Speed and capacity of any ‘producing’ machine is greatly increased. Logistics receive a passive boost and waste materials are effectively recycled.

Store-bought: User’s creations may be modified or incorporated by other Tinkers without harmful interference or losing their original effects.

AI Tinker:

General AI: AI created by the user is more powerful, able to make creative leaps in logic, intuition and learning, and modify its own code more easily.

Safe-Guard: AI created by the user will have regularly have their goals automatically aligned with those of their creator. Created AI will be shielded against hacking, tampering, environmental damage, and malfunction that could result in diminished capacity or goals that do not align with the creator’s.

Battery Tinker:

Super-Capacitor: Storage devices you create have increased capacity, efficiency, charge and discharge rates.

Atypical Battery: You may create devices that store and release on command any kind of intangible force without changing its form, such as heat, cold, motivation, light, maternal disapproval, magnetism, chemical potential, kinetic energy and more.

Dimensional Tinker

Dimensional Fork: Tinker is naturally more in tune with, and adept at creating/modifying objects and structures that exist in, and interact with higher dimensions, beginning with advanced compasses and monitoring equipment, graduating to spatial distortion, and portal technology.

Big D Energy: Tinker is more easily and efficiently able to translate mass and energies across dimensions, and more resistant to negative effects of inter-dimensional energy and mass.

Bioprint Tinker:

Design: more easily design living bodies that work, including organs, anatomy, chemistry, genetics. Tinker has more complete, precise control over the created creature’s tangible and intangible attributes, such as intelligence, loyalty, longevity etc, and may alter these traits as he/she sees fit.

Creation: Tinker receives a boost when creating living creatures, as well as producing the machines and materials required to create said creatures. To be viable, each creature created must have a ‘base imprint’ that conforms to the shape and design of the creature in question.

Augmented Tinker:

The Juice: Any implants, augments, performance enhancing drugs, machinery or cybernetics used by the Tinker on themselves are greatly increased in efficacy and greatly decreased in rejection and negative effects.

Mod-mania: Tinker receives a boost when designing, manufacturing and implementing implants, augments, modifications, performance enhancing drugs or supplements to themselves or others.

Let’s begin narrowing down our choices. For Mass Production, there’s a chance it would boost the ‘production’ of essence generated by the filter system in my soul, and it synergizes well with Spendthrift, meaning I could produce even more stuff for even less.

Mass Production

Pro: Extra spells per day, even more cost-effective regular production.

Con: Low power boost.

POSSIBLE.

Perry only gave Store-bought a passing thought. It was primarily the sheer profit that would prompt him to pick that Perk, but he already made plenty. The biggest real consideration was that it would allow him to make things for Nat…but it still didn’t appeal to him. Blowing a whole 25 point perk on his girlfriend felt…slightly tacky, like getting a tattoo with her name on it.

Store-Bought

Pro: $$$

Con: no such thing as laser perk removal.

REJECTED.

AI Tinker

General AI:

Pro: Make Skynet.

Con: Make Skynet.

REJECTED

Safe-Guard:

Pro: Tide-resistant autonomous drones, unhackable robo-butler/LCC, computers that ‘know’ what you want without being prompted.

In theory, if Perry’s ‘goal’ became to get a ham sandwich out of the fridge, his AI’s would automatically update to fulfil that goal and act accordingly. This sounded like Low-grade technopathy to Perry. It could also be used to put a more sophisticated AI into the spell control hardware tucked into his soul, and not have to worry about it being corrupted by Abun’zaul et al.

Con: Doesn’t actually improve the quality of the AI, only the reliability.

Perry could probably make an AI on his own. Maybe even a magical one.

POSSIBLE.

Battery Tinker

Super capacitor:

Pros: Higher spell storage capacity, streamlined energy storage for suit.

Cons: One-trick pony.

REJECTED

Atypical Battery:

Pros: Potential to vastly improve storage infrastructure inside soul, possible ‘soul milking’ equipment, as mentioned to Heather earlier.

Cons: ‘Milking’ should not be used to describe it.

POSSIBLE

Dimensional Tinker

Dimensional fork:

Pro: More easily and intuitively create infrastructure to interact with, and reside in, the soul. A flat upgrade to the quality of work done inside myself. Plus, dimensional upgrades for the suit and for logistics.

Con: May awaken Cthulu

POSSIBLE

Big D Energy:

Pro: Energy flowing between dimensions more easily implies more powerful spells, improved efficacy of soul-surgery techniques, and there is implied damage resistance against extra-dimensional attacks, like Gerome’s. moving ‘mass’ implies Extra dimensional storage and transportation becomes cheaper, maybe even cost-effective with Spendthrift backing it. Logistics boost predicated on figuring out HOW to do it. May even be able to punch Gerome where it hurts.

Con: Having higher dimensional energy may be like wearing bait in the middle of the ocean for creatures like that. I don’t know.

POSSIBLE

Bioprint Tinker

Design:

Pro: Possibly design essence-bearing creatures. Design attack animals/bodyguards/girlfriend.

Con: unable to make Essence-bearing creature. May be accused of designing a girlfriend.

Creation:

Pro: Create Essence-bearing creatures.

Con: unable to design essence bearing creatures.

REJECTED, revisit with 40 points.

Augmented Tinker

The Juice:

Pro: Greatly increase internalized spell power/efficacy, while drastically decreasing the harm done by implanting aforementioned spells, allowing for a greater capacity therof. Would also allow physical self-modification.

Con: Does not actually improve the sophistication of the soul infrastructure, only its power in regards to myself. Would prefer to make actually better infrastructure as a base for future creations. Not interested in butchering myself, and would therefore make less use of the Perk than I might otherwise have.

Rejected, may take later for rapid power spike.

Mod Mania:

Pro: Improved design and implementation of spell-frames into soul, as they are obviously implants. Better design and implementation, leading to a boost in performance, likely less drastic than The Juice, but more real. Also boosts designing performance enhancing drugs and body mods for self and others.

Con: would not boost any other aspect of my powers, only where related to implants and augments. Limited use. Dr. Flex Probably has this powerset.

REJECTED, revisit if friends need steroids.

So the frontrunners are Mass production, Safe-Guard, Atypical Battery, Dimensional Fork, Big D Energy.

Let’s drop mass production, it’s doesn’t expand the way I use magic, just a solid boost.

Safeguard, Atypical Battery, dimensional Fork, and Big D Energy.

Hmm…..

Perry really, REALLY wanted to get Safe-Guard and begin making AI assistants and advanced internal software, but it just didn’t synergize well enough with his focus, which was magic and getting as much of it as possible.

Leaving three: Atypical Battery, Dimensional Fork and Big D energy.

All three of them provided a boost to his internalized spell-frames, and opened up new lines of advancement.

Dimensional Fork offered better understanding of his soul, better tracking software, more precise cuts, and an intuitive understanding of how to go about messing around in there. Additionally he’d be able to create branch out from magic and create tech that could harness other dimensions, like teleporters and…bags of holding. Perry rubbed his temple.

Atypical Battery sounded like it would be very good for advancing his ability to store different types of Essences, advancing the filtration/storage setup he’d created inside himself to milk Abun’zaul. Outside of Essence storage, he could likely store many other things and deploy them strategically to win fights in outlandish ways.

Example: Store passerby’s sympathy towards a homeless vet and redeploy against enemy when a momentary distraction is needed. Not exactly the most moral choice, but it could work.

Big D Energy essentially weakened the veil between himself and other dimensions. He could make lower-power magical lasers to perform surgeries on his soul, meaning more accuracy and less damage since they don’t have to expend as much force punching through dimensions. Essences crossing dimensions between his soul and the real world would also punch through with greater force, increasing their potency and possibly ease-of-use. It would also provide damage resistance against Gerome-like creatures, and potentially offer a way to make weapons to use against them.

Hmm…

After a long time deliberating, Perry chose Dimensional Fork.

His Reasoning: Big D energy was largely a power boost, and using higher power machinery led to more spectacular accidents, especially without improved monitoring equipment. Perry would prefer to improve his perception of his soul before he started using higher-power techniques to fiddle around with it blind.

Atypical batteries was a good choice, but it didn’t expand Perry’s foundation of technique like Dimensional Fork did.

Both were great, and Perry definitely wanted to pick them up when he got to level 15, but Dimensional Fork was just a solid all-round improvement to the basics he needed for soul-surgery, which was what he was going for. He could build more exotic choices on top of it later.

Plus, any kind of dimensional tech would make his power-armor drastically more advanced, and Perry had been running up against the limits of what he could do as a basic Garage Tinker.

I choose Dimensional Fork.

Attunement 53 -> 48

Suddenly the world got…a little weirder.

“Whoah,” Perry murmured to himself as he scanned the room. Somehow he had an intuitive understanding of space, like…there were different flavors of distance that he could taste…with his eyes. It was a unique form of synesthesia that he’d never had the displeasure of experiencing.

“What’s up?” Heather asked, she and the ghost-friend swimming around in her soul glancing up at him.

“Just got a new ability,” Perry said, wincing as he watched the eddies of spacetime roiling around the room like an errant breeze. He could make out Nat’s soul around her, bubbly and filled with foreign detritus as she tinkered with Boomer’s brain.

It was giving him a headache.

Interesting, Perry thought, the throbbing turning into an icepick headache, seemingly jamming through his temple. Closing his eyes helped, but as soon as he opened them again, the pain returned.

Maybe it’s not supposed to be this accurate? Perry thought. He’d already pushed his Attunement so high previously that he had started seeing things before taking a perk that made him ‘naturally more in tune’ with higher dimensions.

He was probably getting a headache because he just went from 0 to 100 all at once.

Sliding Stats

Attunement 48 -> 44

Stability: 38 -> 42

That helped…but not as much as Perry would’ve thought. His perception of eddies of spacetime and ghosts became a little blurrier and less distinct, but still fairly present, and still giving him a whopper of a headache.

Let’s try something else

Sliding stats

Stability: 42 -> 38

Nerve: 16 -> 20

Perry’s headache reduced noticeably.

Okay, so it’s not me going crazy, it’s my brain struggling to process everything its perceiving. That makes sense. I just don’t have the processing power to handle the amount of information it’s throwing at me.

Since he was still selecting Perks, Perry threw another point in Sliding Stats.

Remaining points: 5 -> 4

Attunement 44 -> 43

Nerve 20 -> 21

Ah, that’s better, Perry thought as the headache went from throbbing to manageable.

Perry had been planning on raising Sliding Stats, so this expenditure didn’t bother him too badly.

Now, let’s review the regular perks.

Available Perks:

Sliding Stats (Variable Cost)*

Spend a number of free points to gain the ability to slide an equal number of stat points between different attributes.

Example: With the 3-point version, User may move 3 points in any stat to any other stat until further notice. Does not affect free points received upon level-up as a result of modified Attunement, but will affect Perks used while Attunement is modified.

The stats may be moved in any combination, to a maximum number indicated by the amount of free points invested in the Sliding Stats Perk.

More points may be invested in Sliding Stats whenever Perks are offered.

Adaptive HP (3HP 1B)

User’s HP will selectively engage based on whether the force can inflict damage on the user’s body comparable to that of a boxer’s punch and above.

I.E. an unpowered boxer’s punch against a Body of 10 will not trigger HP loss, because the comparable damage to the user’s system-enhanced body will be less.

Sheathed Organs (3B)

User’s organs and major arteries grow resistant linings that allow them to resist cutting, shearing and bludgeoning, causing most stab, bludgeoning and slashing wounds to become non-lethal.

Blueprint (3) or (3N)*

User may create a Blueprint charged with their Perks. If another uses the Blueprint to create the object detailed therein, all the User’s applicable perks apply to the creation.

Only one Blueprint may exist per instance of the Blueprint Perk. If a new Blueprint is created above the limit, the oldest Blueprint becomes mundane and loses its properties.

Summon Garments (1,3,5)

(1) Summon mundane clothes onto the User to combat exposure or indecency. 1/day

(3) Summon common Hyperweave for excellent protection from attacks to combat conventional threats. 1/day

(5) Mentally mark a User-created armor: User may summon that armor onto themself 1/day. User may change the subject of the mark 1/day.

Higher tiers may be purchased whenever Perks are offered.

Multi-tool (1,3,5)

(1) At will, summon a tool. The tool may have an internal motor and battery system, and weigh no more than 2 kilograms. This includes everything from a wrench or spade to a handheld angle grinder or cutting tool. Only one tool may be present at any time.

(3) The tool may have an internal reservoir of material or objects that remain after it is used, such as a welding device, nail gun, caulk gun, or glue gun.

(5) The maximum mass of the summoned tool increases to 50 kg.

Higher tiers may be purchased whenever Perks are offered.

Weapons do not count as tools for the purpose of this Perk. However, tools may be used as improvised weapons.

Scent (3)

User may determine an object’s constituent ingredients and gain some insight into its manufacturing method by sniffing it.

Material Specialization (1)

Pick a material affected by your Spendthrift Perk. It is treated as significantly less expensive when altered by the perk, further boosting its effectiveness. This perk may be chosen multiple times, applying to a different material each time.

Underestimated (1,3,5,10,20)

The User’s experience with the unknowable has been assimilated.If the make or material of User’s armor is viewed with disdain, ridicule, or pity by an enemy, that emotional reaction opens the door for an embedded cognitohazard to infect their mind. The cognitohazard inflicts a scaling debuff that impairs the enemy’s ability to damage User’s armor, and by extension, the User inside.

Example: Wearing a trash bag as armor may subtly weaken an enemy’s limbs, causing the power of their strikes or accuracy of their gunfire to be diminished, indirectly boosting the armor’s effectiveness.

Higher tiers inflict more powerful debuffs, which may prove lethal to infirm or unhealthy enemies. Higher tiers may be purchased whenever Perks are offered.

Offered by Claudette’s Hippy Bullshit.

Perry was pleased to discover that the second tier of Multi-tool described the total price to purchase, costing him 2 points to upgrade from the first tier, rather than 3. He would never need to upgrade to the final tier on account of Attunement boosting the potential mass of the tool more than enough.

Perry took Multi-Tool to tier 2.

Remaining points 4 -> 2

Adaptive HP was a nice new feature, but not something he wanted to spend HP and body on…yet. The higher the base Body, the better the perk was, and Perry just wasn’t there yet.

After considering his limited points for a few minutes, Perry put one more point into Sliding Stats, bringing it up to 6, and the final point into Material Specialization, choosing carbon.

In the future, Perry could spend a dozen or so points to Mat-spec all of the ingredients used in making the spell-frames in his soul, effectively giving himself a Cross-class level perk for cheap, but for now, Perry would pick carbon because his suit was mostly different forms of carbon nanostructures, and it was in need of an upgrade.

Between that and Dimensional Fork, Perry could see a Mk. 7 in the future.

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