Adrian glared at Cedric, "How do you know all this?" Cedric's face fell as he looked at the bag of nuts he was holding, "I was a lab tech for the project for years. I just happened to have access to the nanobots when things started going sideways." Adrian wearily said, "And why should I trust you now?" Cedric looked Adrian in the eyes and said, "I didn't know what they were going to be used for. We thought we were doing good, thought it was going to be a new era in human history…guess we were kind of right." His voice trailed off at the end and as he looked away. Adrian's advanced senses and intelligence could see that it affected him, emotions crossed Cedric's face that usually can't be faked.
Adrian finally nodded, feeling that for now, he would trust him. He could probably use the company and the help. Adrian asked, "So, can you absorb nanobots from the ferals?" Cedric nodded, "Taking nanobots can make us stronger in general but it's all based on actual amounts in the body, but we don't have the ability to control them or guide them into specific uses. I would love to make the claws you have. That would have been invaluable in my survival." Adrian looked at his hands and retracted the nanobot claws, attempting to show trust in his new associate.
Adrian then asked, "Who did this?" Cedric looked up and to the right before saying, "I don't actually know, it's above my pay grade. But the company is in a building downtown, called BioForge Systems. The funding of the project was strictly need to know." Adrian thought that made sense, a lab tech was lucky to be involved let alone be privy to high level information.
As Adrian was thinking Cedric piped up with "So what now, Boss? I'm hitching my wagon to you, if anyone has a chance to stay alive it's you." As Adrian looked up a new prompt appeared."
Bastion System initiated: Followers 1
Tier 0 – Shelter
Adrian was shocked, what was this new thing the system offered to him. He asked quickly in his head, "Nanocore, what is the Bastion System?"
Query: Subject Zero is wondering what the Bastion System is for.
Answer: The Bastion System is designed to help the host establish, build, and upgrade a home base. The upgrades available are based on the amount of followers the host has gathered, and nanobots sacrificed for the upgrades. Initial upgrades are targeting reinforcing the location and work up to creating supplies, infrastructure and defense in general. The next tier starts at ten followers.
Cedric looked nervous watching Adrian react to the information he just got, " What is it? Did something in your nanocore change?" Adrian Nodded, while he finished reading the prompt. "Apparently some sort of capabilities aimed at creating a safe haven for me and my "Followers." You deciding to team up triggered it. Looks like rescue missions might be more important than I had first imagined. I want to visit the BioForge Systems lab eventually, but for now it will likely be too overrun by ferals to make it worthwhile."
Cedric's eyes widened and a huge smile grew on his face. "I knew that the nanobots could be used in this way, but I never would have thought your nanocore would be able to pull that from its capabilities. No wonder someone like you was so feared by the creators. This could give us a real chance to not only survive but actually thrive." Adrian agreed, this changed everything he was planning. Hunting ferals became a priority now instead of just powering up, he could create a place survivors could call home.
Adrian said, "We need to spend our days clearing out local buildings of ferals, before heading into the neighborhoods. We need to get as strong we can as fast as we can. We also need to catalog anything that we have access to that might come in handy. For now though, we need to make this place habitable for the wave of people we may end up with shortly." Cedric was excited by the plan, and was very pleased with his choice to be civil in their initial meeting. He stood up and got to work, surprising Adrian with his decisive action.
The two of them worked together, setting up the cafeteria to be safe to prepare food, and offer some small homely warmth. During the cleaning effort, Cedric found a door leading down into a basement area. "Boss, check this out," he said, lifting the hidden hatch in the floor. They both looked down into the darkness before Adrian pulled out the flashlights. He peered in trying to get a better idea of what was down there. Walking down the stairs the stale air assaulted their sensitive noses, it smelled of dust, mold and mildew.
The space was actually pretty big, extending far beyond the cafeteria space in all directions. It had been used as a storage space before. This area was totally neglected, it had probably been created for what the building was before it was a foundry. Adrian figured the building used to be an armory of sorts in the past.
Adrian spoke first, "I think this could work for our emergency supplies as well as a possible living quarters as we gather people." Cedric agreed, "Ya this might be one of the best parts of this location. You picked a really good spot to make our stand." They kept looking around, most of what they saw was backup gear for the foundry, cleaning supplies and some office supplies. The space was previously very underutilized. He planned on changing that.
Since the cafeteria was mostly ready for just what the two of them would need, they began seeing what was of any use here. Most of it was worthless and didn't do them any good. Though they did find a supply of bleach and a first aid kit. Those would come in handy no doubt, most likely, in the relatively near future.
They began removing the useless items, stacking them in the foundry area, before starting to clean it up. Adrian could imagine bunks lining the space. And the shelves they moved together stocked with food and water as needed. It would also work as a layer of protection for anyone that wasn't able to assist with defending the base.
The work was easy but time consuming, by the time they were finished light was filtering through the foundry windows. Sunrise meant they were moving on to a new job. They ate a quiet meal thinking about what they were about to do. They were about to take the fight to the ferals. They weren't much but it was a start. Adrian checked his nanobot totals as they sat:
Free nanobots available: 14,382
He was close to another upgrade thanks to the replication ability, he would probably wait until they came back later tonight to bother with it. He expected to be able to lean on the attribute increase that he got from free nanobots for these upcoming fights. Adrian came up with a plan to save some time, he would make as much noise as he could walking through the industrial district and pull the ferals to him. That way they wouldn't have to go searching building to building for them. They could dispatch the ferals quickly, then look for supplies for the new base.
Before they left, Adrian knelt in a pile of slag he saw on the way in. Putting his hand on it, nanobots swarmed from his hand, coating and breaking down the slag in the process. It was quite a bit and the nanobots only put a small dent in the pile, they did not need much in the way of non-biological material at the moment. Afterwards, he recalled the nanobots and returned them to his hands, re-making the claws he had been using. Cedric just watched in awe, feeling a little jealous, wishing he could control the bots. "Glad we are on the same team, I've never seen anyone in the tests be able to do that." Adrian gave him a smirk as they headed to the heavy metal doors at the entrance. Listening for a minute before opening the door and looking around, they stepped out into the street.
Signs of ferals were plenty. Adrian grabbed a trash can lid and a pipe he found then walked off to put some distance between them and the foundry before initiating his plan. A few blocks away he started yelling and banging on the lid to make as much noise as possible. Cedric turned pale with fear, "What are you doing, are you crazy!" eyes darting all over like the horde would appear from everywhere. Adrian smirked and kept going.
It didn't take long for a few ferals to take the bait, crawling out of alleys and buildings. They were starved and more animalistic than usual. Likely the starvation was caused by their nanobots replicating unchecked. Adrian, said with a head movement, "Can you take those two?", referring to a couple heading towards them on their own. Cedric nodded and took off at the one closest to him.
Adrian turned and waited for the others to come for him. The first came from the side, hands outstretched in an attack. With a step back, he grabbed its wrist, drove a knee into its ribcage, cracking bones and lifting it off the ground, before driving an elbow into its spine. The feral landed hard on the ground as Adrian drove his heel into the back of its neck, killing it. Two more came straight at him, as he ducked their swipes and lunged forward, driving his pointed fingers directly into their hearts, causing them to stumble before faceplanting into a heap.
Free Nanobots Detected. Assimilate? [Y/N]
"Yes." He said with a grunt as he was slashed from behind.
Assimilation complete. Free nanobots gained: 3,516. Total available: 17,898
Adrian could have dodged the blow, but he wanted to test his new healing capabilities. The wounds healed as fast as the feral's claws ripping through his flesh could move. The pain was temporary, and only fueled his confidence as he turned, grabbed the feral's face and snapped its neck with a quick flick of his wrist, tossing it aside. He turned to calculate his next steps, there were several ferals in each direction. But Cedric had already dealt with his assigned targets. Adrian yelled, "Heads up!" as he used the momentum of a feral to toss them in Cedric's direction, and threw a second one into the first one.
Cedric sped up saying, "I'm on it." before seeing Adrian walk forward towards a group of them that were bearing down on him. In a blur of movements, he slashed them while dodging their attacks, disabling some, killing others in a whirlwind that was hard to follow even with Cedric's improved perception. Blood flew from swiped claws and open arteries, bones snapped, limbs were shorn off and Adrian kept going. Before Cedric could subdue the ferals he was working on, seven more ferals were laying in a circle of death at Adrian's feet. Gruesome art to say the least.
Free Nanobots Detected. Assimilate? [Y/N]
"Yes."
Assimilation complete. Free nanobots gained: 10,248. Total available: 28,146
Warning: make upgrades or risk destabilizing the nanobot core
Adrian wondered at the system, "How do I increase the amount of nanobots I can store before risk of destabilization?"
Queary: Subject Zero is wondering how to increase the nanobot storage before destabilization.
Answer: Healing and strength updates combine to improve the ability for the body to house more nanobots before destabilization. Up to 60,000 nanobots could be stored after acquiring both of these level two upgrades. The next increase comes from improving intelligence which allows the host to have better control of the nanobots and protects the mind from destabilization up to 200,000 nanobots.
Adrian turned to Cedric and asked, "Are you ok to start clearing the buildings around the new base? I have to get to a safe place for my next upgrade to prevent my nanocore from destabilizing." Cedric smiled and slapped Adrian's shoulder, "No problem boss, get that done ASAP. If you turn into one of them it would be very hard to stop you with all the capability you have now."
Adrian nodded and headed back to base taking a deep breath before addressing his nanocore.