AN: So, sadly we now come to the last post I'll make before the hiatus starts. I need to finish the first volume rewrite for Galactic Fist, and start cleaning the first volume of this story. I ended this arc with this chapter, and a new arc will start with the next one. I should return to this story something within the first week and a half of September. :)

Anyway, enjoy!

Chapter 25: Upgrade Me, Master

The night would soon be over. Scott needed to make certain that he acquired the most possible from his trip. As far as food and provisions went, there should be a delivery at the house later. What was important now was weapons and armor.

The frontline fights with melee capacity were Scott, Frank, and Rosa. Frank was the only one who might need a weapon upgrade. His axe was decent, so it was hard to tell how badly he needed one. It might be better to give him armor.

There were dozens of little trinkets and bits of equipment from his recent fights. None of it really suited him due to its low-end nature, but he could easily hand them off to his people. Even if one or two of them complained that his gear was much better, what they would get in return was worth far more than anything they already had. A few more items bought from the common area would nicely balance out his people. Those were his thoughts as he considered his options.

He tapped his chin for a moment then nodded. "Fire support..." The biggest help in previous battles would have come from either a healer, or stronger ranged weapons being used. The Loot Master was great for fight weak monsters and it allowed for unlimited usage. However, it was definitely a low-end weapon.

Scott looked at the firearms available. He saw none of them that allowed for special options. The obvious truth was that he did not have the pre-requisite skills to purchase stronger versions. His skills were in melee combat and magic.

He went to see what Harley was doing. She followed him back inside and went to the equipment kiosk. Unfortunately, she could not purchase anything more exciting than what Scott himself was offered. Even the personal kiosk upstairs did not allow for it.

"I'm sorry, master," said Harley.

"Not your fault. I need to somehow get one of the gunners from back at the house to come here if we want anything special," replied Scott.

Despite the fact that they could not buy a special firearm, or even see one on the list, Scott opted to buy the strongest level ten rifle he could find. The higher level versions were denied him for the same reason that the special ones were denied.

He bought a level ten rifle that looked similar to an M4 Carbine for four thousand daemons then purchased rifle ammo. The ammunition had a cost of fifty daemons per twenty round box. He bought four hundred rounds for one thousand daemons. The rifle ammo that would be delivered to the house should work with this weapon as well, and was much more cost efficient. However, they still needed to get back to the house. If four hundred rounds would not see them home, no firearm would be worth it.

He handed the X-Carbine that he purchased over to Harley. Her eyes lit up upon receiving the beautiful new addition to her combat arsenal.

It had a collapsible stock and fit nicely in her hands. It would be the perfect little rifle for urban operations, and it possessed a selector switch that would allow for a three-round burst. Ammunition was expensive, but the amount that he purchased should be enough, and it easily fit into the backpack he'd chosen to buy as well.

He had a little over three hundred daemons left. He checked the price of equipment at the Arms & Armor booth. The level eleven martial arts gear was quite nice even for common items, but he did not have the money for that at the moment. If he purchased anything here, it would have to be low-end items.

Curious, he decided to check the prices for some of his acquired loot. Sadly, even if he sold all of it there would only be another twenty-two hundred daemons to spend. He would also fail to bring back good items for the people who handed him money. Somehow, he'd managed to survive till now. Without more people on his side who could fight, though, he would not continue to be so fortunate.

Scott looked up from his musings at the Arms & Armor booth to see Harley looking at the pet kiosk. "Something she wants?"

Out of all of his possible companions, Harley was the most trustworthy. If there was something else that she wanted, it was important to see what it was.

"Hey, Harley..." said Scott as he walked over to her, "What's up?"

"Oh, master..." She looked at him briefly before turning back to the kiosk. "Nothing really. There's just no Mark III core here..."

He put a hand on her shoulder. "Maybe it'll show up when your level is higher? There's a few things here that I didn't see before, and most of them involved you."

"Maybe..." she said softly.

Scott noted the sad tone in her voice. "You in that big of a hurry to grow up?"

"I'm an adult already," she replied.

He stood beside her for a moment without saying anything. The truth was that he knew little about her. She did not seem to have much of a backstory. Any time he asked her about where she came from, all she would say was that it was different than where she was now. Her entire existence is now different.

It was easy to forget that she was basically an elemental intelligence bound in the form of a motorcycle. Her current existence was no doubt confusing for her.

Scott thought about it briefly then looked at the kiosk once more. "Hey, Harley. If you want, you can pick something from this kiosk as long as it doesn't cost over three hundred daemons."

Harley looked to the side then quietly said, "You should use that money to purchase something important."

He squeezed her shoulder gently, "I already am, so pick something you like."

Her cheeks reddened slightly and she smiled just a little. "Alright..."

She spent a few moments looking through the offerings then blinked. "Here's something, and it's even free."

"Free?" Scott knew that he could not have heard her right. There was no way that anything could be free in this place.

"Yeah. It's a pet collar upgrade," she said.

"Pet collar upgrade?" Scott looked at what she was looking at and made a curious noise. "How does that even work? It says that the collar doesn't need to be here to be upgraded."

"Didn't you have one, master?"

"Yeah. I think it was destroyed along with most of my other stuff," said Scott.

"Can we try it anyway?" she asked, a hopeful look in her eyes.

"You really want a collar?"

She nodded. "Yes. It doesn't cost anything, and it would remind me... of... well..." Her cheeks became flush once more.

"Alright..." he said, his voice trailing off. Her reaction was pretty odd from his point of view, but at least it would make her happy. The question was, would any of that matter? The original collar was destroyed along with most of his possessions.

Scott selected the upgrade and then found to his surprise that a new collar appeared before him. "Seriously?"

"Do you have any idea why this thing would just give you a new collar?" Scott looked to Harley, but she merely shook her head. She had no clue.

The new collar was black with shiny chrome spikes, like something a cartoon dog might wear. At the front there was a little charm hanging near where it would clasp together. It was more than a little suspicious to him that the charm was in the form of a dirt bike.

"I never gave you a collar before... So how...?" It made no sense. Was a collar simply granted an automatic free upgrade when he had a pet? Was it that simple? What if he'd had a second pet? Would he need two different collars?

Scott gave her what she wished for and she smiled warmly before hugging it to her chest. It held some significance for her that he did not yet understand.

"Will you put it on me, master?" she asked him, a hopeful expression on her face.

"Sure..."

Her smile brightened further and she turned away from him. Harley lifted her hair and then raised her chin.

The eagerness that she had for the collar was quite strange to him, but if it made her happy then that was what mattered. Scott slipped the collar around her neck and fastened it lightly at her throat.

Harley tapped the little charm that dangled from the bottom of her new fashion accessory then turned around and offered her master another warm and happy smile. "Thank you, master."

"I'm glad you like it... but can you tell me why you do?" he asked.

"Why I like it?"

"Yeah."

Harley laughed a little then reached up and patted him on the head. "Close your eyes and think about me, about my name. Think really hard."

He dutifully did as she asked. After a brief moment of focusing on her name and her appearance, something bizarre happened. He felt a pulling sensation. It drew him forward.

Soon, the sensation moved to his left and Scott opened his eyes. Harley had moved while his eyes were closed. She was now standing to his left. "This thing... I can sense where you are?"

"Yes, master. You can now find me even if I'm lost and far away," she said, her smile growing brighter.

Briefly he recalled that he needed to have a collar on-hand to get the item that let him acquire a pet in the first place. Was this ability to track her due to the collar's upgrade?

"That's really cool. Too bad I can't wear one," said Scott.

"I can already find you, no matter where you are..." replied Harley, a slight tinge of red appearing on her cheeks.

Now he knew how such things worked. The pet could find her master, and with a collar the master could find his pet. It was a great system, unless someone wanted to be alone.

Whatever the case, the collar was the only thing that Harley asked for when prompted. Scott did not feel right about her only receiving something like that. So, he looked into the other available items.

Specific types of pets had their own section in the list. Harley's section included things like saddlebags which could expand her carrying capacity, and even different types of tires. Unfortunately, tire changes would require that he take her to an approved auto-mechanic. That could mean that either there were people who had a mechanic class, which was likely, or there was a place in town that performed automotive repairs and upgrades. The vehicle purchasing lot was a likely source for such things, but it was not certain.

Tires and saddlebags sounded useful, but he wanted to get her something that would be useful and would make her happy. He found what he was seeking in the form of an orange tinted visor shades that would fit under a helmet, or that could be worn like sunglasses. As a bonus, they improved accuracy by five percent.

Scott bought the shades for Harley then showed them to her. She blinked slowly then looked from the shades to Scott and then back down to the shades. "For me, master?" she asked, a little uncertain.

"Yeah, unless you don't want—" his words were cut off by her happy little cry of excitement.

Harley took the shades from him then quickly slipped them on. Her eyes were barely visible behind them, but that was not the only change in her appearance.

Quickly, she transformed to her robotic form and then a yellow light flared from the lens of her new visor. Her skull grew in size and took on a helmeted appearance. Her boxy looking ears shifted and became a dual-antenna array that grew out from behind each of her ears that changed her robotic ears to a more pointed and elfin appearance.

Harley shifted back to human form and she looked little different than her previous human self. Only now she sported a hot pink helmet that had an orange visor. Over her ears, the helmet had formed dark red pods for protection. Little antennas stored inside those pods poked outward and pointed away from her head.

All things considered, Harley now looked as though she were wearing some sort of futuristic science fiction helmet.

"Thank you so much, master!" she cried excitedly.

"I... Wow," said Scott. He sincerely did not know what to think about this change. "Did those shades count as headgear or something?"

"Yes, they allowed me to activate one of my upgrade slots."

"Wait, that's right. You have upgrade slots now... So, is this what happens?"

Harley nodded happily. "Yes, master. I now have access to an expanded range of detection, more accurate level discernment, can see enemy weaknesses if I have the upgrade slot activated, and can access enhanced targeting functions."

"All that for a hundred daemons?" asked Scott incredulously.

"Well, yes," she said.

Scott reached out and patted her on the head, but she acquired a smug expression. "What's with that look?"

Harley laughed a little and said, "Now no one will know how embarrassed I am when you do that."

"Geeze, no wonder you were so happy to get that visor," he said in an amused tone. "Though, I can still see it when you blush."

She pouted at him then turned away. "Only if I'm looking at you."

"Can't argue with that logic..." he replied, before looking at the list, "Can you have more than two items equipped, or will it be only these permanent upgrades?"

"I can have up to five items equipped, but can only activate two at a time at the moment. Better items improve the quality of my upgrades, as well."

"Next time we come back here, we need to focus on getting you a few good upgrades," he said. Scott ignored her slight blush that occurred in response and then asked, "Do you know what would be the best upgrade for you on this list?"

"Anything that would boost my travel speed. That would also let me move more often, and faster, in combat," she said

Combat maneuverability was certainly king. If someone could out maneuver their opponents they could usually run away successfully if it wasn't a boss fight, if nothing else worked. Scott understood her meaning clearly. She could travel from one point to another at a higher rate of speed, and have more attacks in a fight. It was obvious that she was thinking of the best way to help him survive.

Scott looked at Harley for a moment, and then back to the pet kiosk. They would need to leave soon, but a lot of things had happened in the course of a single day. In many ways it was like life was reset once more. They were both level one again, and there were many options and paths for growth.

The world grew stranger by the day, but it was nice to know that at least one person seemed genuinely happy to be around him. The stress of constant life and death situations left him in a state of mind that caused him to snap at people when they did things that seemed idiotic.

He was no great tactical genius. He took chances on believing in people when most people would think he was a complete fool to do so. Still, even he could see when someone was being unreasonably idiotic. Believing in people was one thing, but expecting someone else to do all the work to keep a group of people alive was a recipe for disaster.

No one would do everything necessary to keep people alive when those people did nothing but take. That was the major problem with the people who'd left the house. They expected someone else to make everything alright for them again, but did not want to do the dangerous work of safeguarding their own future.

Scott did not mind gathering items for the people who were at the house now. Most of them actually did defend the place, and all of them claimed to be willing to try. It was a start. Something could be built out of that. However, nothing was certain in this world.

He looked to Harley for a moment then looked away. Out of all of the people he'd met, she was the only one he could completely trust. If anything happened to him, he doubted she would be free to keep living. Given how sadistic some of this ridiculous new world order actually was, it was highly likely that she would not survive for long after his passing.

Her entire existence in this world was predicated on the fact that she was his pet. The most likely thing to happen if he died would be that she would end up returning to where she came from originally.

In it together till the end, Scott nodded his head. His personal equipment needed to come first, but Harley's would always need to come before the others. If they did not like that, well they could always just walk their happy asses over to the shopping arcade and buy their own stuff. It wouldn't hurt his feelings for them to take that amount of initiative, especially if they came back alive.

It was going to have to happen soon anyway. The firearm specialists needed to level up, and to reach tier two if possible. Second tier firearms were bound to be highly useful.

"Harley, it won't be long till sunrise. Is there anything else you need?" he asked.

"No, master," she said simply.

She was a good kid, and never really asked for anything. Scott blew out the breath that he did not even realize that he'd been holding. "Alright, then let's get ready to go."

"Understood," she said with a smile. It would be nice to travel with her master once more.