To the casual observer, my ceiling must have seemed to be quite the fascinating thing. At least, given how focused I was on the ceiling, my helmet peeled back with a look of concentration on my face.

The gleam of red in my eyes betrayed the true objective of my gaze, the screens that lit upon my sight from the Obelisk system giving me scrolling lists of objects and materials that could be purchased.

“Smith… have you noticed something weird about these two lists?” I uttered, talking low in spite of being in my own room. Talking to another version of myself wasn’t something I was comfortable with around other people still. I could, of course, simply think to him, but being wrapped up in my own thoughts for several sleepless hours now was too much.

[Yes, honestly I’m surprised it took you so long to notice it. Of course, I have the benefit of a… different point of view.] A smugness emanated from Smith’s voice, his gravelly words sending a tingle down my spine.

The words also brought a grimace to my face.

“You didn’t think that it’d be an important thing to bring up?” A deceptively level tone leaked from my lips.

In a rare moment of flustered backtracking, Smith spluttered [O-of course I was going to mention it, you were having so much trouble sleeping already I didn’t… err... ] He coughed then, [In any case, it seems the Reaper shop is giving access to some advanced weapons that aren’t quite so available in the normal shop.]

“You noticed the other part, right?” I plied him for more, seeing if he noticed a different bit of information than I had. It was odd to want to one-up myself, I’ll freely admit that, but there was something so very satisfying about it at the same time.

[That is… of course… there’s…] He paused, muttering to himself as I felt an additional tug of information, [Ah, curious, it looks like the price of comparable laser weaponry in the Obelisk system is dramatically more expensive.]

I nodded, grinning, “And one more thing, did you notice? I wouldn’t be surprised if you didn’t, given that I have a different point of view.”

He took my mockery well.

By huffing and scrolling through information quickly, comparing the two lists. I felt information pull through my mind like a torrent, rather than the gentle tug from before. I grit my teeth and bore it, satisfaction rising faster than my discomfort at every moment.

When finally he stopped and let out an exasperated sigh, I was beaming a massive toothy grin.

“Give up?”

[You’re insufferable at times, you know that?] He quipped, [Perhaps I’ll show you all of your social faux paus after all.]

I cringed, “Ah, hey, we don’t need to go that far. It’s actually something that I noticed after a while, but you haven’t really messed with it too much.”

I sat up, staring at the mirror and an armory rack against my wall. The mirror was a simple wall mirror that had been in the office all along. The armory rack was a new addition, adorned with black grating and angular braces that held the assortment of weapons that I would be using day to day.

Bulbous red and black forms, dull red glow from within gleaming through lines of transparent material, my grenades hung in banded rings. On the opposite side to them on the rack, ten mines, flat disks of about four inches in diameter with a twist cap and smart sensor ring at the top rested. Between them rested two crossed blades, the reaper reaver blades a meter long with a black blade seemed to drink the light of the room to filter it into the gleaming red edge of the thin serrated swords. Above and below those were my main weapons, my triple barreled reaper reaver rifle imparting an image of a ruthless and cruel weapon, designed for the purpose of butchering an opponent. The three barrels could snap together magnetically for a convenient sniper rifle, a setting that I hadn’t found too much need to use as of yet. It could certainly burn through ammo though, and it packed a nasty punch.

Though, the reaper reaver trench gun was certainly no slouch in that regard. If anything it was far messier, throwing huge scatter slugs of superheated projectiles at semi-auto or full-auto settings. It bore a small heat shield that worked quite well for any fragments that might bounce back, or to help against general projectiles. It bore a bayonet extension as well, though I doubted I’d ever really put that to use - what was the point of a shotgun if not to blow someone to pieces in near melee range?

Realistically I knew it had better range than that, but corner-clearing was the specialty of the weapon.

The fact that I’d realized, however, had less to do with the firepower of my arsenal, but instead the availability of my weapons to others. Specifically, I could order multiple of any of them so far, but I’d noticed a rather disturbing trend.

My reaper reaver rifle had started at 200 M.E., a cost that had now more than tripled in my shop for 700 M.E. That change was mirrored by the Trench gun now costing 800 M.E., a far cry from its original purchase of 200 M.E. Meanwhile, my grenades and mines had increased as well, though only by a nearly negligible amount at this point, I had to wonder how long until those would be far too expensive to be sustainable.

Out of curiosity, I checked the reaper modified rifle, a fairly generic weapon that once upon a time I’d purchased at 35 M.E. with a bayonet. It now cost 50 M.E. and seemed to begin to increase slightly more with every purchase for fueling the Legion.

Why?

Well, the answer isn’t concrete, but I think I know the general concept. One look into the shop that anyone without a class would have access too easily told me that a special weapon, or a weapon that was of non-earth origin, was already dramatically more expensive, or simply not available at all. One good example would be a smart grenade, which I figure to be the equivalent to my reaper ‘claymore’ grenades.

They cost 40 M.E., four times as much as my version cost. There were many other examples as well, ranging from a laser pistol for a mind-numbing 4,000 M.E. to a plasma rifle that sold for 20,000 M.E.

To put that in perspective, you could buy a ‘small’ battle-tank for 6,000 M.E., and somehow I don’t think that the plasma rifle was actually quite so amazing to warrant the price tag. Some kind of inflation was in effect. Especially considering some incredibly advanced computer systems, manufacturing, and even power infrastructure was worth so little in the way of M.E. Everything trended away from arming us with space-age tech, but everything that had an earth-level tech was for far more reasonable prices.

I pointed all of that out to Smith who then was very quiet for some time.

[I think we should ask Sis why this seems to be the case.] Smith broke the silence, [I suspect she wouldn’t be intentionally making arming ourselves harder. But that’s the only conclusion I can readily come too. Unless…]

“Unless there’s something else going on in the background.” I murmured, both of us in agreement. “Then let’s see if she’s busy.”

I touched the symbol on the back of my hand, thinking my directive to the general A.I.

To my surprise, the response was nearly immediate.

Energy crackled into existence in front of me, much more defined now than she was yesterday. Sis appeared almost as a teenage girl, bountiful hair that spilled over her shoulders. She seemed far more attentive than before, her digital eyes shined with an exuberance that complimented the soft smile she sported.

[“Matthew, Smith, you had questions?”] A crystal clear voice called out over the air, a quality that I hadn’t noticed was lacking until it was suddenly before me.

I paused for a heartbeat, surprised at her sudden arrival and liveliness. I shook my head, amused, “Well, I was expecting to get your automated system, but I guess you’re not too busy?”

She beamed, [“I’m always busy, but I owe you a more personal touch, I think. And besides, you rarely ask questions that my automations can answer very easily.”]

[Mmm… quite.] Smith seemed to nod to himself, [We are rather unique, are we not?]

Sis entirely ignored that as she spoke, [“In any case, what’s come up?”]

I couldn’t miss the touch of amusement on her face with Smith’s dejectedness then. “Well, we discovered that weapons not from earth are incredibly expensive. Not just that, but military-grade weapons in general seem to be inflated in general. Why is that?”

Sis’ sigh rolled through the air, [“Ah, yes, that…”]

I waited as she stopped talking, putting a hand to her chin while she was thinking. She seemed to be genuinely trying to figure a good way to formulate her thoughts, and she fidgeted as she did so. For a computer to be so life-like, I wondered how many machines in the universe might be so much like a living thing that I wouldn’t be able to really tell the difference. Then again, that probably wouldn’t even be a remote concern what with the biotics being a problem.

[“Well,”] She interrupted my musings, [“The simple answer is that I wasn’t designed for producing weapons in the first place. It’s all quite a bit more complicated, but the Obelisk system was created to harness Matter Energy for frontier colonization mostly. Infrastructure, food, materials, that kind of thing. Weapons were less necessary, and not much more than recreational tools and toys were included. Though, I can get around that a bit by utilizing existing technologies to some extent, using highly advanced weaponry has always been an issue.”]

My brain seemed to halt all activity at that. I blinked away a haze of confusion that quickly seized my thoughts as I regathered myself. “Wait, so you’re supposed to be a terraforming, colonizing type of system? Is that what I’m understanding?”

[“Yes, for the most part,”] She answered sheepishly, [“I’m still trying, but it’s hard to work with my own programming. Otherwise, I’d be able to bring down the price penalty.”]

“Why don’t you let someone help reprogram you?” I asked, and immediately felt odd having said that out loud. It must how showed on my face, because Sis chuckled.

[“While letting someone tinker with what effectively amounts to my brain sounds risky under the best of circumstances, I’m also designed with several failsafes to prevent that from occuring. It can get rather uncomfortable for all parties involved.”]

Smith thought aloud [So what of the original programmers? Surely your makers would be amicable to change parameters based on current events.]

Sis’ expression lost all energy for a moment, but in that moment I felt a deep sadness. A coldness settled on my shoulders even as she cheerily answered.

[“Unfortunately, that is impossible as my makers are all gone. First victims to the biotics, I”m afraid.”] She folded her arms behind her, resting against the wall as more of her body came into being.

“I… have another question then,” numbness sat in my gut, “Did they, your makers, find biotics? Or did they make them?”

Sis nodded slowly, looking at the floor, [“That’s something I’m not very sure of. I only was… ‘awoken’ after my people were gone. I don’t know much about them even, only roughly where they are and what I was built for. Using Matter Energy to help species with terraforming and setting up industrial processes renewably. I don’t know why I don’t have access to weapons when biotics are so clearly a threat, nobody does. No one even really knows how biotics came to be, the only ones who do aren’t around anymore.”]

For the longest time I simply stared in thought at her. It was a good thing I was already sitting down, the information had knocked the wind out of me. There were implications here, of course, that biotics were probably made rather than a natural formation. Probably by the very people who made the Obelisks in the first place.

And judging by the look on Sis’ face, that was not a fact lost on her.

“Thanks,” I managed numbly, “That, uh, I think that’ll be all for now.”

[“Of course,”] She nodded, a sad look on her face that pulled at my heart guiltily.

I couldn’t just let her leave like that, “Hey, Sis… thanks for being here. I know we’d be pretty screwed without you here.”

She looked at me again, and a brightness seemed to flare into being in her eyes again, and a beaming smile on her face as she stared at me expectantly.

“Well, you know, just thought you should know,” I shrugged awkwardly, rubbing the back of my neck.

She nodded, smile still beaming, [“I appreciate that, Matthew. Anyways, I must be off, but do contact me if something else comes up!”]

And with that, she vanished, leaving myself and the background sniggering of Smith alone in my office space.

“Shut up, Old man, you’d have done the same.” Indignantly I rose from bed, fetching my weapons.

[Ah, perhaps, but oh the liveliness of youth!] He crowed obnoxiously.

“Well, I know where you get your obnoxiousness from,” I grumbled, “And you’re the same age as me, what are you on about?”

He continued amusing himself at my expense. I shook my head, walking out of the office and finding the second floor to have nearly been fully converted. Several rooms existed now, reinforced with metal and bearing several bunks where teams could stay nearby if they wanted too. Lockers and racks for weapons were beginning to see use, and already in the after dawn light dozens of bodies stirred.

As I walked through, my helmet came back on, and people nodded to me as I passed, uttering a good morning and friendly conversation that was almost out of place amidst the edgy and dark look of our decour.

Already, some of the Legion were customizing their rooms quite a bit more, but the predominant style remained. The central hall had a single long table, holographic scrolls stretching up to the projection array above it. Mostly, people left messages for the rest of their teams or logged information on who was looking for what. The bulk of it was about people meeting up with the rest of their teams and where they’d be, and personal messages asking if anyone was looking for members, or vice versa, if anyone was looking for a team.

There seemed to be no need for me to step in after all, everyone was getting situated rather nicely, and almost no team had more than six members.

I was half tempted to note what I’d learned on the Reaper’s Legion board, that we would be having issues with getting more advanced weaponry, but I decided that wouldn’t do anyone any good. For now, it wasn’t even a problem on the radar, we had plenty of weapons that were working fine for now. Besides, I could at least ask for advice first before bringing it the forefront without any kind of suggestions or direction at all.

“Morning,” A voice next to me called, holding out a mug of coffee. The man was in a wheelchair, holding a coffee outsretched in one hand and having a cup holder in his wheelchair arm, along with what looked like a small cup with pills in it.

I grabbed the coffee, helmet sliding off of my head to reveal a raised eyebrow, “Morning, Terry, what’s got you here so early?”

He smiled, scratching the stubble on his chin, the mans long face and bright cobalt blue eyes gazing at his own coffee and pills. “Well, I discovered that I can’t be in the suit all the time, biological needs aside, the thing needs to recharge. Working on that detail. I think I’m gonna have to build something for it.”

“Like what?” I asked, walking alongside him as he popped three pills in his mouth and gulped them down with his coffee.

“Well, probably a power cell? Generator? Something, not sure yet, but there’re plenty of toys available for power generation. Just need some more Matter Energy. I’m testing out small unit today.” He pushed forward, moving towards the elevator.

“Oh? What’s it run off of?” I asked, not especially interested in the how of his system and more interested in making conversation. I wasn’t knowledgeable in the field at all.

He waited until the elevator doors were closed before mentioning it, “Hydrocell, a pretty potent version, but only in bursts. I was actually coming to let you know just in case it explodes.”

I turned to him with a chuckle.

Then saw that he was staring dead ahead at the elevator doors seriously.

“What the fu-” I stopped as the doors slid open and he started out, grinning now.

“Well, I mean, it’s a low chance of happening, but still, I’ve never worked with this tech before. Pretty user friendly all things considered, but you never know.” He then gestured, out the doors, “I’m around the corner of the building, using some abandoned one behind the headquarters. Figure it’s fine if that blows up.”

“The one I was planning to expand into?” I couldn’t help but frown, I rather liked the idea of using the building, and the idea that a building nearby potentially exploding did not do wonders for my mood.

He coughed and laughed nervously, “Oh, was that what that was going to be used for? Well… uh… I’ll try not to blow it up then!”

I shook my head, “Please try very hard not too.” At that we glanced over to the cafeteria, noting the delicious smells wafting through the air, “You eat yet?”

“Nah, famished in fact.” He answered, “I should’ve eaten before the pills, but… eh.” He shrugged, wheeling forward, “What’s on the menu, I wonder?”

We walked forward, serving ourselves. I moved to help Terry briefly, only to have him shoo my efforts off with a quick, “It’s fine, I can reach this stuff.”

When we found an empty table, I dug into a country-fried steak with some eggs and mashed potatoes, slathered in gravy. Terry, on the other hand, had oatmeal, sausage links, and a waffle piled high with butter and syrup.

“I have a question for you.” I began after we’d taken our first bites, opening up the question that had been dancing on the edge of my mind for several minutes now.

“I have an answer. Probably.” Without missing a beat he responded.

“Well, what are the pills for?” I decided to come straight out and ask. Terry didn’t seem like the sort to like beating around a subject, and I was hardly tactful enough to figure out another way to ask.

He stopped chewing and looked up at me from his food, hunched over it with eyebrows raised. After a second he continued chewing and bobbed his head with a nod, swallowing his food while raising an index finger to indicated that I should wait.

“Pain.” He nodded, “I take a lot of painkillers, lot of pinched nerves from when I fell, along with the break of course.”

I cringed, “Ah, I see.”

We sat in relative silence for a minute before he shrugged, “Well, I mean, it sucks, but it’s gotten better. The suit’s just going to make it better over time. Then it’ll just be a question of breaking the addiction.”

The way he candidly said that made me swallow hard. I opened my mouth to talk more about it, but I stopped when I saw the sternness in his eyes. He knew very well how bad it would be, he didn’t need someone telling him he should be dialing back, either. Hell, he was probably going through agony every day.

“Well, hopefully the suit makes it easier on you at least,” I said to him, to which he nodded, seeming to be grateful that the topic didn’t go any deeper than that.

“On another note,” I grinned, “You ready to go out today?”

He chuckled, “Sure, so long as everyone else is.”

“I’m sure they’re good to go, we can’t sit back too long, someone might catch up to our score.” I grinned.

“Score?” He quirked a brow, and then remembered the leaderboard with a exasperated chuckle, “Honestly, that’s just ridiculous. What’d you guys even do?”

“Raided a hive.” I answered smugly, “It was a bit messy, but it’ll be easier now.”

“Why’s that?” He stuffed more food into his mouth.

I just stared at him knowingly for a few seconds before comprehension dawned on his face.

“Oh.”

“Welcome to the team.” I drank more of my coffee, mellow and tasting vaguely like caramel. “Good stuff.”