Eyes filled with mild amusement gazed back through the door that led to his apartment on Hellespont. His little group of stalwart companions had circled around them the moment that they returned, but Scott in the fashion of a true hero managed to escape the threat of their curiosity and slip out the door. Sure, Samantha would have to take the brunt of those curious eyes and questions but it was sweet revenge for what she had done to him early. He truly did want that new game plus!

Quickly pulled out the map that he earned for the efforts of his team in the last mission, repurchased recently, and set it to locate treasure items in Hellespont.

A holographic display appeared before him, followed by a floating arrow pointing straight ahead toward the elevators. "Neat!"

Several lights were shown on his map, four in total. "Weird, one of them is at the space dock..."

It was not the closest of the lights, but it was certainly something to check out! Scott rushed off to the place that he had just returned from while Samantha's plaintive cry, "I just work here..." echoed through the hallway a split-second before the door closed.

Scott took in the sights of the local color while he made a quick trip back to the docks. Aliens of all shapes and sizes puttered around in grand sci-fi fashion. Slugs hovered on floating boards. Reptilian looking guys in power armor held animated conversations on street corners. Hellespont, though a small port by any indication, was quite lively.

Once he reached the docks he casually followed the arrow, one that thankfully no one else seemed to be able to see, and reached a large building off to one corner. "Derelict impound storage?"

The arrow led him through the front door and he soon found himself in a small office. A spherical robot resting on the ground suddenly made a whirring noise. It emitted an array of multi-colored lights then floated up into the air. "Greetings citizen. Have you come to pay impound fees, or to purchase a derelict craft?"

"I'm looking for something specific," said Scott in a non-comital manner. "Can I take a look around?"

"One moment, citizen," said the robot. It made another series of whirring and buzzing noises then stopped briefly as though it had frozen up. "Greetings, home owner. You may enter. Please do not attempt to steal anything. The outcome will be regrettable."

Scott thanked the floating robo-critter then entered into a door that opened on his left. He looked all around curiously while he followed the arrow through the area. Bits and pieces of old ships were tagged and cataloged in the area. As far as he could tell, there were no whole ships anywhere. There were only bits and pieces of ships, or small vessels that had been torn apart in a fight.

The arrow led him to something quite intriguing, however. "This is a treasure?"

He had been led to approximately half of a ship about the size of a truck, if the wings were not included. He placed his hand to the derelict fighter then blinked as the world darkened. Soon it took on a familiar black and white tone. A bright blue screen appeared before him.

The Jet-like machine, one battered and torn in so many places that only half of its total mass seemed intact at various points suddenly acquired a semi-transparent overlay that restored a ghostly semblance of the original vehicle.

[Message!]

Congratulations you have discovered a hidden treasure. This little fighter craft has seen better days, and cannot be repaired in this world-setting. However, it has been overlooked by the citizens of Hellespont and has an important almost functional part that can be salvaged for use in another craft.

If you were to purchase a vehicle hanger, you would be able to install a repair shop. You would then be able to store, build, and repair vehicles with purchased tools and experience points. This hanger will act as a personal storage and can be accessed from your home point.

- Should you choose to purchase this treasure item, you will unlock the basic Vehicle Hanger home upgrade. Cost: 20000 EXP

- You have located a treasure item: Cyclo-Dynamic Engine Mark II | [Military Grade/Broken]

Will you buy this derelict ship for [2200] EXP?

YES | NO

[==]

"Yes!" he exclaimed without fail. The new home upgrade potential alone could be worth it. If he could store vehicles there then it seemed reasonable that he would be able to take them out as well!

[Congratulations!]

You are now the proud owner of a derelict star fighter. This vehicle is classed in such a way that it is impossible to repair, even with the aid of the system. However, the engine can be repaired and installed into a new vehicle once all requirements have been met!

- You get a Broken Engine!

- You can now purchase the Vehicle Hanger home upgrade.

[==]

"Cool. That'll be useful later." He was at a loss for what to do for a moment, but another floating robot appeared then congratulated him for his purchase.

Once again, he had bought something from this world directly with EXP. The system no doubt auto-translated the cost into credits then tacked on some sort of fee. As far as the robots knew, he paid like a normal person.

"I mostly want the engine from this..." said Scott slowly.

The robot shirred briefly then asked, "Now that this vehicle has been claimed, the new owner is allowed to sell it for scrap metal purposes. Would you like to salvage the useful parts, and sell the rest?"

"I see no problem with that, but why keep this stuff lying around if it's so easy to sell it for parts?" asked Scott.

"Once derelict vehicles are discovered by federation forces they are brought to the nearest star port. Those vehicles are examined. If no owner is discovered, the vehicle will sit in the docks or this warehouse for a time," said the robot. "If that time period expires without the original owner coming forth, it can then be purchased by an upstanding federation citizen. Should the derelict remain in storage for one standard cycle, it will then be sold as scrap."

"I see..." Scott looked around at the rest of the storage area. There were no doubt many parts that could be salvaged here. The problem was where he should store it all. The engine alone would no doubt weigh more than his spatial storage could carry.

"Is there a place to store my purchase?" asked Scott.

"You may rent a storage locker here at the impound lot for seventy hundred fifty credits per day, citizen. Given your desire to keep only the engine and any associated parts, a single locker should prove adequate," replied to robot.

He rubbed his chin, a bit over two hundred experience a month to store the thing here. How much did it weigh? He made a few inquiries to the robot and discovered its actual weight was less than he thought. It would be a strain, but he should be able to lift nearly a ton of weight. The engine itself weighed only a little more than half of that.

After he dickered with the robot a bit they came to a salvage and delivery fee. The engine plus any parts deemed to be in near-perfect condition would be delivered to his apartment once they were removed from the fighter. He paid for everything using in-world credits, at a modest cost all things considered, then bid the robot goodbye.

"Wonder if the scrap metal will bring a profit?" he asked himself curiously after he left the warehouse. If he were lucky it would pay for the salvage and delivery fees.

The engine and parts themselves might prove to be useless for the near future, but the vehicle hanger purchase option was worth spending a few thousand points to acquire. He would buy it when he returned from Ha' Ruul. There was nothing to put into it at the moment other than parts, so it did not seem like an immediate expense.

Scott looked to his map then selected the next closest treasure item. His adventure took him to a small shop on the Southwestern quadrant of the space port. "Spacey Dan's Space Emporium?"

"Well, that's almost adorable," said Scott. Inside the modest shop he was greeted to the sight of various items that sat on shelves. Holographic representations of firearms and other sundries were available for view.

As though he had teleported to his side, a strange man with a rather epic mustache appeared next to him. "Why hello there Mr. Customer... Myeh."

Scott looked at the odd man for a moment before he answered. The man stood at roughly the same height as he did, but there similarities stopped there. The new arrival twirled his mustache like a cartoon villain and eyed him thoughtfully.

"Uh, hi..." said Scott, "I came here looking for something specific..."

"Oh? That's good! What might it be, Mr. Customer?" asked the man.

"I... will know it when I see it?" returned Scott in a questioning tone.

"Ah, of course. Feel free to look around all that you might like," said the man. As an afterthought he said, "Myeh."

Scott followed the arrow through the small shop and soon came to what appeared to be a little briefcase in the corner. Once again, the world slowed to a crawl even as all color drained away. A blue message screen appeared which congratulated him for locating a treasure item.

[Severely Damaged Symbiotic Armor]

A living bio-enhancing armor system that will grant extraordinary physical stat boosts and inherent weapon systems to the wearer. It has its own limited intelligence, and will react to protect its bond partner.

- The armor is heavily damaged. It will require extensive, and expensive, repairs. Most of its functions do not work currently, and forming a bond with it at this time could lead to the host body being consumed by the starving armor system.

- You do not currently have access to the world-setting needed for the repair items to appear in your Exchange. You may acquire the relevant tutorial mission for that world-setting through the Battledome.

- The armor is compatible with your Nano-Cloud Suit. Combination of the two items will allow for a superior effect.

- This suit comes with its own bloodline and lifestyle upgrades, which will be available only to its host body. Usage of this item will not remove the 'Earthling' tag from a body in the system. All relevant missions will remain available to you.

Warning: If you bond with this symbiotic armor you will become its control operator. You will be bound together permanently and it will see you as someone special to it. You have a Life Werx. Please choose a body that would benefit most from the addition of a symbiotic partner as the bond cannot be shifted to a different body once made. It will not bond with a body that is hybridized through the Life Werx. It works best with a body that has exceptional latent genetic potential.

The armor will not allow for the addition of further mutation to the genome, however.

Purchase this treasure for [3300] EXP?

Yes | No

[==]

The world remained in black and white for a moment while Scott stared at the softly shining briefcase. It was clearly intended as an upgrade for a pure Earthling body. On the one hand, it sucked that it would not work for one of his fancy hybrid bodies. On the other hand, it seemed like a perfect way to upgrade his pure human meat. He could always science up another Earthling body if he wanted to play around with adding in positive mutations like is ice blast.

Scott opted to purchase the treasure item then grinned lightly to himself. He would have to store it at the Life Werx for now, but it could prove quite interesting in the near future.

He looked around a bit more and discovered that the man with the mustache, Spacey Dan, ran something similar to a pawn shop. He bought stuff that customers brought in and put it up for sale. He had no regular stock, only repurchased items. Thus, the prices were quite reasonable.

Two more treasures awaited, however. Scott set out in search of epic loot, a mild hope in his heart that he would not have to actually buy everything.

He meandered through the back alleys of the Southeastern quadrant of the city then eventually located what could only be called a galactic crack house. "There's derelict buildings on a space port? Who would let this space go to waste?"

Uncertain of the legalities of the situation, Scott did his best to see if anyone actually lived in the rundown looking shanty. No one answered. He pried open a partially closed metal door with a piece of metallic debris found in a small pile of garbage nearby then wriggled his way inside.

"Dark as hell in here," he muttered to himself. However, he could see well enough with the limited light from the now open door to find his way slowly in the gloom. The arrow led him to what appeared to be an ordinary wall. A section of the wall lit up, and then a brief set of instructions appeared. He had to push on the wall in exactly the right way to acquire the treasure.

Scott followed the instructions by tracing the corner of the lit section of the panel delicately with his finger then pressed inward on the center of the panel where a circle of light appeared. The panel popped free of the wall and swung open like magic!

Inside, he discovered a few interesting things. There was a gun, a note, and two hundred thousand credits.

[Note]

The job was a bust. I only managed to grab one of those federal weapons before they were onto me. Sorry for getting you into all of this. It's enough money to see you through for a few years. I'll turn myself in tomorrow, and hopefully get out of the ice box sometime next century. Take care of yourself little brother. I love you...

[==]

"Someone's parting gift to their brother?" asked Scott curiously.

The house, or whatever this dark hole happened to be, had no seen anyone enter it in years. If the aforementioned little brother had not come to claim it by now, or if they even existed when one considered how the system worked, they were out of luck. Scott took the loot and slipped it into his spatial storage.

The firearm was nothing special, only on par with his old Black Hawk. Though, it did not look like an antique weapon in this sci-fi age. It looked like a generic science fiction energy pistol.

Since he did not find the treasure in a location where he needed to buy something, he did not have to pay for it. Scott left the place quickly then headed off to the final destination on his map.

"So, this is the last treasure item?" asked Scott curiously. He picked up what appeared to be a small translucent crystal.

A quick message from the system informed him that it was the schematic for a set of clothes. There was no armor value, just a fancy sci-fi outfit. "Well, guess everything can't be a fighter engine or a living set of armor. Though, the home upgrade is the real treasure..."

He could now purchase a room for his home point that would allow him to use a fabricator to design clothes, and then craft them with cheap raw materials. A further upgrade would allow him to make armor as well, though he would need to also acquire the needed skill package and his results would be limited by his level and skill.

The items were nice, but the home upgrades were the true treasure. Though, he would not buy either of them for quite some time when the price was considered.

Treasure hunt, complete. Scott headed back to his apartment. Once he transferred his engine and parts to his home point, it would be time for a short nap and then onward to Ha' Ruul to battle the skeletal grudges.