The late-afternoon sun gleamed from above as Damien and Kat casually stepped out of the gang hideout and back on to the empty city roads. With all the Skull members dead, there was no need to exit with the same level of caution that they’d entered with.

Damien, in particular, took no heed to his surroundings as they walked back towards Kat’s car. Instead, his attention was wholly focused on the T-Deck interface which blocked a decent portion of his vision. Once he changed over to the Stats & Skills tab, he was met with a newly-updated screen.

Stats

Level: 2

Title: None

Reputation: Nobody

Strength: 11

Agility: 15

Durability:13

Technical: 9

Blades: 15

Firearms:7

Skills Mastery Level

Description Parry Rookie Deflect oncoming projectiles and melee attacks. May exceed physical limits. Talents Mastery Level

Description S.S. Core

Rookie ??? Way of the Samurai

Rookie

[+1] Blades

[+10] Maximum Focus

Gain additional bonuses from Samurai weapons and armor.

A gratified smile grew on his face as he glossed over the goodies he’d unlocked. It felt particularly good to see a Skills list that wasn’t empty, and a Talent that actually had a visible effect.

Reading the description of his new skill first, Damien immediately felt like he’d hit the jackpot. The brief battle on the shop floor had reminded him that while he was deadly up close, he remained a sitting duck at range. With an ability like Parry, he now had a tool that could help him safely close the distance on his enemies.

The only question is, can I deflect bullets with this skill? Damien thought to himself. It sounds crazy, but I can’t wait to try it out.

Turning his attention to the new Talent next, he noted that it appeared to provide three separate passive effects. The first effect simply increased his Blades stat by 1, and by comparing his current stats to what they had been prior to his level increase, it was clear that this was the only stat that had changed.

I guess leveling up doesn’t increase my stats directly. It only grants me access to new Skills and Talents.

The next portion of the passive effect granted him +10 maximum Focus, bringing the total up 110. He still didn’t know what Focus was used for, but he had a feeling that it was related to his Skills. This theory would be the first thing he’d test during his next battle.

The final part of the Talent increased the bonuses of Samurai gear. He quickly flipped over to his Equipment page and confirmed that the damage value of his katana had increased from 25 to 28.

Looks like my build path has been set, Damien thought. It’s safe to assume that there’ll be different weapon and armor types to use, but I’ll stick with Samurai gear for now so I can make full use of this effect.

The Talent that he’d started with--the S.S. Core-- still remained a mystery. He’d hoped that it’s effect would’ve become clear upon leveling up, but the question marks stood unchanged. In all likelihood, there was some unknown condition he’d need to clear before its secrets would be revealed.

Oh well, I’m sure I’ll figure it out in time.

Satisfied with his haul from just one level increase, Damien closed the T-deck and watched as Kat placed the suitcase in the front trunk of her car. “Where’re we headed to now?”

“Back to the Doc’s office.” Kat said as she closed the trunk and made her way to the drivers seat. “He needs to extract something from the loot before we can sell it.”

A short drive later, they returned to Roger’s office and found the doctor hunched over at his desk working on what looked like a severed, mechanical arm. He had the appearance of a mad scientist, feverishly tinkering with his creation with so much concentration that he hadn’t noticed the pair enter his workstation. The absolute disarray of his office only added to his eccentric vibe.

Kat walked up beside him and placed the suitcase on top of the disheveled mess on his desk. “It’s all her Rog’. I’ll leave the rest to you.”

“Excellent.” Roger said as he stayed hunched over, not bothering to look at the suitcase. “How did it go?”

Kat snorted. “About as well as you can ask for in this city. Luckily for me, our friend here wasn’t as useless as I first thought. Probably wouldn’t be here right now if it wasn’t for him.”

Roger lifted the severed arm up against the ceiling lights, rotating it to get a better view. “Is that so?”

“She was like a damsel in distress.” Damien teased. “I had to swoop in and save her.”

Kat shot him a dirty look. “Don’t forget I saved your ass, too.”

Roger chuckled as he placed the limb down and turned to face the duo. “Sounds like you make a good team. Did you take any damage?”

Kat shook her head. “I’m fine. He got grazed by a bullet but it didn’t do much.”

“I see.” Roger said as he studied Damien’s arm. “It doesn’t look like it needs any work.”

“Yeah, it’s fine,” Damien said. “But there is something I wanted to ask you.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out the small, silver brick that he’d taken from the control room. “Do you know anything about this device?”

Roger took the brick and examined it. “Ah, yes. It’s a Basic Upgrade Module. You can use it to upgrade various weapons and gear.”

“Can I use it on my katana?”

“Of course. Standard weapons like that are made with a modular design in mind. That means that Upgrade Modules like this can be used to program modifications into the weapons. Want to give it a try?”

“Sure.” Damien said. It’s just a Basic one, after all. I’m sure I’ll get more later.

“Alright, follow me.”

Roger led them to a small room stationed in the far corner of his office. Inside stood a large, hulking machine with a series of cylindrical slots open along the top. To the side, a small computer station connected to various points along the machine.

“This is an older model, but it should still get the job done.” Roger said as he slid Damien’s katana into one of the slots along the top. “Unfortunately, it only works with Basic Upgrade Modules. If you find more advanced ones, you’ll need to find someone else to make use of them.” He connected a few wires to the bottom of the swords hilt.

“How much you charging him, Doc?” Kat said. “I’ll make sure to add it to his debt.”

Roger waved his hand dismissively. “No, no. He’s one of us. Its free of charge.”

Kat shrugged. “You’re too soft.”

Isn’t she supposed to be on my side? Damien thought to himself as he returned a dirty look back at her.

Roger sat at the computer station and plugged a large wire into the Upgrade Module. He then pointed to a tablet screen beneath Damien’s sword. “Go ahead and choose your upgrade. I can only program one upgrade per module. Since that katana is of a lower grade, you won’t have too many options.”

Damien swiped on the tablet and saw that there were three choices available.

Airy Tempo

Reduces the weapon’s overall weight

Swift Precision

Improves weapon handling

Forger’s Resolve

Increases durability of the weapon’s blade

Which one should I pick… Damien thought. Since this is my first weapon, I probably won’t be sticking with it for very long. In that case, there’s little point in improving its durability. As for the weapon’s weight, it hasn’t felt particularly heavy up until now. Perhaps it would’ve been more useful if I had a lower strength skill. Improved handling, on the other hand, sounds like something that can always be useful.

Damien selected the Swift Precision upgrade and accepted the ensuing confirmation prompt.

“A fairly simple upgrade,” Roger said as he started typing on the keyboard. “It should only take me a minute to program it into the sword.”

Damien watched as Roger’s fingers drummed on the keys at a blistering pace. “So how do these upgrades work exactly?”

“In this case, I’m programming the sword to read your bio signals through your palm. By doing this, it’ll help sync the motions of your hand with the hilt of the sword.”

“A low level upgrade like this won’t be enough to turn you into a master swordsman.” Kat said. “But even a small improvement could mean the difference between life and death.”

Damien turned to face her. “Any reason why they’re not made with these upgrades in the first place?”

“Higher end weapons usually come equipped with basic upgrades like this. One of the reasons why they don’t manufacture weapons with every possible upgrade is because they’d be a lot more expensive. Besides, people love to customize their stuff, everyone knows that.”

Makes sense. Damien thought to himself. Upgrade choices like this make for unique experiences.

“Hold on.” Kat said suddenly. Her eyes began to flash with a bright blue pulse, and she placed her hand up to her ear. “Hey, Marcus, what’s up?” She gave a nod to Roger than stepped back out to the main room of the office.

The clinking of keys stopped a moment later. “All done.” Roger removed the wires from the sword, pulled it out of the cylindrical slot, and gave it back to Damien. “Go ahead, give it a try.”

Damien clenched the sword tightly and practiced a few quick chops through the air. With each motion, he flicked his wrist sharply, and felt the hilt glide into his grip; its center moving in perfect unison with his hand. “Wow, I can actually feel the difference.”

“I’m glad. I also added a tiny augment that’ll allow you to snap the hilt to your sub-dermal armor. This way you won’t have to carry it around by hand. Try snapping it to your side.”

Damien brought the sword’s hilt close to his waist, and he immediately felt a magnetic pull between them. When he let go, the sword pressed up along his side, freeing him from having to constantly hold his weapon. “Huh. Simple yet useful.”

“Yup.” Roger said. “The best kind of augment. If you get your hands on any more Upgrade Modules, don’t hesitate to bring them over.”

“Will do. Thanks for everything.”

“No worries.” Roger said as he powered down the computer station. “I could spend days working on these things.”

The door to the office opened and Kat stepped back inside the small room.

“Where’d you go off to?” Roger asked.

“Just had a quick talk with Marcus. He said he needs our help with something… Something big.”

Damien turned to her. “That includes me, right?”

“Damn right.” Kat said. “You’re not off the hook yet.”