Jacob, humming a tune I vaguely recognized but couldn’t place, was bent over the back of the wagon filled with the scrapped remains of the fallen mantis-bots using it at as a makeshift workbench. When I approached I found him using some sort of high-tech cutting device to separate a set of the claws from the arms of the bots and set them next to what looked like a bracer with a handle on it. Next to that bracer was what looked like a bandolier made of braided wires with shaped spikes. Leaning against the wagon wheel was what looked like a chest guard made of overlapping sections of metal and lashed together with more wire, similar to armor used in feudal Japan.

As we approached Jacob stopped humming and said, “Arya, yours is done. Should I try and put something together for Alex, or just the offensive stuff?”

“Depends on how flexible it is and how long it will take,” I answered as Arya picked up the chest guard and tried it on.

Jacob didn’t stop working as he said, “You are up, good. The bandolier should fit but is adjustable, and is currently loaded with twenty spikes. Arya told me that weapons balanced for throwing were a detriment to your projectile so they are just solid with a point. I’ll have a melee option for you shortly.”

It was slightly rude of him not to even look my way as he spoke, but considering I was getting gear out of the deal I wasn’t going to say anything. It did raise a couple of questions though, “One: what about gear for you and the others? Two: where did the tools to put these together come from? Three: how did you get all this done so quickly?”

Continuing his disassembly of the bot he answered, “Arya and I both got chest guards, mine is on the other side of the cart. The tools were part of my conjuration power. I suspected there might be a need to either build something in the field, or take something apart so I designed that technique specifically to be able to conjure a few useful tools; I only took the gun because it seemed a bad idea to be unarmed. As for the speed of construction that is part game mechanic and part technique. The game speeds up the repeat crafting of the same component material if you have the tools, such as the scales and braiding the wire. One of the techniques I took was rapid assembly, which would let me craft an item I had the blueprint in a fraction of the time. I had to create the first one manually, but the time consuming part of making this type of armor is the base materials. Because all I had to do was cut and reshape the carapace of the robots that took even less time than creating them from scratch.”

“Did the system give you some form of assistance for that, or did you have to bring it up from memory?” I asked.

Arya answered instead of Jacob, “The pattern was provided by Jerome actually, apparently a friend was into medieval reenactment and they had many discussions about how historical armor influenced modern manufacture of body armor. He knew enough for Jacob to work his way through the first one and gain the blueprint.”

Jacob nodded and he started to affix the blades to some sort of slide on the side of the bracer, making them curve around to a point that would be in front of the wearer’s fist. I could see that the inner edge had been filed down so it wasn’t sharp, but they would still get in the way if the user wanted to use his hands. Jacob started grabbing circuitry and began wiring something to the outside of the bracer as he said, “Another technique I choose was ‘Improvised Creations.’ Effectively if the system can interpret a design I am attempting to make I get an improvised blueprint for the device based on the materials I have. I can later take an improvised blueprint and turn it into an actual blueprint with standardized materials.”

“So you jury-rig a design in the field, and if you like it you can make an actual version of it? There has to be a catch,” I replied.

He answered, “I can only have five improvised blueprints at a time. Normally to make a blueprint requires actually drafting the design. If a blueprint already exists in the system though, such as with the armor, I can gain it through the technique.”

“Is that how the crafting system works here then, power techniques?” I aksed.

Arya shook her head, “I doubt it. What Jacob is doing is mostly just fast creations that someone could technically create with time and materials. Remember SWS is designed to replicate what we can create outside of the pods. I’m sure there will be some game specific creations that use fictional materials, but he could have made that armor in his garage.”

“Like mithril in most fantasy stories; it’s a lightweight but strong metal, but is used in the same way as steel,” Jacob pointed out.

I nodded and clarified, “So you took techniques that made you capable of crafting at high speed, improvising blueprints in the field, and a conjuration power that would make sure you had the tools on hand to do so?”

“Plus a technique that would give me an idea how an unknown material or object is used. For example I figured out these little red wires are a combination battery and capacitor. The big one however in this case is that I have a technique that will show me how to attach components to create an effect based on the materials available. I tried it out in the training room and it could backfire because I have too many items that would work, or would create something badly sized, but it works well when I can define what I want to do” he answered pointing at the wires he was connecting to a small catch at the rear of the blades, and then to a space on the wagon where he had drawn a crude illustration of the device with various symbols next to it.

“That whole thing is metal; is someone going to electrocute themselves using it?” I asked.

“You, not someone, and no; the wires are powering a motion lock so that you can retract the blades when you need to use your hands. It will also have a magazine with a few spikes that can drop into your hand when you want them. Arm defense so you can block attacks like that knife, a melee option that takes advantage of your enhanced velocity, and at hand ammunition for ranged attacks,” he said as he started placing an armored outer cover on the bracer that covered the wiring, “What do you think?”

“I’m impressed,” I said, in truth I was beyond impressed with the adaptability of our young tech guru.

Arya snorted and said, “I’m glad you’re not testing Villain’s Creed.”

Jacob chuckled and we soon joined in. It was good to have someone on our team that could create gear for the group, especially considering how much he seemed to be into the idea. It brought up another idea though, “Are you planning to create some kind of power armor for yourself for field work in the future?”

Jacob shook his head, “Not likely, honestly my tricks don’t lean toward the power armor hero anyway. Plus I was always more of a fan of Batman than Iron Man.”

Passing me the bracer, the blades now retracted down the side, he said, “There isn’t much padding due to a lack of materials, but see how that fits.”

I placed the bracer on my right arm, feeling it click closed. It was a snug fit, but not too tight. Since there wasn’t a grip of any type it would probably dig into my arm if I hit someone head on with it. I nodded at the fit and Jacob started grabbing materials faster than I could follow as he said, “I have the blueprint now so I can make one for your other arm too. If you make a fist the sensors in it will make the blades pop forward. The shape is similar to a leaf blade spear, so you have cutting and thrusting power capability with it.”

I made a fist and the blades slid forward with a small click as they locked into place. I found I could open my hand up completely with the blades forward. An old martial arts lesson played through my mind and I took a slightly sloppy stance and struck forward with what was known as a knife-hand strike. My form was bad partially from being out of practice, but also due to the weight of the bracer on my arm. It wasn’t exactly heavy, but if I had to guess it was about three or four pounds of metal wrapped around my wrist. I asked, “How do I retract the blades?”

“Make peace not war,” he said with a bit of amusement in his normally overly precise voice.

It took me the barest moment before I understood and made the two finger sign for peace. The blades retracted back into the sides of the bracer, twisting slightly so that they would rest alongside my arms without the edges cutting me if my arms swung by my side. As I examined the bracer more closely I saw that the gap between the bottom of my arm and the bottom of the armored bracer had three small throwing spikes slotted into some kind of quick release mechanism, the points toward me. On a hunch I twisted my wrist down as if I was trying to pull something out of my sleeve and one of the spikes slid down into my palm. I replaced it into the gap created by its release and felt the click as whatever Jacob had used for a catch engaged.

“I stand by what I said, this is impressive work,” I stated.

Jacob shrugged and said, “It is very much like writing code, but the components are the objects that have a variable function rather than having to create something from scratch.”

Somehow it didn’t surprise me that he knew about computer code based on both his knowledge of Pandora Interactive and the fact that he had to be careful with his physical activities. Combining personal programming knowledge with game generated tech crafting techniques would make him even more effective than I had already anticipated.

It didn’t take long for him to finish the second bracer and the three of us equipped the improvised gear he had made during my “death.” Arya spoke up as she tightened the fastenings on her armor, “Oh and to answer your earlier question, before we were side tracked by the crafting system. Rebecca conjures her own armor and weapons, so nothing Jacob could improvise from these things would help her.”

“And Jerome only affects his own density currently, not objects,” Jacob pointed out.

I couldn’t contradict there statement so I used the mental link, “We ready to continue?”

“Looks like we are clear to proceed,” Rebecca replied.