Early the next morning, Aria showered and wore a pair of slim slacks and a light casual blazer, binding her chest flat since she is still pretending to be a man. Tying her hair back into a low ponytail and putting on a face mask, she had a hearty breakfast (and ordering to-go), and was picked up by John and David in a nice low-key vehicle.

When they arrived at the military base for their appointment at 9am, not only was Aria very excited, Art was too. Weapons and mechas are harder to encounter in Country C since any signs of the war were well hidden due to the negative impact these things had on the land. So although Country C won the war, they didn't want people to be reminded of the high costs the country had to pay. Country M is the opposite. They like to flaunt their military prowess and are proud of their advanced weaponries. Of course, there are many technological military researches they don't show to the public, but those are more along the lines of nuclear weapons and biological warfare.

The large military base was set along the coast and extremely well guarded.

Aria: S3, do we know if this base survived the ZA?

S3: Yes, it was one of the better bases that survived the first few years of the ZA. But due to overwhelming amounts of refugees and the limited land, famine and death spread rampantly in the 3rd year. The military base soon after broke away from the department of defense and became an independent army that included the navy, airforce, and army. They then expanded their territory enough to grow food to support the remaining forces. Every single refugee from the age of 13 to 60 were trained and converted to military personnel and the base was ruled under an iron fist.

Aria: Admirable.

Aria was glad to know that this magnificent base survived for so long during the ZA. Since the base is set up along the coast, the coast guard, navy, air force and army are all located on the 50 acre piece of land but divided into different locations.

The group handed over their IDs and after confirming they were no threat to the country, they were let into the base. They then had to park their car and switch over to the military vehicle since civilian vehicles are not allowed inside the base. They first toured the airforce. Aria touched all the different planes and insisted on watching a jet being refueled. They then went into a big hanger where different battlecruisers and shuttles were located.

Aria was very happy to see this.

She was still worried about how to get access to these battlecruisers to copy for her use but John made this happen without her asking. Her impression of him went up a few notches. Even though she already had a good impression of him in her past life, it was really based on his experience during the ZA. Now he hasn't experienced any of that yet so as far as she is concerned, he's not yet the man she knew and trusted back then.

They toured the battlecruisers one by one, looking at the addons, inspecting the robots that fixed everything on the ships, touching the materials used for different purposes on the ships.

Aria had a field day copying everything. She was still undecided about which battleship she wanted to use for a moveable "bunker" when she saw a beautiful and compact battlecruiser in the corner with a group of other similar designed ships but in different shapes and sizes. They were part of the new limited edition line of ships that uses a brand new type of energy core merged with the sound shield technology that allows the ship to hover and fly without leaking any sounds. The vibrations can still be felt but the ships barely emits a low hum when turned on and in use.

The company that made the battleships and battlecruisers called the new line The Shielders. To popularize and advertise the designs, they have started touring across the world taking orders as they go along.

Aria pretended to be familiar with the model in front of John and David so that they would not suspect anything when she passed over the ships for upgrades.

Meanwhile, she had the little fluff ball explore the base as they moved along with the tour. Eros reported a lot of interesting gadgets and research the military is doing onsite. Telling Eros to work directly with S3 with the security cameras, Eros was directed to take a copy of anything they had more than 5 of and Aria will go through them later.

Little Eros: Master, Art! I found a place full of mechs! There are a lot of them inside a charging room.

Aria: Really?! Quickly connect with Art and let him decide on which one he wants.

Art: Can I have them all?

Aria: No! They will notice if the room is empty.

Art: Then can I pick 10? There are a lot of different kinds here. Plus there are hundreds of them here, they won't notice a few missing.

Aria: Fine. But pick the newest and most upgraded ones. And get the maintenance robots too just in case.

They toured the base for 3 hours, Aria copying everything like she's a kid in a toy store in her heart. They finally got to the military store which sells everything that any type of military personnel needed.

Of course Aria copied the whole store in every single size and options available. One thing that she was surprised to find was a temperature suit which she has never heard of or encountered before in her previous life since it wasn't very popular.

The Temp Suit is a set of clothing and accessories that regulates the body's internal temperature regardless of the outside temperature. This was most popular for snipers who had to stay still for hours and had to blend into the environment seamlessly. The money maker was the various headpieces that can suppress the user's breath to match the outside temperature.

Zombies can't see very well but they are highly sensitive to the specific exhalation temperature of the human's breath. The soft puff of warmth brings with it an indescribable yearning to consume the warm meat and blood that all humans possess.

So being able to suppress and manipulate one's breath to be undetected by zombies is the most valuable thing in the world to Aria. Of course, the thin and impenetrable base layer material is a big plus as well.

She copied all their styles and sizes and then purchased a large set for herself in male and female wear. The masks/head gears she also purchased in large quantities. Glancing over at the two men nearby, she bought a complete set for the family of 4 too.

They soon left the base for a late lunch. Aria was in a happy mood after such a large successful haul. Finding treasures left and right. She felt that if the ZA happens the next day, she would still be able to survive nicely.

Their trip to the company that specializes in personal security was as fruitful as the one to the military base. Aria copied every single technology they had and purchased a soundshield for each of the Chens.

Eros snuck upstairs and took a sample of everything in their lab while S3 downloaded a copy of the hard drive.

Aria went to sleep happy.

John picked up Aria the next day to visit the processing plants of various kinds of materials. Aria placed a large number of orders for every kind of animal and seafood they had available to sell to be delivered to the warehouse the next day.

She bought anything and everything that she encountered. Money flowed out like water and before she knew it, she had spent over $20M on refined and processed materials as well as raw ones. John gave her privacy as she ordered and paid for her things but his eyes looked at the young man in complication.

If Aries is preparing for war, John hopes he can help him as much as possible to mitigate the danger.

Aria met up with the Chens at an empty warehouse the next day to pass on the additional materials and machineries that Melanie listed for the first half of the project. David placed everything inside his space quietly. He can only imagine how much space Aries possesses himself.

Joseph's floor plan was approved and an additional small container sized home was added for Joseph to create with different specifications. Aria figured these can be used by normal people instead of tents since its more secure and warmer.

When a large Shield battlecruiser appeared in front of them, everyone was shocked. Especially John and David. They just saw this ship yesterday! How could Aries have gotten his hands on them so quickly? Their eyes swiveled to Aries full of questions.

Aria: "I purchased some cruisers when they visited Country W a few months ago. I purchased a few other ship models too if you don't think this is the best for us to upgrade. What do you think, John?"

John: "I'm not too familiar with this line since it's new... I would prefer working on the XC1 battlecruisers line."

Aria: "Would you be opposed to doing 1 of each of the Shield models? I'll add an extra $2M for the trouble."

John: "I think I can do it but it will add 3 additional months to our current timeline."

Aria: "That's fine. I think it's good to have a backup ship that no one is familiar with just in case.

Anyway, I'll be in Country M for the next two months so if you need anything just let me know and we can meet up in person if necessary. If not then I'll make a last stop here before I leave. Oh, yeah. Here is a present for each of you in appreciation for your professionalism and commitment to me this coming year. Thank you."

Aria handed over 4 gift bags to each of the family members. David opened his and saw the new version of the sound shield and the personal perimeter bracelet. The new sound shield was subtle and small, the wire only visible when a setting change to add people to the shield is triggered. Otherwise the wire will remain inside the earbud. Each was priced at $500k.

The second box was the perimeter protector bracelet that can send an instant shock to whoever touched the wearer. The band were in different subtle styles for each person, looking like a regular classy piece of accessory to draw less attention to the purpose of the piece. This too was just as expensive as the sound shield.

David looked at Aries in excitement, smiling happily in appreciation. He knew how expensive and useful these things are- so for Aries to give them these is just too thoughtful of him. David's chest tightened in determination to do a good job to help prepare Aries from the coming danger.

-- Author's Notes --

So my mind has been on our male protagonist lately. Aria is like a little cold squirrel robot so far rushing around to prepare for the ZA. But her no nonsense way of communicating as well as what type of technology she considered are super useful later on gives us a pretty good idea that she's going to be a grumpy 😡 and quiet introverted porcupine.

We haven't seen her express much anger yet - (she has a ruthlessness that will reveal itself later on if I can portray it well enough in my writing)- but it will be explosive.

Our male protagonist has to be strong and powerful. Someone who is proud but is also as overbearing and unyielding as her. But due to his blossoming affection for her, he has to figure out how to chip at her emotional defense to get through to her when she goes crazy. I just want someone who is good to her.

Oh, and if you haven't caught it in the earlier chapters, he thinks she's a very attractive guy.