need to sit down.
Magic cooking pot is… well its decent, it gives me an iron pan that can light a magic fire under itself when set up and even when not on a heat source will heat any items placed inside it to the desired temperature. Any meal or elixir cooked on it will gain a boost in quality and possibly beneficial effects. It also acts as a heat source so even with no heating in the workshop I'll never be uncomfortable again. It probably synergises extremely well with Alchemic Prodigy.
However, SUPERHUMAN DESIRE changes everything.
I can no longer fail at self enhancement via technology. Any procedure, regardless of how risky. As long as it carries beneficial enhancement or improvement to me or my body, is now guaranteed to succeed. Regardless of its original success chance.
This is a game changing perk. I'm not a full-on transhumanist by any means but if I gained the ability to enhance my body technologically, I was definitely going to do it. This perk now guarantees my success.
But I can't do anything with it right now so back to the job at hand.
From my apartment in the northern docks, I take a southern route through the active warehouse areas of the docks proper, the streetlights in this area are functional and it's easier to move as if heading somewhere.
As I pass various companies still operating in the area, I check through their external dumpsters, finding various amounts of wood, cloth, plastic, copper, tin, and iron waste which all gets converted into the matter manipulator.
Work is slow due to my paranoia of being seen, and I do the majority of my manipulator work from within the dumpster itself to give me full coverage. Even though I'm moving slowly, I'm moving with purpose, and the resources I am gathering will be a huge help.
Three hours later the sun is peeking over the bay and I'm finally in the southern docks area, from industrial waste, multiple abandoned or burned-out cars, and various carefully cleared out fly tipping spots I have gathered up quite large quantities of iron, steel, plastic, varying cloth types from tarp to silk, copper, bronze and tin and glass. I also have found decent a decent quantity of aluminium along with smaller quantities of gold, silver and platinum, and tiny quantities of rare metals mostly from various catalytic converters on the abandoned/burned-out cars.
This is enough manipulator gathering for now. I have more than enough resources from this run for a basic set of armour and even weapons too when combined with the resources I already have.
I decide to use a convenient public toilet to put the manipulator back into the personal reality, I drop off my "cape gear" at the same time, no need to have it on me if I get searched for any reason.
My next job is to head for the local garden centres and hobby shops in the commercial district, the bordering woodland will also be on the schedule for alchemy checking.
After checking various garden centres, florists and hobby shops and even the herb section at the local supermarket I come to a sad realisation. None of this can be used for my current form of alchemy. This prompts me to skip the trip to the outskirts too, I'll head out there another day when I have more perks that could benefit from it. I can only think that I must need another perk to provide me with the alchemy ingredients for Genius Alchemist or another perk to allow me to grow them myself somehow. I picked up some raw food ingredients from the supermarket regardless, at least I can test out the Zelda pot.
Time to head back home and work on some gear with my gathered resources, I have some ideas for some basic protective gear using only what I currently have.
The bus ride back home was thankfully uneventful this time, no Undersider provoked delays, and walking to my apartment from the bus stop no Dave interruptions either. It's almost eight by the time I arrive home, five hours since I left. I think some tinkering is just what the doctor ordered.
I have two ideas for basic gear.
The first is using the plastics, steel and aluminium I gathered to make some "riot team" inspired armoured gear. The second is to absolutely max out the materials science knowledge I gained from Backyard Handywork and make some taser gloves. Induction powered taser gloves. I can make some basic solid-state batteries from what I gather from the celestial mass squatting in my skull. I have some side ideas for an injector mechanism for them for when I get alchemy poisons up and running, but for now, light but heavily armoured protection and electric goodness. Backyard Handywork is about to pay for itself.
Working way ahead of my tool curve is… slow, multiple times I'm replacing the usage of cnc and milling machines and even at one point an industrial weaving loom with just basic blacksmithing tools. Backyard Handywork is incredible.
What feels like many hours later and one of the downsides/upsides of me only having a smithing workshop to work with shows itself. Everything looks vaguely knight-esque. It isn't intentional, and there's probably an intent-based reason for it, my brain biasing Artistic Architect because of my personal bias towards smithing and medieval aesthetic. But my armour which is supposed to be riot inspired instead looks like someone crossed a really overdone forerunner skin cosplay with something you wouldn't find out of place in World of Warcraft. It looks cool and all, but it implies a level of escalation I cannot fulfil. It writes checks that my ass cannot cash.
The armour is made from alternating layers of carefully folded aluminium, finely ringed steel chain-mail, and a mightily finicky carbon infused plastic and glass fiber weave. It's bullet resistant for sure although up to what caliber I have no idea. Knives aren't getting through though. I tested. A lot.
The fiber weave was a work of demented genius, but it took over four hours to make enough just to cover my vitals. Chest, back, neck. I won't be getting full coverage without better tools. Leveraging the perk this heavily carries a hefty time penalty and I will definitely have to look into some heavier duty tools for speed reasons, even if I don't technically need them.
The armour looks shockingly competent. So much so that I'm genuinely worried about the level of escalation that will be leveraged against me if I wear it to a fight. I don't think I can use this without a hefty improvement in my weaponry. It looks like it protects far more than it does, which is not a good thing with cape rules of engagement.
Speaking of weaponry, the gloves came off a treat. I'll call them my tesla gloves. They'll only work with the armour for now, in future I'll need to make a charging rig or better battery for them but basically, I build up charge in the batteries stored throughout my armour by moving. I can then choose to discharge the batteries through my hands, knuckle or palm. I managed to get 3 modes. The first is "The security guard just tazed me" level. It won't stop 99% of brutes but anyone with base level human durability is going on the floor. The second level is "did I just stick my tongue in a plug socket" and is reserved for minor brutes. The third level is a full discharge of all batteries. My armour grounds me by design but I don't even want to be around someone when I hit them with this. I call this level "Did Thor just brutalise that guy?" mode.
Each of the modes use up various levels of battery capacity. First level can be used maybe ten times on a full charge, second level a max of five times and the last level once by design. The batteries however are incredibly inefficient being solid state batteries made with forge backed tinker bullshit wizardry I barely even understand myself; they discharge rapidly over time if I'm not moving. I also have to lug this all around myself, it's not powered armour it relies on my own strength. I'll be working on my body a lot more going forward.
As I put the finishing touches on the glove to armour connection, the forge makes my earlobes buzz. The swinging orbit of the planets, as they pass by without pause.
Skills Alchemy – Failed
Quality Durability – Failed
Magical Large Scale – Failed.
No luck this time, bigger reach next time though!
Time to put all this armour on and test my weapons!
---
Ok there's a problem.
See, I've gone all out in making this amazing looking suit of armour. It looks incredible. The weapons are buzzing in my hand, the movement I've done up to now enough to get me a single level 1 charge.
But that movement is hand and arm movement.
I can't move in the damn thing long term.
Oh, I can carry the weight, for a short while. But carrying this thing around as a permanent costume with my current level of fitness is going to be impossible. Knights must have been ripped back in the day.
So, what can I do with it?
Well, I've made some temporary adjustments, I've stripped most of the extraneous for now, I've stripped it down to chest and abdomen plate, neck cover, bracers, everything covering an area not immediately lethal if penetrated is left off. I've stripped one tesla glove out of the interface, right arm for shocking, left arm for breaking down and building. I've also blued and painted the matter manipulator so I can match it with the steel and dulled aluminium colour of the armour. I've used some of the cloth I gathered with the manipulator to make a costume to go with the armour, which I have painted white and blue with the manipulator. I forgot that the matter manipulator is capable of short-range matter telekinesis and I'm quite sure I can make use of that in combat.
Most of this gear is thankfully, forge backed. The armour and glove will self-repair after 48 hours if damaged or destroyed due to being made in my blacksmith workshop, and the matter manipulator will return to the forge if it's away from me for too long. I've made an integrated facemask for my helmet, almost full face leaving only my mouth uncovered.
It didn't quite feel real before. But now looking at myself, and what I have created over the course of a day. Sure, by most tinker standards this is extremely primitive. All fur coat and no knickers. Talks the talk but doesn't really walk the walk but damn. Looking at this it finally hits me. After weeks of homelessness and just trying to subsist, I'm not at home anymore. I died.
And in exchange I now make things I don't understand, to entertain a being I don't know, and save a world I don't belong to.
At least I'll look damn hot doing it though.
I was never a very good cook.
Testing out this magic pan really brings that home; I mean I can't really over or undercook things with this thing, but I can mess up the recipe. Until I get some crazy forge backed cooking skill I am going to concentrate on a few basics. These are the recipes I can pull out of the perk with the ingredients I bought. They can't be mixed; the new buff will override the old.
Poultry + Mushrooms cooked on the pan = Three-minute stamina boost. A significant one too it makes me last twice as long. The urge to wink is overpowering right now but I will power through.
Red meat + Radish + Truffle. = Minor defensive brute rating, I can take a few more hits than usual. Needs testing.
Red meat + mushroom + chilli pepper = Almost immune to cold effects for four minutes. Useful with this area's climate.
Any meat + expensive shiitake mushroom = Mover rating, probably a 1 on the scale, triples my movement speed. Duration seems to be based on the size of the meal. A small ravioli sized wrap gave me about fifteen seconds.
I will need to test future recipes and do more tests when I have more ingredients in future. Suffice to say I made a few "mover wraps", Name pending, and keep them up my sleeve for if quick getaways are needed.
Quite literally, one of them is in my sleeve right now.
The big deal recipe here is radish, radish and more radish. My power tells me that the radishes I have now won't all work, but if I have a big plump radish and combine it with four of these smaller ones in the pan, I can make healing food.
Yes, you read that right, I can make a radish salad with a side of radish that will heal wounds. It will also induce a temporary defensive brute rating beyond anything else I've seen up to now.
Yes, I agree the forge is bullshit sometimes.
And on that note, the forge decides to tickle my nose. Revenge? I hope not. However this time, a small planet on the periphery of the orbit of one of the smaller stars in the condensed celestial tech tree slams into my head, after a bigger planet pulls a drive by on me.
Crafting Metallurgy – Failed!
Quality Durability – Success!
Reliable Invention – Kim Possible.
0CP remains.
This is a VERY interesting perk.
Anything I make can no longer break from being used properly.
Things I construct or create can only be broken if they are used improperly, or if they are purposefully targeted by an enemy. They can no longer degrade, nor malfunction from regular usage.
This makes me genuinely the anti-tinker. No maintenance requirements, no repairs needed except for combat or dumb-fuck juice induced breakage.
Armsmaster would sell me his kid for this perk. If he had one that is.
The urge to evil laugh is rising. But I will hold off. Laughing to yourself in an isolated room seems a bit weird.
Back to the cooking, I can't find any combination that would give me an offensive brute rating, lots of defensive buffs though it seems like this one is focused more on protection through defence rather than my preferred protection through proactive defence. Don't need to block a punch if the other guy's arms don't work anymore.
I need to get some sleep. I just spent an entire day moving and working and I am beyond exhausted. Tomorrow I am going to look in to getting a cheap prepay phone. And I think I'll do a construction day tomorrow; I'll need funds for the phone.