Play: Leisure Time
Time passed as we walked around the Outpost together, sorting things out and patrolling.
As we did, I hummed. "You know. I kind of forgot, but..." I looked up at the ceiling and said, "...We're actually on the surface right now, aren't we?"
Rapi glanced at me. "...You forgot?"
I shrugged. "A lot of stuff's been happening. Besides, places are kind of all the same in my head."
It was like that with me even back on Earth. Well, my Earth. Sometimes, I got places mixed up in my head on where I was at.
Anis sideeyed me and said, "You really have a happy-go-lucky attitude about life, huh, Commander? Mind sharing some of that? I'd like not to worry about being killed for once..."
Marian frowned and looked at me. "...Are you sure you're okay, Commander? It's been noted that some after-effects of heartattacks are memory issues..."
"I'll be fine, Marian. Nothing too important to worry about. Besides, I'm taking it day by day anyway."
Rapi looked at me next and said, "...That's even more reason for concern, Commander..."
"Like I said, I'll be fine. But anyway." I looked around the Outpost. Especially at the large area we had to defend. "...So we have to secure this entire Outpost by ourselves? Just us four? Five, including Neon?"
At that time, a familiar voice crackled over the comms. Shifty's. "Six, if you include me, Commander Hoopa!"
I paused. Then I said, "Shifty? Weren't you on a date? You know, with that new intern?"
"Who, me? Date?" Shifty laughed. "Don't be silly. I totally turned him down."
"Right... So." I tilted my head. "You aren't Shifty. That was a lie."
Rapi's eyes narrowed.
Anis furrowed her brow. "What the heck? Who's impersonating Shifty?"
Marian moved to my side. "Commander. What do we do?"
Silence on the comms. Then the voice crackled and changed to a bratty one. Syuen's.
"Dammit! How could you tell?! I perfected the deepfake!"
I laughed. "Perfected? Please."
Unlike this world, Earth was the haven of deepfake GenAI due to the armsrace trying to get a perfected one.
Syuen might have had a decent voice changer, but 'perfect' deepfake?
Pft.
"Grr...!" Syuen gnashed her teeth. "You cocky-"
I disconnected the communication line. At the same time, I looked at the others and said, "Remind me to give Shifty a secure line to us at some point."
Rapi looked at me and said, "...Are you sure it's a good idea to antagonize the head of MMR like that, Commander? Not that I doubt you, but..."
"It's fine, Rapi. Don't worry about it." I walked towards a dusty research lab nearby and said, "While I admit that I have some anger issues..."
Mostly because people like Syuen seriously pissed me off. Honestly, bitchy people like that...
No, calm, calm...
"...I know where to draw the line. Besides, people like that are easy to handle. I'd be more concerned about pissing off someone like Mustang. While Syuen is all about frontal attacks and open shows of force, Mustang feels like the kind of guy who would smile in my face as he poured me a glass of poison while my office was already rigged with explosives in case the poison failed."
Anis blinked. "That's not- Boss wouldn't... I mean, he technically DOES run a lot of... But he's not the kind of guy who would- Well, a lot HAS happened, but..." She trailed off, brow furrowed in thought.
I paused and looked over. "Uh... that's... a pretty concerning reaction, Anis. ...Should I be worried about it?"
"No! Boss wouldn't do that to you. It would make me hate him forever, so he'd absolutely not do it." Anis shook her head. "...Though if you seriously get on his bad side... maybe?"
"...I'll do my best to stay on his good side then, Anis."
Marian frowned. "...Commander. You seem to have a habit of making a great deal of enemies... I'm worried for you."
"Like I said, it'll be fine. Now come on and help me out here, guys."
I walked into the research lab and turned on the lights.
Rapi took a look around and said, "...An old recycling center?"
"Mmhm." I checked the fabrication machines and processing utilities. "I flagged this place down when I got assigned here. It's mostly for spare parts and repairs... but considering 'me' I think we can make it more productive."
Anis nudged a spare exoskeleton arm with her foot and said, "...Productive how, Commander?"
"Well." I turned to face her. "...We're on the surface, right?"
"Well, obviously. What are you getting at, Commander?"
I smiled. "And on the surface, Raptures roam around to hunt humans and Nikke, yes?"
Anis paused. "...Yeah. Which is why we're here at this Outpost- Waaaait. Don't tell me." She squinted her eyes. "...You're planning to farm those guys for parts and build like a bunch of ridiculous things?"
"Guilty as charged~"
Rapi chuckled. "...Neon is missing out."
"Well, I'll make it up to Neon later. For now though." I gave them a serious look. "We seriously need to set up a proper perimeter." I ran my hand through my hair. "...I get that we pulled off a ridiculous feat in beating two Tyrant-Class Raptures, but defending an Outpost like this over ten kilometers in diameter? With just us?"
It was one thing when the Outpost was a game mechanic. But in reality...
'I don't even have the luxury of spare Nikke around.'
The player character could summon units to fill their stock up. I remembered that much at least.
But me?
No gems, no summon tickets. Just me, the girls, and my wits...
Rapi tilted her head. "Why don't we recruit help then, Commander?"
I paused. "What do you mean, recruit help?"
Anis blinked. "...Seriously, Commander? Did you forget? You're a commander. You can recruit more Nikke to join your squad. It doesn't have to just be us..."
Marian nodded. "Anis is right, Commander. If you'd like, I could begin the procedures?"
"Wait, wait." I held up my hand. "Back up a step. You're saying I can recruit Nikke units to assist us? Like, in actual combat?"
Rapi hummed. "I don't believe you can directly add them to your command if they're already affiliated... but considering the strategic importance of the Outpost, I'm sure that you could send for Nikke to be on standby here and help defend it."
"Yeah!" Anis nodded. "Besides, this place beats being in the Ark anyway, right? No weirdos glaring at us, wide open space... plus if we clean this place up a bit, it'd be nice to unwind."
I walked over and placed a hand on Rapi's shoulder. "Rapi."
She flinched. "Y-Yes, Commander?"
"You're a genius. Now." I smiled. "...How much can I recruit?"
===
Play: Orange Pop
...It turns out, not much.
Despite being the talk of the town, 'summoning' help wasn't really possible. Especially at such short notice.
At least, not for named units or squads.
If we talked about logistics...
I had 3000 'gems.' Said gems were apparently refined Goddesium, which was valuable. But said gems were ALSO my starting stipend as a commander.
It was meant to be used to arm, retool, or recruit fresh Nikke.
But if I transferred them to other Commanders, I could make a request for a formal transfer of a Nikke into my squad.
The going rate for a named Nikke though, the equivalent of what would have been an SSR in the game, was 3000 gems.
That's right. If I wanted an SSR character, I needed to burn my entire supply.
And considering that said gems were EXTREMELY rare, taking weeks just to find ONE...
Yeah, hard pass.
For the record, if I wanted to add a Nikke on the caliber of Rapi, Anis, Neon, or Marian to my squad... they were roughly an SR character, which would cost around 1000 gems.
So, I could spend my entire supply to add one super powerful unit, three competent units, or...
"...You want to recruit nine mass-produced Nikke, Commander?" Rapi gave me a strange look.
...I can recruit three squads of mass-produced Nikke for 2700 gems.
Ah, mass-produced Nikke were basically the R units. They went for around 300 gems each and came straight from the manufacturer.
...I was somewhat weirded out by the notion that they were assembly line people. But at the same time, I was glad.
Mostly because it meant that if they were with me, they wouldn't be thrown away like with other commanders.
"Yep." I nodded. "Let's grab a squad from Tetra Line, Missilis, and Elysion."
Anis gave me a weird look. "Commander. Uh... not to question you or anything. But... you realize that it'd probably be more helpful to get a higher spec Nikke to join our squad, right?"
"Nah." I smiled. "While it might be true for other people... I'm me, remember? Tactics rather than raw output are my forte. I could probably replicate what we did with baseline Nikke. Moreover..."
I paused and said, "...It's probably conceited of me to say this. But I want to save the few people I can. Most mass-produced Nikke are meant to be discarded and replaced, right? But they're still people. I want to bring them in."
Marian gave me a soft look. "I see, Commander. You always have been kind..."
Anis sighed. "There's our Commander. for you." She smiled. "Kind to a fault with a bleeding heart."
Rapi nodded. "Understood. Logistically, it's suboptimal. But..." She smiled softly at me. "You said it yourself, Commander. You aren't looking for the best-case scenario, but the 'certain' outcome, right?"
I blinked, surprised Rapi remembered my words from when we first met.
It had been a throwaway comment I made when asked about whether we should retreat or pursue the lost Nikke in that first mission. But it seemed like it was meaningful to her.
I smiled and said, "Yeah. And while the best-case scenario for us would be getting a powerful Nikke to join our crew and mesh well with us, it's not certain. After all, we're all pretty strong personalities... especially when Neon gets back. Someone who had enough sense of self to remain even after the Nikke modification would also have a strong personality, right?"
Anis hummed. "That's a good point, Commander... I think anyone who shows up as a part of our squad might butt heads with us if they're like that..."
Rapi gave a pointed look towards Anis.
Anis blinked. "What?"
"...Nothing." After saying that, Rapi looked at Marian.
Marian tilted her head.
Rapi shook her head and looked back at me. Pulling out her data pad, she said, "So shall I confirm our recruitment request, Commander? A squad of mass-produced Nikke from Elysion, Missilis, and Tetra Line?"
"That's right. It'd be great to-"
The door to the command office slammed open and Neon walked in, wheeling in a giant bullet on a cart. "Behold! Firepower! I've returned bearing gifts- Eh?" Neon adjusted her glasses. "...Did I miss something?"
I laughed.
===
Play: ShowCase
Despite my requests, due to various reasons...
Well, mostly because Syuen hated me and Ingrid was busy with something.
Anyway, because of that, the only Nikke who could be recruited on such a short notice, even mass-produced, were from Tetra Line.
And the reason for that...
*Mon Commandant! I'm flattered that you think of me when requesting for help! No worries, I'll send them too you in no time!*
...Was Mustang being surprisingly enthusiastic about it.
Because of that, I was now sitting in my Commander's Office waiting for the first of the three Nikke who'd be joining our ranks.
Ah, for the record, Rapi, Anis, Marian, and Neon were out on patrol at the moment.
I'd briefed them on basic morphology of Rapture units based on the intel I'd gathered, so they would be fine.
For now...
A sharp knock on the door. After that, it opened and a stern woman with blonde twin-tails, a black combat uniform leaving practically nothing to the imagination, and an assault rifle walked in. A yellow visor that looked like a mix of cat headphones and a VR headset hid her eyes.
Still, it seemed she saw well enough as she walked in. "Commander. I am iDoll Sun. I refuse to answer any questions. But I am here to serve."
A haughty but obedient voice. One that made it seem like everything was beneath her, but also subservient.
I blinked, tilting my head as I looked at her.
"What?" iDoll Sun frowned. "Expecting something else?"
"No. Just..." I kept staring at her. "...Huh. For some reason, I can picture you with drill hair. Like, the fancy drill twin-tails. You kind of give off a rich lady vibe."
Something about her voice made me feel like she could pull off a fabulous 'ohohoho' laugh.
iDoll Sun tensed. "...Does it matter? I'm just a mass-produced Nikke. I'm here at your command. What I was is irrelevant."
I could sense that she was hiding things. And unlike the typical mass-produced Nikke, she clearly remembered stuff about her past life.
But I set it aside.
We each were entitled to our own secrets, after all.
"No, that's fine." I smiled and held my hand out. "Nice to meet you. You can call me Commander if it's easier. But my name is Hoopa."
iDoll Sun tilted her head. "...Understood, Commander. What are your orders?"
"For now, do you have any questions?" I looked at her. "If you have any, I'll answer if I can. If I can't, I'll say so. But I won't lie."
iDoll Sun was quiet. Then she said, "Do you plan to send me out to die?"
I blinked. "What? No. Why?"
"...If you order it, I will do so. That's my fate as a mass-produced Nikke." iDoll Sun let out a grim smile. "If you intend to do so, at least inform me now so I can make peace with the fact."
"I would never send you out to die. I don't know if you'll believe me when I say so, but I mean it."
iDoll Sun stared at me for a long while. Then she nodded. "...Understood, Commander. I'll hold you to it then. But... strange." She tilted her head. "...I was wondering why Anis was smiling when I passed her. I see why now. You're different from the average Ark citizen."
"Well, obviously." I laughed. "I'm a Commander."
"...Am I dismissed?"
I blinked at the sudden change in subject. But I nodded and said, "Yeah, you are... Oh, right. Should I just call you Sun then? iDoll Sun is a bit of a mouthful. Or maybe another name is fine?"
iDoll Sun was quiet. "...Whatever you like, Commander."
"Alright. Then... Hm. Sun is more of a guy's name... How about Suri? I think that means sun too. And it doubles as princess, which suits you."
iDoll Sun, Suri, was quiet. Then she whispered, "...How cruel. It would have been better to send me to die, Hanson."
I blinked. "What?"
Suri shook her head. "Suri is fine. But like I said, I refuse to answer any questions. By your leave."
With that curt response, the blonde twin-tailed woman left.
I frowned. "Weird..." I rubbed my chin. "Hanson, huh? Doesn't ring a bell..."
Well, everyone had their bits of lore.
Maybe I'd ask Anis sometime to see if she knew about it.
For now though, two more recruits coming through...