My recent adventures - both sidequests, I suppose it would be quite accurate to call them that, and progression on the "main quest" - have given me two levels, and two skill points. And if the first I invested quickly enough, and without much thought, reaching "Basic Military Training" to the maximum, the second again made me rack my brains. The problem is that the list of available choices has expanded: after investing five points in a skill branch, the next tier with its own set of skills was opened. Specifically, in the Life Support branch, these were "Thorough Search," "Hoarding," and "Keep Your Fingers Out!". The first promised additional trophies, the second - expansion of inventory (probably AlBa will send additional memory modules for ECHO?...), the third... hmm, the third after the skirmishes with the Eridian guards looked quite tempting, because it increased resistance to shock damage. Against this background, the skills from the Construct branch looked... peculiar. Only two, "You to me, I to you" and "What do we have inside?". The first one would have been extremely valuable some time ago, before I got a fabricator: it was the same skill that was so tempting in the time when I counted every cartridge, allowing me to secretly get them from Vladoff's warehouses through the turret. Now... Now it paled greatly against the competition.

  The second skill, given the presence of Lily Rose, should definitely not have been taken. All the matter is that judging by the description it was outright magic, in the style of the general absurdity of Pandora. No, description of the skill, for a change, mentioned a certain effect of "information chaos", and gave a link to a description of it in the network, but I understand that this is just a manifestation of the game feature in a more or less real world, and probably a manifestation of the sense of humor of my deity-"patron"...

  Anyway, when destroying my turrets, there was a chance that any equipment that might have been installed in them could be recovered from the wreckage.

  The key word is "any", not "installed".

  Simply put, you could extract from a wrecked turret, say, a shotgun instead of an installed pistol. Or a pistol, but of a different model and manufacturer.

  One can imagine what the girl's reaction to that would be if she noticed.

  ...On the other hand, I still don't have much faith that she'll be persuaded anyway... Hmm.

  ...Hmm. Bloodwing definitely has a similar ability.

  In the end, I still opted for a skill from the "Deconstruction" branch, namely "Shieldlessness".

  Guardians really stress me out.

  - Shield, power shield, I mean, is specific shit. They're not really isotropic as they seem, but it's not so easy to notice and use vulnerabilities without special devices, and if we're going to do it, we'll do it only with those who will live to see it. For now, let's learn the simplest ways to effectively fight against shields and their users, which, hopefully, can be mastered even by such dumbasses as those who decided to go to engineering and infantry troops instead of, say, mechanic-drivers. For starters, perpendicular shots are more effective than oblique glancing shots....

  ...Wow. There was almost no absurdity in that memory, just useful knowledge, including the ability to play dead... uh, why it was here?..

  Well, in any case, I've become a little more experienced and effective in combat. A small step for an engineer, a significant step for a hitman, somehow. With that, my opponents' chances of survival decrease, and vice versa.

  After Lily Rose had demonstrated that she was capable of causing a war and then successfully preventing it, she could be considered a full-fledged Pandorian - at least, if I had the authority to give out that title, I wouldn't spare it.

  ...Hmm. It's worth pitching the idea of this title to the Club of the Badasses.

  In any case, the girl had enough badassery and fighting ability that she didn't really need my supervision. I wondered, by the way?, why did a girl from a rich - VERY rich - family suddenly master fighting so well? I didn't bother asking, though - I didn't need to get closer. Marriage would not work anyway... and I have certain doubts that it would be worth it, even if. After all, I'm not going to stay in this universe, am I? I'm not, am I?

  - Mom did most of it herself, through running a business and taking down the competition - the girl was a little shaky from the drink, so her bear had to support her, but her speech was still clear. - So that's what she taught me. But I think it's boring, I want to live with fire.

  She waved her fire SG, and fired a short burst into the ceiling.

  - I want something... magical. I don't know, rain of fire and sulfur, demonic legions... though no, they can't compare to our lawyers anyway. A moon made of cheese... nah, been there. Well, at least seduce a vampire and knock his fangs out for harassment. Romance...

  The girl waved her second SG, and the robot bear carefully, despite its large clawed paws, took the weapon from her mistress's hands before she trashed anything else.

  - Usually, in terms of "magical" and "romantic," girls talk about a prince on a white horse - I remarked. Lily Rose cringed.

  - On a diamond pony - she snorted. - I can't stand aristocrats. Nasty, smug, puffed-up, arrogant....

  The girl thought for a moment, and started counting on her fingers.

  - ...well, to hell with them - Lily finished after about five seconds. - They shouldn't even be processed into biomass. And Aurelia Hammerlock first of all. That asshole stole the artifact right out from under my nose! If you see her, shoot her, make the girl feel good.

  She's thinking about it.

  - Hmm. About pleasing... How about doing something naughty?

  I raised an eyebrow.

  - I suggest we get back to this conversation in the morning, when you're sober.

  - Nah - Lily shook her head. - The most satisfying ideas come to me when I'm drunk, and I wouldn't have thought of them if I were sober.

  She looked around, noticed a few other people in the bar and the owner, leaned over to me and whispered in my ear:

  - Put a big neon sign on the roof saying that Moxie was looking for a husband and would marry the winner of the Arena.

  I glanced at Moxie. She glanced at me and stroked her chin thoughtfully with two fingers.

  - I think she's listening - I said.

  - No, I didn't hear anything you were whispering about - the hostess said, and I could tell she was trying to get some free publicity at Lily's expense.

  - Well, let's do it before she figures it out - she said and stood up.

  I shrugged.

  - If you pay for the work...

  I don't care which of the two of them pays - money is money. Though it's a shame I can't charge both of them.

  As expected, Moxie not only didn't look annoyed this morning, but she was even pleased. Hell, she'd even run that ad on Echonet, as it immediately turned out....

  I was about to leave the bar - I already had a job, and that was the main reason I'd been coming here since I'd gotten my own place - but I noticed Roland at a table in the corner. Ex-Atlas waved his hand invitingly, and I decided to approach him.

  Hmm.

  - Is something wrong? - I asked. The soldier looked... not so much frowning as pensive-something in between.

  - Atlas's forces have arrived on Pandora - he informed me. I frowned. This was really unpleasant news.

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  - Are there any more details?

  "Incoming call, caller: Angel."

  I raised an eyebrow, but Roland was the first to react, taking the call on his own ECHO: apparently the AI had contacted both of us at the same time.

  - Hello, I have news worthy of your attention: the Atlas have landed one of their armies near the old Dahl Fort, and are now fortifying there. According to the communications I intercepted, they're interested in Dr. Patricia Tannis.

  That's where I really frowned. It's like the plot's suddenly taken off.

  - It's also the forward units, especially the Crimson Lance Division, recieve bounty orders for deserter Roland - Angel continued.

  - That's why you need to cover yourself with official papers... - I muttered, more to myself than to Roland. I was surprised that AlBa had exempted my backstory from that. On the other hand, I'm still "on the hook" for the corporation - but there's an upside to that.

  - There is good news, however - Angel reported. - I've managed to locate an Eridian relic linked to the Vault with a high degree of probability. I'm transmitting the coordinates to your ECHOs. Good luck, I'll contact you if I get any new relevant information.

  The hologram is gone.

  A quick review showed that the coordinates it had reset matched one of the locations Tannis had indicated. Hmm.

  - What are you planning? - I asked Roland; he was frowning, staring at his fists.

  - I'd rather not fight the Crimson Lance as much as possible - he answered. - Do you suppose they're looking for the Vault?

  - Well, obviously, they're not going to mount a major operation because of one deserter, no offense - I said. - Plus, they're interested in Tannis, I don't think she's useful for anything else. Wait a minute...

  I gave the ECHO a few mental commands, and quickly reviewed the information I received.

  - Yup, I knew it. Atlas has been doing poorly lately, with problems on all fronts, so I guess they're betting on the Vault - if they can get it, they can move up.

  - That's not good - Moxie said. Huh. I didn't notice at all when she was next to me at the table... - Correct me if I'm wrong, darlings, but this isn't good for either of us.

  I shrugged.

  - Yeah, but what can you do? It's not like a few people, even if they're super pros, can handle an entire corporate army. The only thing to do is find the Vault ahead of them and clean it out.

  - Hmmm... - Moxie stretched out thoughtfully and erotically, raising, shall we say, morale. - You know, sugar, something can always be done, everyone has their weaknesses. And something you yourself have already suggested quite sensibly. If you're interested in my opinion... If the corps is convinced that the Vault exists - it probably does exist. And if it does exist, why give its contents to the corporations? Brave guys like you obviously have more use for it. And if they're looking for Tannis - you'd help a damsel in distress, wouldn't you? I guess that's enough to get you started. In the meantime, I'll see what else I can do.

  She stood up, gave Roland and me air kiss, and walked back to the counter.

  The soldier and I looked at each other.

  - I've already told you I have some leads on the Vault - I said. - But it's all going through Patricia Tannis. If we don't have her, we don't have a lead to the Vault.

  - So we have to get her out first - Roland nodded. - Roger that.

  - One more thing. The coordinates Angel dropped. If I understand correctly, there is an Eridian artifact, or rather a part of it, connected to the Vault. It could be nothing, but it's a strong possibility. And, again, I could be wrong, but it's worth getting it too, ahead of Atlas.

  - So we should split up - said the soldier. Now I nodded.

  - If we don't want to waste time. And if we're going to do it at all.

  - The alternative is to leave Pandora - said Roland. - I'd be charged as a deserter, you as a competitor. In both cases, the most likely outcome would be execution on sight.

  I grimaced and nodded.

  - Good. Do you have any more information?

  In the end, we decided that Roland would do the artifact retrieval, for which I gave him a video with images of previous shards. His reasoning was that he'd rather face the Eridian guards than his former coworkers (and I'd rather do the opposite), plus I'd already dealt with Tannis, and it would be easier for me to convince her that she was under threat... which isn't really a fact. Still, she's a valuable specialist who doesn't need the Vault and its contents, just her research. In any case, the ex-Atlas fighter's considerations were reasonable, and I agreed.

  He left immediately, and I... suddenly realized that I had no idea where to find Tannis: we had only communicated with her through the network.

  Shit. This is embarrassing.

  - Oh, you're just in time! I was just about to contact you.

  Instead of the archaeologist's face, the ECHO displayed something... I couldn't figure out what it was for a few seconds, until I realized: tight pants-clad buttocks, close-up. I was talking to Tannis's ass, and I have no idea how she managed to pull that off, considering the ECHO - at least mine - always displayed either the face of the caller or "caller hidden."

  - My mom told me not to mess with adventurous women, probably - I said. - But I didn't listen to her, and where did that get me? To Pandora.

  Tannis turned sharply, and... uh, instead of buttocks, her breasts were in focus. Which makes it clear she didn't set up the avatar herself.

  - I could share fascinating stories of falling to the bottom all day long, but alas, we don't have much time, entropy does not slumber - she informed me. - Every second the heat death of the universe is getting closer... it's so exciting!

  The last she said with a playful trill.

  - Well, fuck it. I have a job for you, another Eridian record needs to be saved from the vandals.

  I nodded.

  - I will. But first, one more thing. Atlas forces have landed on Pandora--

  - FINALLY! - the woman interrupted me, her tits jiggling with joy. - I applied for the damn grant six months ago!

  I mentally went through my options for an explanation, and concluded that explanations weren't the way to go.

  - They're not going to pay you - I informed them. - They just want the results of your research.

  Tannis frowned... uh, wait - how do I know that?

  I stared at her tits. They stared at me. The mystery continued to be a mystery.

  - WHAT? NO WAY! My research should not go to savages who don't have at least three degrees! Though I'm willing to interview savages with three degrees - she said thoughtfully. She paused. - Okay, I'll lay low on bottom. Or not, it's damp and difficult with oxygen.

  - I'd invite you to my place, but my mom wouldn't approve of sharing a room with a woman who can't cook. Probably - I said. - But if you have any idea where you can hide out until the Atlasians get off the planet, I'd be willing to help.

  - Your mom's a wise woman - Tannis said. - I suppose. Does she want a daughter-in-law, by the way? I don't really have anyone in mind, though. I think I'll just bury myself in one of the skag holes - it's pretty cozy if you curl up, pretend you're in bed, and don't wake the skag. They have a pretty nasty burp.

  - ...On the other hand, you might as well learn to cook - I remarked. - It's never too late to learn new skills.

  It's never too late to have a story character eaten by skags. It's unlikely, of course, but... with Tannis, anything seems possible.

  - Are you sure? - The woman asked. - I have a couple of nice skag dens in mind, and I have a very good relationship with their owner - he's barely tried to bite my legs off the last couple days.

  No, of course not.

  - Yes, of course. Where can I pick you up from?

  ...I'm pretty sure I'm going to regret this.