Chapter 446: Unconscious dreaming
Michael felt himself stir, with his consciousness slowly awakening.
"What? What happened?" he asked out loud.
His voice echoed through an endless black space. It didn’t even sound like it came out of his mouth. It sounded like it came from his very surroundings itself.
He felt awake, but he knew that this wasn’t the ’awake’ that he was used to. It felt like he was still in the middle of dreaming, only experiencing a momentary lucidness.
He ’looked’ down and saw nobody he inhabited. He was just a disembodied idea or consciousness that floated in the eternal endless black space that surrounded him.
This reminded him of when he first died and experienced reincarnation. Except this time, he felt like he was simply in the middle of a dream.
"ChatJK4, what’s happening?"
[....Hello, Michael.]
A few seconds later, the female voice of his personal AI assistant echoed out from the endless voice. This time, the voice wasn’t directly transmitted to his head. It sounded like it came from an actual source, as if ChatJK4 was actually somewhere in his vicinity.
"Where am I?"
As he tried to piece together what he last remembered, the image of him touching the Drone flashed through his mind.
"I just finished coating my Drone with Soo...after that...I passed out," he remembered.
[That is right. Your connection with the Mithril Artifact caused an unknown software to be downloaded directly into your brain.
I was about to delete the software for your safety, but the GodForge pieces pulsated with power and warned me not to do so. After confirming that the software was intended for you to connect to your Diva, I started to integrate its coding into my own software.
However, doing so was extremely dangerous for your well-being. And if I had not initiated an emergency shutdown of your bodily functions, it would have caused damage to your consciousness.]
This was not the first time that this happened. ChatJK4 also had to shut him down when it was first upgraded into its second iteration.
"Did it work?" he asked.
[Yes. Your Diva took control of the integration of the software, making the transition seamless.]
"Did you...talk to it?"
[The Diva did not respond to any of my attempts at communication. It did its job like it was normal, just like how an organ operated without sentience.]
Michael knew that there was something going on with his Diva and his Aubilities. After all, he knew that other Maugnetics definitely didn’t experience this kind of ’software update’ once they connected with their Mithril Relics.
"Is it because I used a Mithril Artifact? Or because I’m a Natural Maugnetic?"
[The most likely answer is that it is a combination of both.]
He started to relax once ChatJK4 explained to him what happened.
"I’m guessing I’m still unconscious."
[Correct. Your physical body is currently still in hibernation mode. Chucky and Dicky transported you to a much safer location once they saw you collapse. Right now, you are in the Association’s headquarters under Claudia’s purview.
She has contacted the Rebornian employees still in the Market Plaza and informed them of what had happened. Your family is on their way here now as we speak.]
He didn’t know how he was going to explain this to everybody, but he was going to deal with that later.
"Why am I here then?"
Suddenly, a large text appeared in front of him. It had the same style and font as the system interface that ChatJK4 used frequently.
[Mithril Artifact: Drone]
[Spirit of Old: 1 drop]
Right below the text was an exact 3D visualization of his Drone, slowly rotating in its axis and showing off all its sides.
"What is this?"
[This is from the software that was downloaded from the Mithril Artifact. I have made it into a system interface for your convenience.]
The Drone’s different parts were highlighted and given its own names, like the propellers, the frame, and its underside.
[Please touch the propellers] said ChatJK4
Following the instructions, Michael reached out towards the floating Drone in front of him and focused on the four blades attached on all four sides.
And as soon as he did, the other parts of the 3D Drone lost all of their highlights, leaving only a glowing shine on the four propellers. Not only that, but the image zoomed in into one of the blades, showing Michael an almost transparent image that showcased the mechanical structure of the very part itself.
[Propeller System]
—Stealth
——Muffled Propellers
——????
—Speed
——Double blades
——????
As he saw the interface in front of him, Michael’s face slowly transformed into one of awe and excitement.
"Is this what I think it is?"
[The new software allows you to upgrade certain parts and improve upon its design. Each upgrade can be purchased by using the Soo that you have coated into the Mithril Artifact.]
He clicked on the [Stealth] option and saw a much more detailed explanation for the first upgrade.
[Muffled Propellers: This upgrade will lower the noise of the blades, allowing for more stealthier approaches. Anyone beyond a 10 meter sphere around the Drone will not hear any sound coming from the propellers.]
[Cost: 1 drop]
And when he clicked on the [Speed] option, he saw a similar description.
[Double Blades: This upgrade increases the speed of the Drone to two times its natural limit. Its maneuverability in the air will not be affected.]
[Cost: 1 drop]
These were all useful upgrades that significantly increased the battle effectiveness of his drone!
The [Muffled Propellers] for instance, would be an extremely useful one as it would allow him to keep the mystery and element of surprise for his Drone. People would have less time to figure out what it was if they only heard it once it was already too close to them.
As for the speed boost, although it didn’t look all that useful now, it would be extremely useful if he duelled against someone who specialized in speed. After all, his Switches only worked if it got attached to its target. And if his target was too fast, then it would be hard to use.
The only way he could purchase these upgrades was if he used the drop of Soo he used to coat it. And luckily, he already had one drop ready to spend.
He felt incredibly tempted to purchase the Stealth option, but in the end, he restrained himself. He knew that there were other options for upgrades, not just for the propellers, but for the entire Drone itself.
"Can you show me all the upgrades for the Drone?"
ChatJK4 showed him a system interface resembling a game’s skill tree.
There were five upgrade systems in total.
[Vision]
—Camera
——Drone Vision
——????
[Weapon]
—Unity Firearms
——Unity Gun
——????
—Aubility
——Switch inventory
——????
[Propeller]
—Stealth
——Muffled Propeller
——????
—Speed
——Double blades
——????
[Frame]
—Stealth
——Camouflage
——Invisibility
——????
—Defense
——Unity Shield
——????
[Expansion]
—Drones
——Mini drone
——????
—Morph
——Reduce
——Enlarge
——????
[?????]
His eyes widened as he saw the array of upgrades that he could do with his Drone. Each one tempted him just from one single word alone!
The camouflage and the invisibility upgrades were something that immediately caught his eye. But then, there were also the Unity Firearms, which made the Drone have offensive capabilities of its own!
He dreamed more than now than ever that he had all the Soo he could ever want.