Chapter Twenty: Kit

[The Conductor: Remember, we’re doing a pitstop at the Arkansas City Depot for Brion to connect to the corporate line that we have been maintaining here. He has something he needs to urgently update the company about.]

[Cicada: ooh juicy, what is it?]

[Absinthe: Knowing Brion? The location of our bandit fight so that the company can go salvage what they can from it.]

[Cicada: oh. that’s not nearly as much fun.]

[davi: what the hell were you expecting?]

[Cicada: corporate sabotage, blackmail material, dirty money that Brion found just sitting around?]

[Sigerson: Jun, you’re an enigma my girl.]

[Cicada: Hells yeah I am, why do you think my username is Cicada?]

[Sigerson: I thought it was because you could theoretically make those noises with your power.]

[davi: cause you make the girls legs shake]

[Absinthe: Loud during summer]

[Cicada: okay fuckin fine so it’s all of those things, but also Cicada 3301!]

[Sigerson: Okay, who’s been showing Jun internet mystery videos?]

[Absinthe: Ah, she did seem particularly interested when that segment came up…]

[Sigerson: I blame you for this, I don’t want custody.]

[Absinthe: I want child support if you’re going to push her onto me.]

[Cicada: mom dad please don’t fight]

[Absinthe: Shh jun, I’m winning. If you tell the court im the better parent, I can buy you that toy train you were so interested in]

[Cicada: you have my interest]

[Sigerson: If you help me, I can get you a @dogged]

[dogged: wait what why am I involved in this bit now]

[Cicada: Dad i hate you mom is the best]

[Absinthe: Bri you cheater!]

[Sigerson: *smug* I just know our daughter better]

[dogged: I feel like I’m missing context onto what makes this funny]

[davi: don’t worry it’s not]

[Sigerson: idk, it’s pretty funny for me]

[The Conductor: Okay, pitstop over, onwards we strive.]

[davi: liam did you get me some snacks]

[The Conductor: The closest convenience store is still back in DFW I’m pretty sure, so what you have is what we got until Kansas City.]

[davi: But Brianna looted the stores to give the best stuff to the newbie .-.]

[Absinthe: WhAT!]

[Absinthe: if she touched my pistachios]

[Sigerson: i legit don’t remember]

[dogged: second let me check the bag]

Walking over to the worktable, I dig around in the frankly huge bag and start categorizing the snacks that Bri brought over to me. Honey buns, beefalo jerky, granola bars… Oh, there’s some nuts, no pistachios though. I squint when I see something that probably shouldn’t be in there, then reach in deep to pull out…

“Uhhh.”

{“Seriously, Brianna…? When did she have the time to get this?”}

Nestled at the bottom of the bag, providing enough of its weight that I’m kind of surprised I didn’t notice it before, is a still sealed Self-Propelled Revolver Kit. I’ve seen plenty of these around before of course, plenty of the other students at Trinity River liked to open carry one of these or something similar as an almost fashion statement that screams “don’t fuck with me,” but I’d never even really been able to consider owning one before.

Proudly displayed in its finished form upon the front of the box, this SP Revolver is something that I can describe as a truly beautiful weapon. While it has the classic form factor of the cowboy’s gun of choice, it has a modern charm to it as well, the elegant curvature it should have replaced with almost brutalist edges. What takes me a bit aback though is the traditional hammer hasn’t been replaced by an ornamental piece, no, it seems functional if the promotional diagrams are anything to go by.

Why though?

Self-Propelled Revolvers were of course one of the first inventions that humans managed to cobble together in order to use an Engine’s DE in different ways. It drains a bit of energy over a few seconds that it concentrates into a small area until it literally cannot anymore, upon which it bursts outwards. The range isn’t great to say the least especially since it gets less powerful the farther the target is from the user, but the only thing it normally needs to function is, well, an Engine.

My brow furrowed, I flip the box over and blink at a huge note that Bri had apparently stuck onto this with a bit of tape, which I pull off as I start to read it.

[“Hey Grim! I bet you’re surprised to see this for a few reasons. No, we didn’t decide you shouldn’t have a weapon, there was just a somewhat egregious oversight on the part of Marcus and I. See, for those of us that come from MIT or schools on the east coast, you don’t become a true Engine until you get your first SP. Typically, that is handed to you by the headmaster of the university in the form of a barely functional ornament alongside your diploma. I thought that would be the case with Trinity River as well. Considering you had to try to bite off your own tongue to not be captured, that’s obviously not the case. It’s a bit ironic in my opinion that Texas of all places hasn’t adopted that bit of culture, maybe they consider it too expensive or something.

Long story short, I bought this for myself a few months ago but realized that, unfortunately, this is probably way too big for me to realistically carry on my person. I had planned on building it in my free time to keep next to my bed, but honestly it’s probably way better for you to use it for yourself than me letting it go to waste like that. When you finish building it, send me a dm and I’ll bring you a SP maintenance kit; We always keep a few extra on hand just in case. Anyways, enough yapping, have fun with the build!“]

That warm fuzzy feeling returning, I return to examining the box, whereupon I find my target. The hammer is there, apparently to fire bullets. That confuses me for a second, until I read the little description they have written there. Apparently you hold the trigger halfway to charge the bullet with your DE, then fire it by pressing it the rest of the way. The effect of this varies if the ads for the various bullet types beside the diagram is to be trusted, but the normal one is just a basic metal projectile.

It also supposedly works without bullets too, like a normal SP, which I guess means this is a hybrid? I can see why this hasn’t exactly become mainstream despite the incredibly appealing idea of it all, which is that it’s probably fucking expensive to actually use the bullets in comparison to the relatively lossless use of an SP.

Honestly, I don’t really care either way. Having the extra power is nice, especially if I pick up a few of the ammunition types for different situations, but since this just works as an SP by itself as well, I don’t really think I need to worry about that just yet. We’ll see when I get my first paycheck I suppose.

I reach into one of the drawers and pull out a small knife, which I use to open the box and dump it’s contents onto the worktable. There’s no real reason to delay doing this, especially with the risk of me running into the damn Hunger again.

One thing I notice as I put the thing together following the instructions is how similar this is to the videos I’ve seen of someone putting together a gunpla. It has the same kind of plastic sheets of pieces alongside some metal parts, even coming with a complimentary pair of mini scissors to trim the excess plastic away. It’s pretty good quality material to be honest, to the point that I have to use my boost just a little to actually have enough strength to separate the pieces.

I finish before long though, but I quickly find a new problem.

“Brion, it didn’t come with a holster.”

{“It did not.”}

“How the hell am I supposed to carry this thing around?”

{“I recommend asking Brianna or Jun, they might have a solution.”}

I raise an eyebrow at that. “Why Jun?”

{“She has a lot of extra clothes that aren’t hers.”}

It takes me a second, and my cheeks heat a little bit as I slowly nod. “Right, she probably wouldn’t mind getting rid of those would she? I just wonder if my pride can handle taking clothes like that.”

{“That’s why I recommended Brianna as well. She has plenty in her wardrobe she might be willing to part with, especially ones that might function well for your purpose.”}

Ah. Yeah, that makes sense. I move over to the computer immediately, pulling up a new conversation with Brianna.

[dogged: Hey]

[Sigerson: yo, did you find the Pistachios? Marcus is freaking out at me still.]

[dogged: um, I got distracted by something else in the bag.]

[Sigerson: ?]

[dogged: Y’know, the not food thing?]

[Sigerson: oh. OH!]

[Sigerson: wait did you put it together already it’s only been like half an hour??]

[dogged: There were instructions it wasn’t that hard]

[Sigerson: But the little pieces are so small and my fingers so big and]

[Sigerson: Right, you have an op dex stat from folding a bunch. Ignore that.]

[dogged: It’s great, I love it, just…]

[Sigerson: Just?]

[dogged: I don’t have a holster for it, didn’t come with one.]

[Sigerson: Oh, that’s not a huge deal, I have a few things that will probably fit you.]

[Sigerson: Sec]

[Sigerson: Okay, so it’s not going to work without a bit of modification, but I have this nice wine colored cropped combat jacket that I ordered and is just too big on me. Think that might work?]

[dogged: I um, have never modified clothes beyond repairing them before, but I can give it a go?]

[Sigerson: I mean, I can do it, unless you want the practice.]

[dogged: I feel kinda bad, you already gave me so much.]

[Sigerson: Girl, we’ve only barely dipped a foot into the world where I give you a bunch of shit. I have too much, you have too little. Win Win.]

[dogged: I guess…]

[Sigerson: I’d tell you to go to Jun as well, since she has a huge pile of random ass clothes she can’t wear, but…]

[dogged: I’m not opposed to it, I think I do need them to be washed first.]

[Sigerson: Probably for the best.]

[Sigerson: Can you take a picture of the dimensions of the thing so I can make sure the holster I’m making is the right size?]

[dogged: spdimensionspic.png]

[Sigerson: Seen! I’ll get to work, if I’m quick I can probably get it done by Kansas City.]

I sigh, leaning back in my chair as I run a hand through my hair. I reach over and pick up the SP, feeling the weight of its power in my hands as I lift it up to examine. It’s heavy, but not as much as it should probably be, as far as I can tell mostly because of the plastic heavily used in its construction.

Something I’m finding a bit contradictory is my overall feelings about this thing.

I honestly had never even considered owning an SP before. Without excess funds to spend on something like this, my mind instead fixated onto the giant Mecha in the room. In hindsight though, I’m so fucking glad Trinity River had us train our bodies as well as our skills. It’s foreign in my hands, but this gun is something I should be rather good at using.

Well timed acquisition too.

It hadn’t occurred to me until I finished this thing, but there’s no way I am going to be able to use the Doberman on my missions for Maribelle and Sorcha. It’s too blatant and easy to identify, which means I’ll probably have to go into these combat scenarios completely alone and unarmored. Dangerous to say the least, but better odds now that I have this thing I’m guessing.

I wonder if I should pick up some of those HE rounds they advertised on the box, might be useful in the long run…

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