When he opens his eyes, Simon releases gurgling noises and sighs. He can feel his body refreshed, and his [Inspired Inventor] already recharged. He sits down on his bed and winces a little at the bright light coming outside of his window.
He shakes his head and gets up.
He decides to check the computer and see if something is entering the range of his surveillance system.
"Nothing, huh? That is good. That means the illusion is working."
That is good. With this, he knows that he can focus on the others instead of fortifying the town even more. He hums a little and decides to make breakfast. He takes another chunk of meat from his inventory and starts to cook it.
His [Base Builder 9000] inventory has a stasis effect that prevents food from getting spoiled. Simon was really glad to take this item.
While cooking, he thinks about what he should do next. He now has a fortified fortress; it is time to create a foundation to complete his goal. To do that, he must create the best computer and hacking capabilities to tap into the Machine Network.
He hums a little and already has a few ideas in mind of which specializations he needs to create.
When he is done cooking, he sits and enjoys the steak. After he is done, he immediately uses his [Inspired Inventor] and creates new specializations.
He uses five charges for {Computer}. He smiles a little as a rush of knowledge enters his brain. He can create many things with this new specialization, and now he can create a supercomputer that can control all the drones from a distance and provide the foundation to hack the machine network.
However, he is not done. He uses three charges for {Hacking} because he needs them. He ignores the slight pain in his head at the rush of knowledge, and uses the remaining of his charges to create {Cybersecurity}.
Hacking is necessary to complete his goal, and he needs cybersecurity to prevent the Machine Network from infiltrating his computer and network.
He opens the HUD of [Base Builder 9000] and starts to create a new blueprint for his new computer. It shall be the best computer, and become the foundation for his next step: AI. He knows that he needs help, and AI assistance will be perfect.
Simon also starts to create a firewall against any cyber attack against his creation. That means he needs to rework all the drones and such. It will take a long time, but it is something he needs to do if he wants his anonymity to survive longer.
With a hum, he gets up and prepares to make his next masterpiece.
==||==
As he thought. He spends most of his day reprogramming and reworking the programming of the drones, turrets, and all of his machinery. Most of them might not get hacked, but a few of them can be hacked.
At least according to his {Hacking} specialization, and he trusts it.
The first thing he made was a supercomputer that could process an ungodly amount simultaneously. Not only that, it is also connected to all the drones, turrets, and scanners he has created. It is connected to the All-Seeing Sensor and able to determine what kind of thing is coming.
However, what truly takes his time is something he calls a Great Firewall.
It is a firewall that blocks unauthorized probing, packet tracing, and system-level interference. It also masks his entire system entirely from being detected by the Machine Network. However, what makes it very powerful is the ability to adapt. How? If an external system tries to scan or hack a node, the node's firewall isolates itself, scrubs its cache, and rebuilds. Not only that, but the new node will also have resistance against the same type of attack.
When he finishes building the supercomputer and making the Great Firewall, he starts manually reworking everything in his possession.
He remembers how 9S can hack into things like turrets and such, so to prevent this from happening, he makes sure all of his possessions are able to block his hacking. He doesn't know how long he sleeps, but the work takes the entire day because he can feel a rush of power coursing through his body, indicating that his [Inspired Inventor] recharge and his [Shipment] power give his daily {Resource}.
The reason? He needs to expand on his surveillance. With his new tech, he can now tap into a global and open network to see the situation around the world. So he sits in front of his computer and starts working.
Tapping into the public forum called [Human Restoration Forum] is not hard, easy even. There, he can see the androids talking about humans and their creations and how they are recovering them for when humanity steps on the planet's surface once again.
He continues to read through the forum and smiles a little at how all the androids act like humans. They have grown and they become their creator. As a human, he is proud of what those androids achieved.
However, before he can read more, his computer catches movement. At first, it is two of them, but soon it changes into thirty-seven. Thirty-five red dots are chasing after the first two. That can only mean one thing: the first two dots are androids and the rest are machine lifeforms.
He doesn't want to enter the spotlight this early, but he cannot leave those two against the machines.
He quickly sent the Hunter Drones army to help the twins and give him time to create a better thing. Simon decides to use the half-finished blueprint he made yesterday for an Assault-type drone. It has a better chassis than the hunter drones and has five times the maneuverability and speed compared to the hunter drones.
It also carries strong weaponry. It has something that he calls Rapid-Fire Plasma Spitter. As the name suggests, it fires condensed plasma bolts at high velocity and rate of fire.
Simon put the Solar Fabricator to its maximum capabilities and produced the assault drone as fast as possible. In minutes, 57 drones are done and ready for action. He calls five maintenance drones and ten scavenger drones to help with the two androids.
Scavenger drones help carry the androids, and the maintenance drones will stabilize them if they need repair.
==|Devola|==
Devola ran for her life while carrying her sister in her arms. Behind her is an army of machines that try to kill them. She and her sister get attacked by a group of machines while they are on a mission given to them by the leader of the camp where they stay.
While the leader of the camp is kind enough to let them stay, the others do not think so.
She and her sister understand their hatred because they also hate themselves for failing their duty and almost making humans extinct. To atone for their sins, the two of them work very hard and are willing to accept rather dangerous jobs.
However, their luck is running out.
"D-Devola… Leave me behind. Y-You need to survive."
"No!"
Devola shouts in desperation as she dodges another bullet. She continues to run as fast as possible. Where? She doesn't know. As long as the two of them can hide from the machines, they will be fine.
It is a small hope that slowly disappears as the machine gets close to them.
However, something changed that. Machines fall to the ground one by one, and she looks around, searching for new enemies or reinforcement. However, there is none, at least to her eyes. However, the machine can detect new threats and start firing toward the invisible enemies in the sky.
Her eyes widen when she sees twenty drones flying and firing their weapons at the machines.
She doesn't know who sent these drones, but she is thankful. She mentally apologizes and continues running away as the drones protect her and her sister.
Sadly, the number of machines is growing, and the drones are quickly overwhelmed. It takes ten minutes, twenty of them now reduced to five, and they are desperately trying to protect the two of them.
"Over here!"
She snaps from her thought when he sees a man running toward the two of them. He is a man with black hair and blue eyes, and surrounding him is an army of drones. Fifty-seven fly toward the machine army and fire what looks like energy-based ammunition toward the machine.
Devola stumbles and falls to the ground alongside her sister. The man quickly walked toward them and checked their bodies.
"M-My sister first."
The man nods and checks on her sister, but soon clicks his tongue.
"She is too damaged for immediate repair. Take the two of them to the base. Make sure to make them stable enough for deep repair."
Before she can complete, ten drones pick up the two of them, and five more drones hover around them. She can feel her body getting better, but not 100%. They also do the same to her sister, making her stable enough.
"What about you?!"
Before she can get far enough, she shouts at her savior. The man smiles at her and says.
"Leave the army to me."
Before she can say more, the ten drones speed up and carry them away. She only hopes that this man is able to survive. He is the only person who has been willing to help them for a long time.
==|Simon|==
Simon looks at the departing android and sighs.
"Devola and Popola, huh?"
He knows those two androids. They are one of the most famous androids in the Nier Universe. He doesn't know if they are the same twin who stay in the Resistance Camp in the Nier: Automata game or another Devola and Popola. There are quite a few of them produced, after all.
He snaps from his thoughts when his instinct tells him to dodge. He jumps away and sees a laser hitting the ground, and as he turns around, he can see flying machines pointing their guns toward him.
Simon takes a deep breath and runs toward them. He jumps and arrives in front of one of them, then punches the machine. His fist punches through the machine, and he watches as it explodes. The explosion is not strong enough to hurt him, and as he lands, he dashes forward to the next machine.
One by one, he fights his way through the machine army on the ground while his drones care for the ones flying above him. Some of them are able to hurt him, but it is not enough to take him down.
So he kept fighting, punching and kicking all the machines with ease. His body and power make him move like the wind and hit like lightning.
Because he fights against the machine, his [Jacob's Limbs] get even more deadly, and the machine cannot match him. After fifteen minutes of continuous fighting, all of the army is destroyed and Simon releases a relieved breath.
He looks around and counts the remaining drones.
"Twenty-three Assault Drones and two Hunter Drones left, huh?"
More than half of his new drone army is gone, and almost all of the hunter drones are gone. The remaining two are heavily damaged, but still functional.
He shakes his head and walks back to his base. He has androids to repair, after all.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Simon's Specialization (Day 3)
Solarpunk = 3 Charges
Miniaturization = 2 Charges
Efficiency = 1 Charge
Automation = 2 Charges
Stealth = 2 Charges
Energy – Matter Conversion = 3 Charges
Fabrication = 3 Charges
Surveillance = 2 Charges
Fortification = 2 Charges
Computer = 5 Charges
Hacking = 3 Charges
Cybersecurity = 2 Charges