Everyone in the Grease Monkey workshop was elated because of the results from the A.M.S. review board. At the moment, the four members of the workshop failed to realize that they were still standing on a table.
The people around them, the ones who remained, started celebrating. It was the first time most of them had even heard of the existence of an S-grade mech. And with a price tag of 20,000 vouchers, it was within everyone's reach.
Since the new model had not been assigned a production line, it was still not being fabricated. However, hundreds of comments from expecting customers started appearing on the Grease Monkey Workshop comments page.
Looking at the increasing list of comments, Steve suddenly realized something. His serious face alerted his companions. "Marksman, we have a problem."
With a worried face, Mark paid full attention to Steve. "What is it, Steve?"
"We are going to need more factory machines. I don't think we have enough." Steve said, pointing again to the production problem.
Back in Rachel's apartment. Bart had finished setting up Melly's VR headset. They were both in the living room. At the moment, Melly was lying on one of the couches. Bart was about to turn on her device. "Now, Melly, you are going to find yourself in a white room. Wait for me there, I will be with you soon."
Her golden eyes looked at Bart. "But grandpa, I don't want to be alone." The VR headset reminded her of the black helmet she wore while in the lab.
Bart reassures the girl. "Don't worry, Melly, it's like a dream. Besides, you are not really alone. Mark and I are still here at the apartment with you. Don't worry, it will only take a few minutes. If you want, think about Mark."
Once the headset was turned on, she found herself in the white room. This time, there was no hover chair. She was moving on her own. Melly walked and jumped; her body felt light and easy to move. The girl was overjoyed by this. Looking around, she saw no one; a feeling of loneliness crept over her. Melly followed Bart's advice and thought about her big brother. The lack of distractions helped her concentrate.
Images started appearing in her view. At first, they were blurry, but little by little, they came into focus. She saw a man with a cat mask, a boy in a tiger costume, and someone in a blue space suit. They were in a room, and the person in the blue space suit was hugging the person with the cat mask.
Her concentration was disrupted by a hand on her shoulder. When she looked, Bart was beside her. He was dressed in a military uniform with a lot of ribbons on his chest. "Well, Melly, what do you think? This is the white room."
"It's a bit boring, Grandpa. There is nothing here." Melly's golden eyes looked at the pretty colors of Bart's ribbons.
Bart chuckles. "I know it looks that way, but from this white room, you can do lots of things." The man gestured with his left hand, and a menu came out. With a tap, the white room turned into a beautiful park with a lake. Swans were swimming in the calm waters, and in the distance, children played with a dog.
Bart looked at Melly's face. The girl had an expression of fascination. "Now you try it."
Melly gestured with her right hand, but a different menu came out. She saw the way she looked in the picture on the menu. Underneath, there was a word that read Inventory, but the list was empty.
Bart smiled. "You use the wrong hand. That hand opens your inventory. With that, you can change the way you look." Bart opened his inventory and tapped on a selection. With a flash, he turned into a clown with a red nose. As Bart pressed the red nose, a funny sound came out.
Melly giggled. Can I change how I look? The girl with the golden eyes looks at Bart with expectation.
Bart smiled at the girl. "First things first, you need to choose a name for yourself, which is called a game ID." Pointing at his head, the man showed her his Game ID. It read Man-AT-Arms.
Melly chose quickly. "I want to be called little sister."
Bart began instructing her on how to change her virtual name. "OK, Melly, with your hand tap two times on the top of your head. Then type the name with your fingers and press confirm."
Even though Melly was a bit confused, she did as instructed. As soon as the girl tapped the top of her head two times, a screen with a keyboard appeared before her. She typed the name she wanted, but as soon as she hit confirm, a buzzing sound came out.
Bart, hearing the sound, chuckled. "Melly, that sound means that someone else has that name. Don't worry, we can add something and make it work." He thought for a moment. "Do you like flowers, Melly?"
The girl was a bit confused by the question. "I don't know."
Bart used his index finger and tapped twice in front of him. This gesture opened a screen with the comm-grid browser that came included with the VR system. Bart typed white flowers in the search bar. Various images of white flowers appeared before him. The man then made a turning gesture with his hand, which turned the screen before him towards the girl. "Choose the one you like the most."
Melly looks at the flowers for a few seconds. "I like this one the best." The girl pointed to a white flower with a yellow center. Underneath it read white cosmos flower.
Bart smiles at the girl again. "Try putting Little sister Cosmos as your game ID."
Melly liked that game ID. She hoped no one else was using it. "Ok ...I will try."
As the girl typed her selection and pushed the confirm button, the new game ID showed on top of her. Seeing her new name, a name that she chose for herself, Melly was elated.
Bart summoned the VR store with another hand gesture. "Now, let's take a look at the things you can wear." He then used the hand gesture to turn the screen and let Melly browse.
After a few minutes of browsing, Melly chose an avatar accessory called the fairy princess dress. "Grandpa, this is the one that I want. With this dress, I will look like Rachel."
Bart chuckled, "That is perfect for you. But it looks incomplete." Bart looked through the catalog for a few seconds and found two more accessories for Melly. After purchasing the three selected items, Bart sent them as a gift for the girl.
Bart instructed the girl on how to use the inventory. "OK, Melly, open your inventory. You are going to see a gift box. It is black in color. Once you tap on it, the box will open, and you can put on your new clothes. To put them on, just tap on the thing you want to wear in your inventory screen."
Melly did as instructed. A flash of light covered the girl. After it was done, she was wearing her new fairy princess dress. A headband with two yellow pom-pom antennas adorned her head. On her back, A pair of fairy wings fluttered randomly.
As Melly saw the changes to her avatar, the girl smiled happily. "I want to show this to my big brother."
Bart gets closer. "Now, Melly, there is a surprise about those wings you have there. Do you wish to know what it is?"
Melly looks at Bart with a happy smile. "Yes, please!"
Inside the Grease Monkey Workshop, Mark, Steve, and Alex were in the factory Operations Room. They were planning the upgrades to the factory floor. Since the young man was planning to start a new business venture with his droid boutique. Mark decided to use the vouchers generated from the sales of McCain Reapers version 1. It was not wise to spend more L-Credits on the virtual workshop. The three of them were setting up the production lines.
Mark talked first. "At the moment, we have 5 production lines. We will soon start production of the McCain Reaper version 2." He pauses for a moment, gathering his thoughts. " I think it's a good idea to keep producing the first version. What do you think?"
Alex nodded with her head. A text bubble with her opinion came out. "Yes, I think so too. It's cheaper and easier to get." Ever since Mark's gift, Alex had been communicating better.
Steve agreed with them. "Ok, so how are we dividing the production lines?"
I was thinking of getting two more production lines and another alloy treatment machine. We will have to wait a bit to get more vouchers for other improvements, but the vouchers generated so far can cover that much. Also, I have more products I wish to add to the catalog.
Steve thought for a moment. "Adding two new lines will set us up with seven. I think we can leave 2 production lines for the McCain Reaper version 1, 3 production lines for the new McCain Reaper version 2, and 2 production lines for the new products."
Mark was Satisfied with the setup. "Let's do that. What do you think, Alex?"
The blue-suited teen nodded in agreement with the organization. Another bubble popped with a suggestion."Shall we ask Livia if she wants anything for the upgrade?"
"Yeah, let's go talk to her, Marksman." Steve supported Alex's suggestion. After the events at the entrance to The Pit, they all had grown a little closer.
The trio moved back to the Cafeteria. Scarlet had already managed to calm the unruly patrons of the establishment. "Hey guys, are you done planning the upgrades?"
Mark looked at the place. He was a bit impressed by Scarlet's ability to control the crowd. "Not exactly, we came to see if you have any suggestions."
Scarlet cleared her throat. The teen was moved by their gesture, but said nothing. Instead, she provided her ideas to improve the workshop. "Well, we can add a shooting range, which will make the place more popular. Also, I think it's time the Grease Monkey workshop joined Mech City by renting a plot of virtual land.
Mark thinks for a moment. "Well, our voucher count is a bit tight at the moment. But I think we can add the shooting range."
Scarlet looks at Mark with a mocking smile. "You forgot to collect the earnings from the cafeteria again?"
Mark felt like facepalming himself. He constantly forgets to do that. "I will go collect it now." As he checked, he found this time he had over three million vouchers. The young man was surprised. "Scarlet, why is there so much?"
"We have been getting a lot of foot traffic lately. If you rent a plot of land in Mech City, we will get even more". Scarlet said with an enticing tone.
With the new windfall of vouchers, they made a small change to their upgrade plan. They decided to add the shooting range, plus one more production line. They had plans to revisit this after Mark finished another design. As for the plot in Mech City, Mark appointed Scarlet to find a plot with good pricing.
They started implementing their changes. The first one was on the factory floor. They now have a total of eight production lines of good quality. Two of them were producing the McCain Reaper version 1. Four were producing the McCain Reaper Version 2. The last 2 were producing the other equipment that will start to sell soon.
After all preparations were done, Mark entered the workshop's store page and posted the new selections. Including the McCain Reaper version 1 and the Mod kit for the IMS Reaper custom, the store page now has six offerings in total.
Before refreshing the store page, Mark placed an order for 4 McCain Reaper version 2. The moment the page was refreshed, a tsunami of sales came. The number of units sold increases without signs of slowing down. Everybody wanted to try an S-grade machine.
Mark looked at his friends. "Would any of you like a McCain Reaper version 2?"
Alex and Scarlet said no, Steve accepted one. "Well, I'm not into rifleman mechs; that's more your area, but I want to have an S-grade mech."
Mark looked at Steve. I think you can use a blade and the heavy gun without problems. The mech has enough grip strength now. Tell you what, test it first, and if you have problems, let me know.
Steve showed more interest in the mech now. "I will do that and then let you know.
Mark stretched his arms. After the events of the day, he was a little tired. "Well, I have to log off. Tomorrow, my family moves to our new place. I have to wake up early to start packing for the move."
Alex, speaking through her bubbles, offered to help. Scarlet did the same. Steve, however, had a lot of repair work accumulated. He had plans to work until late.
Mark, for his part, accepted all the help he could get. It was not much work; they were only moving their clothes and other belongings. But the more the merrier. "Everybody is welcome. Steve, after you wake up, head for my new place. It came with a private VR arcade."
The news of having access to a private VR Arcade lifted the spirits of the entire group. A few moments after this, Mark logs out. As he reached the wite room, the young man was about to log out when he received an invitation from Bart to join his session.
With a flash of light, Mark spawns in a park. The area looked peaceful and pleasant. Mark saw a player sitting on a bench overlooking the lake. The game ID read Man-at-Arms. Dressed in a clown outfit, the man was tossing virtual breadcrumbs at the swans swimming in the lake.
Mark looked at the man with amusement. "Is that you, Grandpa? What are you wearing?"
Bart looked at his clothes. "Ah, yes, I forgot." With a gesture of his hand, Bart opens his inventory and changes back into his military uniform. Sorry about that, I was teaching Melly how to change clothes here. We've been having a great time playing at the park today." Bart points at the area behind Mark.
As Mark turns, He spots Melly's Avatar. The girl is hovering around, dressed in a white dress. Fairy wings flutter on her back, making her float a few feet above the ground. Seeing the girl having a great time, Mark smiles.
Bart chuckles. "The problem now is getting her down. But I think that is a good problem to have."