Captain Lopez was looking over a buttload of paperwork. The stacks were soon to grow bigger.
'I should've taken Valor's offer.'
Then the door to his office opened, and Lopez looked up from one of the papers he was signing. A worker had come up carrying two small chips. One had the image of a stone knight on it, the other an angular digital helmet.
"The Dossiers you asked for, Captain."
"Thank you, you may leave."
The worker nodded and left, leaving Lopez all alone.
Captain Lopez grabbed the chip with the stone knight on it. This was the one that had gained a Divine Aspect first. He then took out his communicator, sticking the chip within the universal port.
The dossier itself was of little value to Lopez. He just needed to fact-check a couple of things before creating the cohort that would challenge the Second Nightmare. That place would need it after all, any Awakened, especially Masters, would be valuable in that frigid hell.
Scrolling through the dossier, Lopez stopped at something that caught his eye.
Current Assignment: Eliminating Security Risks
"Ah, poor souls, that must be a pain. Wonder how long it's been since they slept."
***
Milo sat in a poorly lit cave. The Engaged mode of his armor was banged up to all hell. Leaning on the wall next to him was a coil rifle that was a couple of centimeters taller than him.
Outside the cave itself, the shrieks and screams of dying Nightmare Creatures were echoing through the lightless night. The Moonriver Plain had experienced a breach in one of its smaller citadels. Milo and Eva, we're stuck with keeping the Dormant and Awakened creatures at bay.
Milo was keeping an eye on Eva with the small drone he had assimilated into his soul. His new Innate Ability was more of a blessing than he could have ever imagined. Which made his rather mediocre Awakened Ability only that much underwhelming.
It was named Overclock; its ability? To strengthen the technology Milo used, another one hundred percent was added to Milo's effectiveness. He could currently only augment the technology twice. It was able to augment his body, well, body was a strong word...
'I'm mostly metal and silicon now.'
Everything about Milo, from his skin to his muscles to his bones, was changed and replaced by the best technology the government could offer. Of course, it came with a lot of resistance from his family, and especially Eva... that pervert had stated-
"Now, if we ever do end up doing it, you'll break my back again."
It was for the better; his flaw stated it best: flesh was no longer his home. At the very least, his brain was still here, and that's what counted, right? It was kind of like Theseus's ship; the boat was still the same so long as the crew was the same, right?
'I should probably get ready for my shift.'
Milo stood up, grabbing his coil rifle. The shitty thing about his Innate Ability? It could only host two new true assimilations to his soul. For example, Carmen's Prototype was currently occupied by his first soul core. Meanwhile, his second soul core was comparatively empty. Any new tech that he assimilated into his soul was added as an attribute trait to Carmen's Masterpiece, and currently they were three new ones.
[Fly Scout] [Communicator] [Coil Rifle]
This meant that instead of being able to be desummoned and summoned with relative ease, like memories, they instead were summoned along with the Carmen's Masterpiece. Even in the Disengaged mode, Milo had put himself in tons of awkward situations when meeting high-ranking officials in the government due to the massive coil rifle that was somehow attached to his back despite him wearing a proper and fashionable suit. That was until he learned to better control his aspect.
Milo slightly chuckled to himself until he heard through the feed of the Fly Scout.
"Milo, I swear to the dead gods if you fell asleep!"
'Shit!'
Milo hurriedly added thrusters to his legs, and with a bit of a start, he burst off into a sprint. He passed beautiful, desolate ruins. He slid to a sudden stop. A graceful stone knight was heavily breathing, surrounded by a field of dismembered monsters. Milo found Eva's state... surprisingly alluring.
'Damnit, Milo, that's the least of your concerns.'
"Finally, what the hell caused you to be so late?"
"I sorta got lost in my field of thought... sorry."
Eva took a deep breath and waved her hand
"It's fine, just need a nap, is all."
Milo nodded and watched as she disappeared into the distance. Headed for the small cave the two had been calling home for the past few days.
"The government... is not at all what it is hyped up to be"
It was work, work, and more damn work. For whatever reason, the Government had a never-ending list of problems that had tedious solutions, from logistics and managing the Waking World, to resolving disputes between the Great Clans, and patching up what they couldn't. Like now, for example, in an attempt to get in Clan Song's better graces, they sent two of their most promising soldiers on pest cleanup duty.
"I just hope I get home soon... I need to attend that tournament."
The tournament Milo was talking about was the upcoming Dreamscape tournament being hosted by Clan Valor. Milo couldn't miss out on the chance to participate in it and make a name for himself. More importantly, there was a chance Mongrel would appear...
"I need to fight him."
Mongrel looked like a beast of a man or woman. That mask, the odachi, the drip, all of it was so perfect. It was obvious he was trying to win over a fanbase, and yet Milo fell right into the trap. He was so edgy and cringe, yet it was so refreshing to have a badass and mysterious figure in the Dreamscape once again.
Milo would constantly rant to Eva about wanting to face Mongrel. She would listen with an almost comical grin. Milo knew he probably sounded like an idiot to Eva. Her world was nowhere near similar to this one. Apparently, she was from the 21st century and had even seen a bear in person! Most of the technology in this world shocked her. She had jokingly said
"Back in my day, they were called phones," or "You had to actually put your clothes in the washer."
Milo reminisced while he slayed the onslaught of Nightmare Creatures with the Prototype and his transformed arm. He had long since mastered a fighting style using a constantly transforming prosthetic. His go-to was a war hammer, since the Prototype was already pristine at slashing, at least that was when he was on the field. When he wasn't slaving away for the government, he opted to use the bladed whip for the rule of cool in the Dreamscape. He had been growing a pretty good reputation, at least until Mongrel appeared, that guy...
"I want to fight him!"
Milo defeated the last Nightmare Creature as his prosthetic crushed its head into the ground. Milo sent his Fly Scout to scour any nearby ruins and cave systems for more Nightmare Creatures. At least until he felt a presence behind him.
Dressed in beautiful red robes was a striking pale woman, with crimson red lips and a supple figure. Milo slightly bowed in her presence
"Lady Seishan"
Seishan lingered for a bit, then sighed
"You can drop the formalities, Milo, lest you want me to call you Agent Milo. Either way, your job here is done, Clan Song has dismissed you, take Eva and head home."
Milo let out a relieved sigh, with a grin under his obsidian visor, and he nodded.
"Thank you, Seishan."
Milo sped off. He could finally go back to doing his real job, his true goal... the Dreamscape tournament. It was time to start training.