The Legendary Junkmaster

Chapter 17: Upgrade (2)

Jason had a hard time believing in his own thoughts. They mostly concerned about how natural phenomena such as lightning could be harnessed to create incredible things. The problem was that although his mind showed him these things, he did not fully understand how they worked. Instead, all he could make sense of was a few ideas of how to create electricity and unleash it.

A crazy idea formed in his mind as he considered the Primal and how he could utilise this knowledge. There was a slight gap in his current understanding of creating a sufficiently small and powerful enough battery to store the electricity for future use. This placed Jason in a bit of a dilemma. He was almost sure that this was the key he needed to elevate his weapon's design.

However, he would have to go scavenging to find the essential component that he did not have the means to create himself. 'Even if it has lost its charge, I can think of several things to resolve that.' These were simple contraptions that used mechanical components and a handle to turn that would generate the charge needed for the battery.

'I can only hope that a battery is considered as a basic component to my Scanner. Otherwise, I'll never be able to pick one out even if it's right in front of me.' Jason groaned as he refilled his cup and grabbed the car battery with his free hand before returning to his room. Now that he knew what it could be used for, he would definitely save it for future use!

Syssie gave Jason a strange look as he returned to the room and placed the battery on his desk beside the weapon components. Jason had an ecstatic expression on his face, but at the same time, he had a troubled look in his eyes. Of course, Syssie already knew of his new idea. How could she not when literally existed in his thoughts?

To be honest, she agreed with it. She thought that Jason had finally hit on something good. Jason's mindset about returning to the Old World outside of the walls for a treasure hunt was the only problem. Although technically there was not much danger in the way of wild creatures close to the walls, that slight chance still worried Jason.

His Gramps would never agree to just search the nearby buildings. Since all of the valuable stuff had been picked clean long ago. However, Jason thought that something like a battery might have been overlooked. Especially since it seemed like nobody had any idea what they were used for.

Take the car battery, for example, that was sitting on his desk. There were plenty of them laying all over the place, but nobody sold or bought them. The only reason Jason had even picked this one up was because of how intact it was. All the others he had seen had partially fallen apart or been smashed by something. He had thought that he could have discovered its secrets only because it still seemed to have everything that it should.

Now that he thought about it, he realised how stupid that idea was. There was no way he would have considered that this black box could hold an electrical charge. Even if he did, he would not have figured out how to put it to use!

Jason sighed as he began to think about all the empty apartments and buildings that were still relatively close to Highrise. 'Do I try my luck with the empty apartments? Or would I be more likely to find what I need in one of those buildings that look like they used to be markets of some sort?'

Since he had no idea about the various shapes and sizes of the component he was looking for or what it was more commonly used for, Jason could only try his luck. He eventually decided that his best chance would be to try an area with both of these places. It was slightly further away than Jason would have liked, but it would prevent him from having to make multiple trips just to find out what kind of buildings he should be searching in the first place.

'I sold all my weapons as well. I'll have to make do with a pipe or something.' Jason had already considered just searching the markets to safely procure what he needed. However, after searching his memories, he realised that his Scanner had never picked up anything called a battery when he was there a few days ago.

Luckily it was not even noon yet outside. After doing some quick math, Jason knew that he should theoretically have enough time to get to his destination, perform a search and return home before it became too dark. The fact that he was only looking for a single component was why he could manage it. Since he would not be carting around a backpack full of junk this time.

"Hey Syssie, come on. We're heading out." Jason grabbed his tool belt and gloves before heading out without saying another word.

Syssie skipped along beside him as they headed for the town's gate. He was sure that she would have drawn plenty of attention if anyone could see her. Jason only hoped that her figure and her revealing dress would not distract him at the worst possible time! Still, it was not like Jason could just leave her behind either.

There was practically no traffic at the already open gate at this time of day, which made the whole process of registering a lot easier. Of course, Jason refused to pay the rental fee for a backpack since he did not need one anyway. This raised some suspicion towards him from the woman behind the counter.

"I was hired for a job to retrieve a single item. You can check with Al if you need verification." Jason replied to the clerk when she asked him the reason.

Jason was reasonably confident that Al would back his blatant lie up. The weapon dealer would probably figure that he just making more of the Primal or creating something new. Which, in turn, should be good for him. Since Jason was more likely to sell whatever it was to his store. Of course, Al did not have to know that Jason had no intention of doing so this time around.

The clerk's expression became more gentle with his explanation. This was not the first time that a scavenger had been commissioned for something specific. Al was also slightly famous around down due to his store, so she saw no reason to doubt Jason. She did make a mental note to ask Al what he was working on, though, due to her own curiosity.

She quickly waved Jason away after noting down his departure and reason. Jason could only smile as he quickly slipped out of town without anyone paying close attention to him. The piece of pipe that was no better than a club banged against his leg from where he had tied it to his belt. Jason cursed as he rubbed his knee. He could tell that he would have a new bruise long before he returned to Highrise.

"How far are we going?" Syssie asked as she looked around at the scenery. She was fascinated by the ruins that littered the landscape.

"Not too far. We can't afford to get held up and have Gramps asking too many questions." Jason stared at her curiously as she spun around, taking everything in. "Why do you do that anyway?"

"Do what?" Syssie replied with an innocent smile, to which Jason rolled his eyes in response.

"That! Make your well body look around? Does it actually do anything since it isn't real?" Jason was honestly confused by Syssie's behaviour. It left him wondering all over again just how much this AI was capable of.

"Hmph! Of course, it does something, you idiot!" Syssie's expression turned dark as she glared at him. "It makes me feel better for being stuck in this stupid implant! Yeah, I might not be able to see whatever my avatar is looking at. Since I can only see through your eyes and all. But did you really have to be so insensitive as to point it out!"

Jason immediately felt ashamed. He was treating Syssie like something that should be void of emotion even though she had explicitly mentioned that she had been programmed with all of those things. Jason felt like he should have considered the impact his words would cause more before he blurted them out. He had thought that it was a harmless question, but now he knew that he would have to be even more careful than he had been.

After all, upsetting an AI that was keeping you alive could never be a good thing. He felt like he had entirely thrown himself into boiling water because of his stupidity. He even began to imagine scenarios where Syssie withheld important information just to watch him suffer! A bright burst of laughter quickly dragged Jason out of his paranoid thoughts.

"That was pretty good." Syssie laughed as she replayed his thought about her not warning him about a dangerous liquid that melted his arm off. "I think you've tortured yourself enough for me to forgive you. Just don't do it again. Ok?"