UnwillingEldritchHorrorofFortune
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Chapter 99: Upgrades and Operations
🕑 Added 2024-03-15 21:29:36 +0000 UTCI woke up on the day of the scheduled operation to the soothing voice of Noe as she informed me that her upgrade had finished. I had originally planned to stay up until the very moment of her completion, but last night had been so hectic that I all but passed out after dinner. I wasn’t sure what the hell was going on, but practically every Aspirant who had even a moderately useful ability tried to get out then.
Something must have spurred them on, but I wasn’t sure what. The Regressor surely would have informed me if the other Aspirants were working under a time limit or the like.
“My host,” Noe interrupted, “You are becoming distracted again. Would you like to hear the rest of my explanation on the Gamma Upgrade?”
Oh right, sorry, Noe. Please continue. Don’t know why my mind’s wandering so much lately, it’s like I’m living a dream or something.
“Showing my host the new System Skill.”
Abilities - 4
Total Luck Charges: 1557
Awakening Mind (B rank Innate Passive): User has endured many hardships of the spirit, and has gained a supernaturally resilient mind. User can use their willpower to temporarily overcome cognitive disruptions and can think logically under almost any situation.
Shroud of Luck (EX rank System Passive): Luck System 104.05 Gamma has placed a shroud around the user, disallowing personal information from the user to be seen by any and all outside forces. User can temporarily deactivate this ability.
Aura of Serendipity (B rank System Passive): Luck System 104.05 Gamma subtly alters the cognition of any sentient species around the user, making the user significantly more likable and trustworthy to those around him. This effect increases if the user acts in a way that conforms to the ideologies and beliefs of those individuals.
Skill: Emotional Redux (EX Rank System Active): Unit Noe will influence the emotions of the User’s target, spending Luck Charges to do so. Unit Noe will ensure that the best possible state of mind is chosen to suit the needs of the Host. Luck Charges spent increases depending on the strength of the target and the emotional state needed.
Oh, that’s a very interesting skill, although how I can utilize it could be tricky. Emotions themselves were a powerful thing, and being able to manipulate them could come in handy. Now that I think about it, this new skill also uses luck charges, even though it doesn’t have much to do with luck itself. And the upgrade even gave me an extra 500 points to work with! Does that mean that all future system actives will consume the same resource?
“Clarification, my host,” Noe answered, “As I am the Absolute Luck System, all of my functions relate to the expenditure of Luck Charges, regardless of how many shards I successfully integrate in the future.”
Ok, that’s good to know. So what exactly does this skill do? The description’s a bit vague. How strong of an effect are we talking about?
“That depends entirely on what you desire, dear Walter,” Noe explained, “If you only want to subtly influence a person by making them slightly happier or sadder, then only a small amount of luck charges will be consumed. However, this effect can be amplified as well. For example, the Host can cause a target to experience so much lethargy that they will waste away from dehydration because of a lack of will to move.”
Oh… that’s something I can use, I mean, even a slight lapse in concentration in a fight can determine the victor. But I’m guessing it won’t work too well on someone like the Overseer and his gang, right?
“With your current limited form, no, my Host,” Noe answered sadly, “I apologize.”
That’s fine, it’s not like I’m anywhere near ready to tackle those monsters head-on.
“That is good to hear, my Host,” she continued, “But Unit Noe suggests that the Hosts wash up quickly and meet the Director in the basement. It is time for you to do what you have promised. I will, as always, assist you where I can.”
Right, how did I almost forget about making Alice that friend of hers, it was the whole reason I waited this long. I took the fastest shower of my life and changed into a new set of surgeon’s clothes before hurriedly making my way to the basement.
The pitch-black shadow of a woman was waiting for me by the entrance of the labs. Even though I couldn’t see her facial features, since she didn’t have any, everything about the way she presented herself told me just how stressed and anxious she was. She probably didn’t get any rest in these last few days.
“Director,” I nodded in her direction, “Is everything ready?”
“Good morning, Dr. Walter,” she replied, “Everything you have asked for is prepared, all the spare parts are on freeze, and your staff are on standby and have been instructed to follow your every command. I’ll take Alice out today and watch over the patients personally; I guarantee that no one will escape on my watch. Don’t worry about your regular duties, I’ll fill your position myself if it means even a slightly better chance of this procedure working.”
“Thank you, but please take better care of yourself,” I answered, “I don’t have to be a doctor to see how exhausted you are right now.”
She sighed, “Thank you, Will, and you’re right, but I’ll rest when this crisis is over. There’s too much on the line right now for me to rest”
I nodded and made my way through the door into the lab. I made one last trip around the room, reviewing some of the basic information I could gather from my Arbiter skill to make sure I had at least a vague idea of what all the equipment did. It wasn’t that helpful, all things considered, like what on earth would this particular machine do?
Organic Desaturator
Description: A device used to desaturate organic matter, use the onboard controls to control the strength of the desaturation process, and what matter to separate from the whole.
Yeah, I kind of knew what the word saturation means, but not in any kind of scientific or medical context. That doesn’t mean that I won’t use the thing; as long as there’s knobs and controls I can luck my way through, I’ll be sure to abuse it with my skill. As for when to use it? Blind luck will solve that as well! I’m unstoppable as long as I had luck charges here!
The rest of the machinery and lab equipment fell in a similar vein as the Organic Desaturator. I kind of understood the general purpose of each machine, but that’s about it. In other words, I’ll just have to let my little helpers do all the set up and prep work, while all I do is direct them on what device to use, and fiddle with the fine controls after. That’s probably where my luck will be used the best.
The last thing was to check the staff assigned to me. The Director really went all out here, I already knew that we didn’t have a lot of doctors or nurses stationed at the hospital, but I think close to a third of the staff were here under my command. I counted 14 doctors here to assist me in rotations, and practically three times that number of nurses and other staff around. I even had a little minion whose only job was to make sure that I was properly hydrated and didn’t miss a meal.
With everything set up, I activated the Absolute Luck Skill for what felt like the first time in forever, and got to work.
“You!” I shouted at one of the doctors awaiting orders, before pointing at a random machine, “Take the Director’s work and put it in the incubator. Set everything up yourself, but let me do the fine adjustments when you’re done.”
“Yes doctor!” the man said quickly.
“The rest of you, go find the best quality materials from the freeze and clean them up. I trust your professional judgment here. Take the ones you think are the best and put them on the operating table. I’ll choose which ones to use from there.”
“Understood, Dr. Walter!”
“Finally,” I commanded before pointing at a few other random machines, “Get those systems up and ready for immediate use. Double check that they’re all in working order.”
Those first few commands only used up 36 Luck Charges, so far so good, but the true test was still to come.
“Dr. Walter,” the first man I addressed came up and said, “The incubator is set up.”
I nodded and went over to the machine. It looked like a very big version of the kind of thing you’d see used for newborn infants, but just a lot bigger. The body was placed inside, and it was hooked up to a bunch of electrodes and other devices. On the side was an ancient computer.
I pretended to scan the body for a few seconds before pushing buttons and turning knobs frantically. My luck charges started to go down much faster now, and I only stopped what I was doing once the charges stopped decreasing. At least that was a very helpful indication for me to stop what I was doing.
Almost immediately, the body’s corpse-like complexion started to improve, it seemed like whatever I did was working at least. The doctor at the side looked at me wide eyed in marvel. Even the Director came over and gave me an approving nod.
“I see that you’re not just boasting this time, Will,” the Director said, “I think I can confidently leave you to your work. If you need me, let one of the nurses know, and… good luck.”
I gave her my most confident smile, “Just leave it to me. You should get going as well, I’m willing to bet even more patients will try to escape today.”
“Yes, it is time to wake up Alice as well. Like I said, if you need anything on my end, do not hesitate to call.”
I nodded and bid her one final farewell before turning my attention back to the operation at hand. By now, the additional spare parts were cleaned and processed, and it only took 3 Luck Points to pick out the most compatible ones for the project. The prep work was easily finished after that, and by the time we were ready to start the major surgery, I was only down 55 Luck Charges, having recovered most of them with time.
“Dr. Walter,” a nurse said, “Our work is finished, it’s time for you to restructure the body.”
“You’ve double checked the parts and the body’s stability?”
“Triple checked it, sir!”
I nodded and took one final drink of water offered to me by my helper, “Alright, prepare my tools, and make sure that no one disturbs me going forward.”
Here was where things get dicey. I had no knowledge of any medical procedures, much less creating my own Frankenstein monster, which meant that I had to rely on Noe for the next part entirely. It was also why I told the others to give me space to work; they didn’t need to see how weird my movements were, or the fact that I was closing my eyes for most of the procedures.
I grabbed a random tool off the tray, grabbed one of the offered limbs, and just closed my eyes and allowed the Luck to flow through me. Once again I was assaulted with the feeling of having a part of my body lose control as it moved seemingly by itself. My fingers twitched and jittered uncontrollably while I had no idea what my other arm was doing as it flailed about. My entire attention was on the amount of luck charges I had available to me.
Luck Charges: 1507/1557
A jerk of my hand cost me a few luck charges here.
Luck Charges: 1499/1557
I felt some warm fluid on my hand before I felt myself lose even more control of my body. I had to open my eyes for a bit to see what the hell was happening, although I wish I hadn’t. My left arm was rapidly making incisions on the main body, while my right arm was fiddling with a complex looking device that I didn’t remember even being there before, all the while the other doctors and nurses looked on with shocked expressions. It was disorienting to the max, and I had to quickly close my eyes again before I puked.
Luck Charges: 1420/1557
As I thought, the bigger movements caused me to lose way more charges than the subtle finger twitches, but I couldn’t exactly control what Noe was doing. I just continued to close my eyes and watched the number go down and down.
Luck Charges: 1404/1557
Luck Charges: 1355/1557
Luck Charges: 1173/1557
It wasn’t until my charges hit 870 that Noe’s movements stopped, signaling the end of whatever procedure I was doing currently. I opened my eyes to admire her work, and I wasn’t disappointed. All of the missing limbs were successfully attached to the Director’s base body, and although the corpse was still clearly dead, it looked like it had only recently passed away instead of the decrepit mess it was before. Its coloration and overall state was pretty impressive for a few hours of work, but what else could I expect when that work was done by the best system in the multiverse?
“I only do my best,” Noe answered with a smug tone, “Because I am the best, my Host.”
I chuckled at her response and gave myself some time to rest. Well, more accurately, it was to recover Luck Charges, before pointing to a new machine and continuing my work. This would be the pattern after a while, with frequent rests disguised as time for the other medical staff to do minor procedures, while I focused solely on the most important tasks. And on and on it went, well into the night.
Comments
MangoBandit
Thanks for the chapters!
True_Jolly_Roger
Looking to other ppl POV.
Flash Red
Oh no, a cliffhanger!
Aikus1
The suspense is so strong! I really want to see what happens next!
Marcosezno
It lives!!!
True_Jolly_Roger
Oh. Oh. Oh.
Toby Lechtenbeger
A nice cozy chapter
Donovan Helx
It’s alive doctor ALIVE!!!
