I was tempted to try and explain my reference, but it was already too late. Instead, I just shook my head and shoved the slight embarrassment aside. I had more important things to deal with, even if I knew I was going to get back at them somehow, especially Riggs, whose smirk told me he knew exactly what he had done.

  "I am more curious about what sort of options he got, not what references he can make about it," Noah said, standing by the door, clearly waiting for me to explain what I needed.

  "I got the tech from the Fallout universe… all of the human stuff, as far as I can tell," I explained, closing my eyes and looking back at the tech tree. "It's a video game from my home. I'm actually relatively familiar with it…"

  Now that the connection was complete, I could look back at what I had access to much more clearly. I could see the basic tech, the older stuff quite effortlessly, the design for normal cars that ran on fossil fuels, as well as countless other devices I recognized at my fingertips. Other than the fact that there were a lot of weirdly advanced jumps here or there, everything from further back seemed to be perfectly understandable, if stylized a bit strongly. I did notice that the further back I looked at the tree, application of SCIENCE!, the jumps in tech complexity or introduction of new, advanced ideas became less and less frequent, with the jumps becoming non-existent around a hundred years before the bombs fell.

  Then suddenly, at around the year 2000 in the Fallout universe, things began to get crazy. The SCIENCE! jumps began to happen incredibly frequently. Around that time and further, I could see the starting points for dozens, even hundreds of different advancements, but how they worked was hidden from me, too advanced or out of my current knowledge for me to understand.

  "What sort of technology is it?" Samwise asked. "Is it useful?"

  "Considering they have stable fusion generators that fit in the palm of your hand?" I asked. "Yeah, I think it's going to be useful."

  For the next twenty or so minutes, I gave my AI friends a quick rundown of the setting and what kind of tech we were looking at. Fallout tech, including its biotech, was a study in contradictions. A lot of what that world was capable of was crude, brutal, and often dangerous to the user. And yet they managed to achieve some wildly impressive feats. Stimpaks alone, assuming they worked even remotely like they were described, were roughly equivalent to what MAXdocs were like in the Cyberpunk video game. The fact that they had functional power armor that worked, and worked well, on low-end hydraulics, servos, and pressure sensors was just as astounding.

  Honestly, in a lot of cases, I was more interested in what I could do with the knowledge I gained from making the tech rather than the base items themselves. I could only imagine how the application of Titanfall and XCOM tech would enhance an.

  Perhaps the most astounding thing, though, was that I could clearly see that the Institute technology was included in this tree, ready for me to unlock and explore. Science developed by unchecked scientists, with two hundred years to mess around, was at my fingertips. I just had to work my way up various branches of development.

  "Okay… So I need to start somewhere," I said, mostly talking to myself as I examined the wide tree around me, focusing on the highest and most complicated tech I could access on each of the hundreds of branches.

  I scanned each branch, eventually spotting something that made me grin. While it wasn't the most optimal choice, considering the low-tech nature of its components, it only made sense that the first thing I made from the Fallout franchise was a Pip-Boy. After a quick debate on which one I should make, I settled on the most advanced version I could see, the.

  I quickly set to work, designing the wrist-mounted device on my computer. As I was working through the internal and screen, I got my first look at how Fallout universe tech compared to the video game equivalent.

  First off, I was pleasantly surprised at how accurately the device could read a person's vitals. The device basically had two modes, invasive and normal. In normal mode, the device could read your pulse and a few other health features. In this mode, it was basically an advanced. In invasive mode, the Pip-Boy implanted a small sensor into the person's wrist. This sensor could measure a frankly impressive long list of afflictions and health statuses. It was a startlingly advanced little sensor and was the first point on my theory that most of the clunky, vacuum tube, overly robust style that was so prevalent around the Fallout universe was, at least partially, voluntary. That was the only explanation I could give that a sensor the size of a thumbnail, capable of reading so many different bodily conditions, could exist and work with a device like the Pip-Boy 2000 Mark VI, which used a single color ray tube screen.

  Unfortunately, while the wrist-mounted device's medical monitoring function was impressive, it definitely did not contain a dimension pocket to store stuff, like it seemed to have in the video game. Its ability to store things was sadly restricted to its function of scanning and recording the contents of your bag in a robust list program. It also could not slow down time while engaging in VATS mode.

  When I finished the design process, I sent the plans to Samwise, who got the production room started on making the parts while I worked on the programming. By the time I was done with that, the majority of the parts were complete, and I could begin assembly. The device was surprisingly easy to put together, and when the final part slid into place, the rush of information I got was interesting, though maybe not the most useful. I knew way more than I needed to know about ray tube screens, but I could also fully understand the sensor the wrist-mounted device could implant. It was an impressive little creation, and while it wasn't nearly as accurate as I think Rob-Tech might have claimed, it was still an interesting little bit of tech, something I might use in the future. It was certainly more impressive than I had expected.

  With the device complete, I sat it down on my workstation, tucking it into someplace it could stay as a desk decoration. I had achieved something of a childhood dream, even if I didn't plan on wearing it quite yet.

  "Okay, that was fun, but I need to get serious now," I said, looking over at Samwise. "I need to figure out what I'm making, what I am focusing on, and when I am focusing on it."

  "Any ideas?" he asked, holding up his tablet, waiting for me to respond.

  "We are going to have to put off the chems, medicine, and biological stuff until later. We need a complete and secure lab first, and that won't be done for a bit," I said, running my fingers through my hair. "That should be the night and off-hours project for now, all the way until it's complete."

  "I'll let Noah know," Samwise said, the large-scale engineer having left at some point. "What else?"

  "Well… I think we can scratch off conventional weapons. There is nothing new there worth making," I explained, though secretly, I considered making if I had some free time.

  "What about less conventional weapons?"

  "The fact that I already have high-powered energy weapons means it's not mission-critical," I reluctantly admitted. "That said, there are a lot of interesting energy weapons I want a crack at, especially the Pulse gun. Unless I'm mistaken, that should be a pretty serious weapon here since it was designed to work in Fallout, and most electronic hardware here isn't nearly as robust. Also, judging from how little I can see into that branch, even if I have energy weapons, I clearly have more to learn from the Fallout versions."

  "Energy… weapons…" Samwise said, adding a bullet point to his list. "What about power armor? You mentioned that."

  "Yes, I definitely want to take a look at the power armor, though not for the tech. Or rather, mostly not for the tech," I explained, leaning back in my chair. "From just how much I could see, the science behind Fallout's power armor isn't the brilliant part, it's implementation is. The armor is basically plates of metal slapped onto hydraulics and servos, and yet they made a surprisingly dexterous power armor that can tank high-powered sniper rounds and punch through concrete while also retaining enough fine motor skills to work things like weapons and vehicle controls. I can't imagine I'll care what a T-60 power armor is made of, but I need to know how its frame was designed."

  Samwise nodded and added that to the list before gesturing for me to continue.

  "Power is a big one, too," I said, examining the massive tech tree connected to my mind. "As far as I can tell, the world gave up on fusion reactors years ago, but Fallout has ones that fit in your hand."

  "Are they better than Elerium nodes?" Samwise asked, looking up at me with a curious tone.

  "It's kind of a switch-off. For small devices, our Elerium nodes are by far superior," I answered, making a so-so gesture with my hands. "But from what I can see, the large-scale fusion reactors are completely superior."

  "Very well. What else?"

  "Vaul-Tec, the bastards, had dozens, maybe hundreds of innovations for long-term underground living, things like water purification and…"

  A flash of memory passed through me, and I immediately dove back into my mind, focusing on the very ends of the tech tree branches. I needed to see if it was possible, if the G.E.C.K was something I could build. If it was, it would be the last thing I could make in a long line of inventions. The pinnacle of what I could achieve...

  I searched and searched, eventually starting to look lower down the branches. Eventually, I found it, only to let out a long sigh.

  In Fallout, the G.E.C.K is described as being the vault dweller's one-stop shop for post-apocalyptic civilization revival. In Fallout 3 specifically, it is shown to be a hilariously overpowered, matter conversion system, capable of taking large tracts of land and forcibly converting it into a verdant paradise. One is basically Vault-Tec propaganda, meant to give vault dwellers hope, the other is something that is mind-bogglingly advanced for a civilization like the pre-war Fallout universe.

  One guess as to which one my tech tree considered canon.

  The G.E.C.K device that I had access to was one part seed vault, with an admittedly interesting stasis system that I might eventually look into, one part advanced data repository. What I could create would obviously be empty, but in its home universe, it was intended to be filled with tech and knowledge to restart civilization. I cursed under my breath and, for far from the first time, wondered if the entities that had put me here were curating my tech trees to keep me from advancing too far too fast.

  Moving past the disappointment of the G.E.C.K, Samwise and I continued to make a list of topics that I should focus on and that I really wanted to get done before my two weeks were up. As we were making the list, my first project became rather clear. In order for me to complete any equipment that requires a microfusion cell, energy cell, fusion core, or any other Fallout-specific power source, I would actually need its required power source since turning on a device is required. That meant designing and building each of those first. Since I wanted to understand as much as possible about fusion anyway, starting power generation and storage seemed like the perfect plan.

  My first start? The humble.

  Or, more accurately, a Fission battery, since the large, heavy batteries were not tiny little nuclear fission reactors. Fission was the brand name for a company that made all sorts of power and energy-related things, including miniature nuclear reactors. The Fission battery, however, was simply an advanced acid battery, which held a shocking amount of electricity for a long time and could recharge using ambient heat.

  Still, despite being a "normal" battery, it was first on my list of energy-related designs. Thankfully, it took minimal effort to design and print the parts since, while it was definitely not a standard battery, the ingredients weren't precisely overly exotic. Within thirty minutes, I successfully put one together.

  After the Fission battery, I constructed an, which, like my previous product, were acid batteries. Three AAA-sized batteries that worked together to provide a high output of power to small devices that didn't quite require a microfusion cell. I could see the energy cell being actually useful in the future, as their small size and staying power meant they would be used in small devices. Even better, since they were just batteries, they did not have the same potential for destruction that microfusion cells had.

  From there, I continued to work on energy sources and generators alike, working through half a dozen different designs, most of them going straight to the mass recycler when they were done, as long as it was safe. With each finished design, my understanding of energy production, specifically the style and methods that the Fallout universe liked to use, increased.

  Eventually, as the sunlight just started to appear on the horizon, I made my first leap forward. A portable generator, barely up to my knees and weighing just about the same as Duke, that would generate more power than a dozen fuel-burning generators the same size. The only problem was that it was a.

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  The design was simple, basic, and robust, as I was finding most Fallout tech was. That was good because if you were going to fuck with nuclear energy like this, you better make sure your systems are strong enough for it to not blow up in your face when you kicked it by accident. The generator worked with a simple turbine-style system, meaning the nuclear fusion would generate heat, turning water into steam, which would then spin a turbine and generate energy. The water was then efficiently cooled with a specially designed coolant.

  In all honesty, the coolant itself was interesting enough for me to make the reactor just to get access to it. It was significantly more efficient at absorbing and releasing heat than any liquid I had gotten my hands on in Titanfall and was better than anything Cyberpunk had by miles. In total it took three hours to design and print the generator, as well as mix the coolant.

  It also took that long to put together the single core that was the heart of the generator, including the uranium that was the source of energy. And it wasn't a small amount, either. Luckily, molly makers were more than capable of working with radioactive materials, meaning we could print the safe and stable core out by itself, without having to worry about exposing myself or anyone else to harmful radiation. Still, we took several extra precautions just to be safe.

  Activating the generator was rather anti-climactic. After spending three hours preparing and making it, we slid the core into place, sealed everything up, double-checked its systems before flicking it on… and immediately turned it off again when the wave of understanding finally hit me. Samwise immediately took the core back for disassembly, and the whole machine was scrapped. I had no need for nuclear energy, not when Elerium generators were more powerful, cleaner and exploded with a lot fewer long-term effects. Still, I had gotten what I wanted from the whole process, a deluge of information concerning generators, access to designs that were both larger and smaller, and most importantly, access to the designs for several fusion generators.

  So again, the process started, designing parts and programming software. The on was a model large enough to power a good-sized, active, multistory building on its own. It didn't quite match the usual Fallout aesthetic, but from what I could see, this unit was meant to be mounted behind a protective facade, which would have followed the usual aesthetic. Again, the bet that things looked archaic and clunky on purpose was getting more and more likely. I could imagine people in that setting, out of a need to pretend everything was okay or by blind faith that older meant better, refusing to use or trust products that didn't follow a particular design mentality.

  Because of the larger scale and complexity, building and designing the fusion generator took considerably longer than the fission generator. I also had to do a not insignificant amount of programming, as the generator metrics needed constant monitoring and tiny, nanoscale adjustments to be kept stable. By the time its parts were done and everything was assembled, Jackie had arrived.

  He stopped by to say hello before making his way to see Frank, where he got some of our printed food and began making us a late breakfast or early lunch. Kaytlyn woke up as well, stopping in just as we were about to insert the tritium and deuterium, the two low-density isotopes of hydrogen that served as the "fuel" for the fusion generator.

  "Hey, breakfast is- What is it?" She asked as I inserted the tritium core while Samwise inserted the deuterium.

  "This is a fusion generator," I explained.

  "What? Like a nuclear generator?" She asked, suddenly concerned. "You built a nuclear generator in your garage?"

  "Yes, but that was a while ago," I explained. "Already disassembled that one. This is fusion, not fission."

  She stood there for a moment, stun locked about what was going on, while I tapped a button next to the computer screen, the relatively thin ray tube display pushing out a keyboard from underneath itself. I tapped on it and started a start-up checklist, the generator humming as its internal sensors set up tests and scans to make sure everything was correctly assembled. Just as Kaytlyn was about to ask another question, the scans were complete.

  "Okay, ignoring that you did, in fact, make a nuclear generator… this is Fusion?" She asked. "The thing that companies gave up making a couple of dozen years ago?"

  "Don't know about them giving up on it," I admitted, reading through the scan results. "But yes, this is a fusion generator."

  "...Oh. Okay."

  I chuckled before tapping the start for a system warm-up sequence, which would activate the generator for only a split second, bleeding off any charge before shutting down. All of the scans were clean, and I was ready to see the fruits of our labor.

  The machine hummed slightly, vibrating just enough to be noticeable until the spinning parts around the core stabilized and balanced out, all vibrations fading to zero. A countdown appeared on the screen, and when it hit zero, a slight thrum engaged as minuscule amounts of deuterium and tritium fused to create hydrogen. The machine continued to run as it bled off energy, dumping it into a deep grounding rod we had set up a while ago. After a few seconds the machine slowly shut down, all of the moving parts slowing to a stop. A final series of scans showed up on the screen, but I didn't see them. I was leaning against the desk behind me, holding my head as a large information dump dropped into my brain. The power generation branch opened up even more, as I learned several other plans for larger and smaller fusion generators, as well as unlocking the fusion core and microfusion cell to build.

  When I recovered from the most recent download, I stood back up straight and shook my head. It was an interesting sensation every time it happened, but the large downloads lingered for much longer.

  "Uhhh… what the fuck was that?" Kaytlyn asked, looking me over. "You okay? Should I call Frank?"

  "I'm fine," I assured her, stepping forward to shut down the reactor completely. "That was just… the inspiration settling in."

  I answered vaguely, watching as the reactor console shut down, the faint humming fading out. Samwise, who had been monitoring the run with external sensors, stepped forward.

  "Sam, I'm gonna take a break to eat with Kayt and Jackie," I explained. "You think we should try and keep this or scrap it? It generates a decent amount of power, and we can buy the fuel for next to nothing. Hell, we could make the tritium and get the deuterium from the ocean if we needed to."

  "I propose we keep it," Sam responded. "I will design a small building for it and connect it to the power network. It will make a good emergency generator if needed."

  "Good enough for me, I'll be making some smaller things after this, so take your time moving it."

  Samwise nodded, and Kaytlyn and I both left for the Shack. We stepped inside, and I got my first recent look at the changes. The bar was now a small, covert cooking area for Jackie and his experiments, and the second-floor opening was in the process of being sealed off. The place was well cleaned up, however, since it was still our primary meeting space.

  "Alright, Jackie, what have you got for us today?" I asked, peering over the counter to try and catch a look at what he was making.

  "Oi, you'll see when I serve it," He said, throwing a spoon at me, which I thankfully caught. "Fucking Kayt tried to do the same thing."

  "Whatever it is, it smells good."

  It took a few minutes for Jackie to bring the food to the table, presenting us with large breakfast burritos, made up almost entirely from our printed food. He also put out an orange and pineapple slushie, thankfully with no alcohol. While I tried the smoothie-like drink, Kaytlyn took a big bite of the burrito, and both of us groaned in appreciation.

  "That's fucking nova, Jackie," Kaytlyn said, her mouth still filled partially with food. "The strange textures are completely lost since everything is cut up and mixed, but it's all good."

  "Fruit smoothie is good, too," I added. "The blending, freezing, and then blending again makes it hard to tell you're not just eating normal fruit."

  Jackie accepted the compliments graciously before chowing down on his own serving. We ate silently for a few minutes, save for a few happy noises, before Jackie spoke up between bites.

  "How did your tinkering go?" He asked, raising an eyebrow before sipping his drink. "Got some good inspiration?"

  "Certainly looked like it," Kaytlyn cut in before I could answer. "He made a nuclear reactor before the sun came up, then took it apart and made a fusion reactor."

  "Nuclear?" Jackie asked. "He fit one into the garage?"

  "Pffft, I fit one into a wheelbarrow," I said, shaking my head. "It was literally small enough for me to drag around. Before I got any bioware."

  "And the… Fusion generator?"

  "Much bigger," I explained. "Wanted to reach as deeply as possible into my inspiration to unlock as much as possible. Gonna set it up as a backup generator, just in case. It's powerful enough to run the entire town by itself."

  "Damn… nice," Jackie said, bobbing his head a bit. "What's next?"

  "I wanna finish off some power-related stuff," I explained. "There are a lot of bits and pieces that will require specific types of energy sources, so I want a firm grasp on those. The fusion reactor was a great big step into the middle of that, but there are at least two more things I want to make before I can move on, probably more. Once that's done… I can figure out what's next."

  "Are you going to be coming with us when we go after the next Wraith base?" Kaytlyn asked. "I'm looking into the next one now."

  "Yes, of course," I responded with a frown. "No way in hell I'm not going. I might leave quickly instead of hanging around once it's done, but I'm not letting you guys fight without me there to help. Just give me as much time as possible to plan ahead."

  "Sure, it won't be for at least two days. Dakota is looking for some photos," Kaytlyn assured me. "I might take some on my own."

  We finished eating shortly after that, and I, unsurprisingly, headed back to the workshop. Jackie made his way back to the city to help his mom around the bar. As I got back, Samwise was working with his MRVN units, the older models with actual AI systems developing, to prepare the fusion generator so they could move it.

  As I sat down, I got started on my next chunk of designs, starting with the and then moving on to the. Both of them functioned on the same general science as the larger fusion generator but at a much smaller, disposable level. I quickly got everything designed and sent out for both of them, one after the other, so I could start to build the micro fusion cell while the fusion core was still being printed out.

  The cell and cores were essentially just the same thing, reinforced and stabilized fusion generators with a set amount of fuel in each one, just at different scales. While that may sound like enforced disposability, it actually made a good amount of sense. While standard fusion reactions were cleaner than fission, they were still dangerous. If there was an easy way to refill the cells and cores, it would most likely cause a whole lot of issues, especially because both the cells and cores had no room for extra safety features or control mechanisms. So, rather than tempt danger or mistakes, they sealed it off completely and made them disposable.

  Still, I wouldn't be using them very often in the grand scheme of things, at least not past completing the things I was building. While they did put out a remarkable amount of energy, their short lifespan was too annoying when I had Elerium. Eventually, when I start distributing large chunks of my tech, I might sell them, but that was a big if.

  My last project in the power branch was unlocked when I finished the fusion core. It was a compact device that was like the cells and cores, though this one was not usually meant to be removed. It was the same power generation tech used in the recharger rifles, an "infinite" source of fusion energy.

  In reality, it was just fusion with a slightly less energetic reaction between Boron 11 and Protium. It was considered "infinite" because the Boron was kept in a solid form inside the stand-alone generator and was slowly turned into a gas, a process that produced massive amounts of gas for very little solid matter. The boron gas then reacted with Protium, which was the most common form of hydrogen on the planet, accounting for 99.9% of what was in the atmosphere. They would take in gas from the atmosphere, separate it, then turn a minuscule amount of boron 11 from a solid into a gas, and start the reaction. That energy would then be stored in capacitors to charge whatever the stand-alone unit was inside of.

  The only downside was that the Boron 11 and protium fusion was noticeably less energetic than the standard tritium and deuterium, which made it useless for items with a high draw.

  When the charging unit, commonly known as a Microfusion breeder, was complete, I set it aside on my desk, letting the knowledge flow and settle in my mind. I now had an incredible understanding of the Fallout-style fusion, including several large-scale and small-scale designs built for cars, buildings and more. I was more than past the point where I could easily design my own from the ground up, the knowledge stored in my brain in crystal clear detail.

  "Alright. Step one, power, complete," I said, cracking my fingers and neck. "Time to start diving even deeper."