The harsh voice of whatever was running the table cut through the nearly total silence. “Drone awaiting commands.”
I let out a sharp breath as what was going on came to me. The system had said that it didn’t know the control system I had built, so there was little that it could order the drone to do. As such, the drone would follow the very basics of its program until told otherwise. Basics that I programmed in.
Upon startup, the drone was to scan the environment, check systems, and then focus its attention on any authorized users. Given that, for the moment, I was the only one programmed into its system, its focus was entirely on me.
Hands shaking, I pulled out my pad and the little device I had thrown together. It slid onto the back of the pad and snapped into place as the two devices linked together. A series of windows appeared and vanished before the device settled on a single window.
Warning: New peripheral detected.
Device: External Control System
Manufacturer: Unknown
Certifications: None
Access requested:
- Radio Antenna
- Mana Channels
- Mana Battery
- Sensors
- Files
- Photos
- Screen
- Microprojectors
- Audio
- Microphone
Grant Access?
While I understood the need for most of that, I didn’t quite recall adding a need for it to access any photos or files. Maybe one of the dependencies needed them? I didn’t know. All I knew was that the drone would keep staring at me until I made a decision either way.
Honestly, though, if it came down to it, I could pull the device off and recycle it for parts. So what would it hurt to give it access? At least limited to when the program was running?
With a simple tap, the window vanished as the pad in my hand started to grow warm against my palm. Various windows came and went before the control schema I programmed into it popped onto the screen.
For now, there were three ways I could tell the drone what to do. The one that was the easiest for me to add was something I stole from drone manufacturers since the units were first developed. As such, two virtual joysticks would appear just above my screen. With them, I could control the drone's direction, speed, and weapons, all while getting any information I needed from the various sensors scattered across its body.
Then there was the method that was probably the hardest to program. Mostly due to all the various situations and such that the drone would need to take into account when following my instructions. Instructions that came in the form of simple buttons on the screen.
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As of now, the system only had three main commands. Follow, guard, and free roam. Then we had the two buttons on the side that were more like modifiers than anything. One enabled the drone's weapon while the other was more of a mapping function. What I would use it for, I had no clue. But I figured it wouldn’t hurt to have and it wasn’t like it was hard to copy along with the manual controls.
And then there was the last control method. It had a single button and nothing else. Either the laser pointer was on or off. The moment it turned on, the drone would target the dot and take it out.
While it wasn’t hard in terms of programming, it was hard for me to find reasons not to make it, as it was the most dangerous control schema I could think of. The worst part was the simplicity of it might mean the difference between life and death.
As I tapped the laser pointer mode, I pointed the top of my pad to one of the dummy targets set along the far wall. A small red line lanced out from my pad and onto my shirt. In a flurry, the various motors on the drone kicked into overdrive. It zipped across and around the room in search of a good shot.
A rapid-fire clicking noise of relays flicking on and off filled the room as the drone fired. All of this happened in less than ten seconds. Not enough time for Bert to register what was going on, let alone do anything.
Thankfully, though, the drone had nothing to fire, or I would likely be a mist of blood. Before it could decide to do something stupid like run into me at full speed, I turned off the laser pointer and flipped my pad over.
Of all the stupid things I have ever done, putting the control unit on upside-down took the cake. That would be the first thing I fixed when I got back to our cabin. For now, though, I twisted the unit around and used the laser to target the dummy again. The drone didn’t hesitate to spin and race around as it took shots at the new target.
Laser pointer working, I flew through testing the manual controls. Not only were they touchy, but the drone was way too responsive. Let's just say that the walls in the room might now have one or two, or twenty, new dents. Totally not my fault. It was the controls. Truly, after a bit of tuning them for my reaction time, they worked perfectly.
“I am sorry to say,” The guard popped into the room, catching our attention. “But you must return to your train as you will be departing in five minutes.”
They barely gave me enough time to disconnect the drone from the table before practically shoving us down the halls and onto the train with all the other people rushing back from whatever they were doing. We stepped into our cabin as a hiss of air and a soft wave of mana rippled out from somewhere nearby.
With a lurch, the train started to move. Unlike all the other times, mana screamed as the train practically raced to get away from the city. “Want some jerky?” Bert held a small bag out to me. For some reason, the guy loved jerky more than anything else. Anytime he saw a new flavor or such, he had to get it just so he could compare it with all the others he had tried.
“Where is this one from?” I asked as I took a piece. Pepper and salt tickled my tongue. But under it, there was a subtle flavor of something woody. If I didn’t know that I was eating meat, I might have thought it was a well-treated piece of bark.
“I picked up this bag and a few others back in Harvest.” He chewed on another piece. “This one isn’t all that bad. Not the best. But not bad.”
“Thinking of making your own?” I asked as I started to put all the various parts and pieces back into my bag. His glare was answer enough. I laughed. “Just remember to share.”
“Of course, of course,” he flicked a hand out before grabbing another piece. “But, in return, I want you to give your training your full attention. No slacking.” With that said, he shoved the piece in his mouth as he put the bag away. Probably to save for later.
“Fine,” I handed him my suitcase, and he tossed it into the space with all the rest. With a huff, I debated what to do. While I could pull out my pad and do some research, or even do some programming, I was hesitantly curious about what he thought my power might be.
In the end, I pulled out my pad and got to reading. At this point, it wasn’t even worth thinking about what power I might have, if I had one that is. Not when I would find out soon enough.
But first, time to look up everything I could on the next city we were scheduled to stop in, Marshes. What an odd name. Still, I didn’t want to be caught by surprise like I had the last two cities.