The Legendary Junkmaster

Chapter 146: Gears of Fate

Jason groaned as his eyes felt heavy. As he came to, he found himself sitting in the ANT-V in front of the worktable. 'What... Just happened?' A searing headache threatened to rip his skull apart as he glanced around. All the workers seemed to be fixated on one of the Murk Walkers. 'How long was I out for?'

"Hm, technically you weren't out..." Syssie's bright voice spoke from somewhere beside him.

"What do you mean?" Jason's gaze turned to look at her as he struggled to fight back the pain.

"You've been conscious the whole time! Don't you remember?" Syssie beamed as she wore a bright smile. "Maybe it's a side effect? Temporary memory loss perhaps?" 

Jason frowned as he glanced at the energetic AI as she stroked her cheek with a concerned expression. "What are you talking about?"

"Hm, from my logs it seems that my implant malfunctioned for some reason... Removing the restrictions on your Power for some time." Syssie frowned as she glanced at him. "It seems that some of my files were corrupted in the process... But, look at it this way! We don't need to worry about fixing me up anymore!"

Jason's frown deepened as he tried to digest what Syssie had just said. "What do you mean we don't have to worry anymore? What did I do?"

"While your Powers were operating at full capacity you fixed me up! Don't ask me how though. It seems I was there but my personality and memory coding experienced some problems due to the condition I was in." Syssie sighed as she looked at him with a warm expression. "It's a shame you can't be like that all of the time. We wouldn't have to worry so much..."

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Jason glared at her as his own thoughts ran wild. 'I really did that? What's up with that? And why can't I remember?' It was troubling him that he had no recollection of these events. Being told that he had been awake the entire time made it feel like he was not fully in control of his own body! 

'Why is my head hurting so bad!' Jason frustratedly rubbed his head as he shut his eyes, trying to make the pain go away.

"Ah, that seems to be the bad news..." Syssie hesitated to tell him what her most recent scans of his condition revealed to her. 

"Say it..." Jason growled. He had only come to moments ago, but he was already feeling sick to his stomach with the few things he had already heard.

"Well, removing the restrictions caused the tumour in your brain to grow considerably in size... I'm afraid that we have a new problem. We have to find a way to deal with it. If it grows much more it's likely, it will kill you. However, the good news is that it doesn't seem to grow on its own. I'm guessing your Power is the catalyst..." Syssie hummed as she reviewed the growth charts she had created.

"What about my Power triggers it?" Jason moaned with a worried tone as he glanced at her yet again. 

"Basically... From what I can see, things like your recent blackout and unlocking new skills. Although the latter seems to cause minor growth you'll be walking a thin line for a while." Syssie raised an eyebrow as she finished her analysis. "Jason, we need to consider finding a way to improve your brain's condition using the serum."

Syssie hated herself just for suggesting it. After the repercussions of using the experimental serum last time, she was not a fan of using it again. However, it seemed like their best option. If she were in Jason's shoes she would not dare to use it on herself without experimenting on a few guinea pigs first. There was no telling how severe the damage would be for trying to forcefully improve one's cognitive abilities.

"Yeah... Like that'll happen! There are only a few creatures in the documents you scanned that might hold the answer... But I've never heard of them or where they live! How are we meant to track them down? Plus... You know we have to return to Highrise. Sentinel will have a fit if we disappear. Do you really want him to come to hunt us down?" Jason groaned as he imagined Sentinel breaking down every door in Highrise in search of him.

"Well... we can do both, right?" Syssie smiled as she thought of a plan that would kill two birds with one stone. "We can go to Highrise and put up a bounty for the creatures. Surely there'll be someone who can track them down? Hell, we could ask Zach to pass the message around during his travels as well. There's no need to involve yourself with it!"

Jason frowned as he realised that she was right. He was quite a wealthy individual in Highrise... Or should be as long as his Gramps had not burned down the store. Why shouldn't he leverage his wealth to get what he needed? 'Plus, I can use the time to perfect the serum and my own equipment.' Although he was still dealing with the headache, he could not help but start to make plans for a larger vehicle that would let him explore the Empire without much fear. Something that would be fast and capable of carrying a mobile workshop!

'That's right... I should use this time to expand my influence and make some connections. Once things are in place, I can try setting up stores in other places. I'll definitely need a lot of money to experiment with the things I can create. I can just save my PP for now until I find a solution to the problems it brings whenever I gain new knowledge.' Jason felt liberated after having the most pressing problem dealt with. Even if he was ill at ease with the situation surrounding it.

"Hey! Jason! Come, take a look at this, will you? I'm not sure we've managed to do it exactly as you said!" Sarah shouted from among the crowd around the Murk Walker.

Jason frowned as he heard that. 'Did I come up with something that I can't remember? Shit! How am I meant to explain that I have no idea what I'm looking at either?' Jason groaned as he manipulated the ANT-V to walk over. However, what he saw when he arrived was a strange orange and purple metal leg. Similar in design to his ANT-V's except it was triangular shaped instead of round. 

'I see, those edges will help to cut through the black liquid. But what the hell is that metal?' Jason frowned as he studied the clean look it gave off. There was very little metal that he had ever seen that did not have the marks of time on it. Most of it had belonged to Sentinel. But this was in a whole other league. It looked like it had just been freshly made!

"Does it look alright? To be honest, I was worried at first when you sold me those jars of liquid... I mean, who would believe that they would become solid metal once they were left out in the air for a few hours? If you hadn't warned me to make casts of the shapes we needed, then I would've wasted this! Do you have any more you can sell me?" Sarah stared at him with expectant eyes while the others looked at him as if he were a miracle worker.

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"Sorry... No. That was all I had..." Jason lied through his teeth. There was no way he could admit that he had no idea what this metal was! Clearly, he was responsible for it, but it just frustrated him so damn much that he could not remember a thing about it!

"Oh! When will you be able to make more? You said you have your own business, right? Star Gear? I'd be happy to enter into a partnership with you if you can supply parts for custom Murk Walkers? They'd be all the rage around here! We've been stuck with the same design for so long!" Sarah's eye looked hopeful. As if she was staring at the proverbial goose that laid golden eggs! There was no way she could let this opportunity slip by her!

"Ah, the materials are hard to come by.... So I'm not even sure if I'll be able to make more again. But I'd be happy to have you as a business contact. I'm sure we can work something out between us." Jason smiled as he secretly cursed himself for whatever else he may have done while he was unconscious!