Chapter 99: New Shuttle

Words : 1253 Updated : Sep 12th, 2025

Chapter 99: New Shuttle D-29 watched as the Host finally found something relatively affordable. After some time of staying beside its Host, Luca, it had never seen him consider anything as cheap. The little system couldn’t understand this for now, but eventually, it would realize that, like most humans, its Host had a spending problem: overspending was only a problem when spending it on oneself! But D-29 decided to drop a wedge on Luca’s grandiose spending! "Host, that is actually expensive!" D-29 shocked Luca, who was about to make a huge mistake! "You’re saying this is expensive? How could that be?" Luca was actually basing it on how much Ollie spent when they first shopped for these materials. He heard a lot of zeroes and decided to close his ears. The poor money-grubber wasn’t ready for the amounts he was hearing! But D-29 just said these were expensive? "That is because you can actually get it from here, host! The Trove is just charging you for labor costs!" "I can get these from here! Labor cost?!" This new knowledge surprised the little penny pincher! He didn’t waste any time and decided on getting to the bottom of this! Literally. Luca forgot that a mine opened inside his space and was now hauling everyone to see what this mine was all about. Luca could actually teleport to his desired location, but Ollie couldn’t, so they had to find a different mode of transportation to visit the mines located in the mountains. Hmm. He wondered why Xavier was able to do it yet Ollie wasn’t able to. "Host, if you’re looking for transportation, why not call upon that mecha?" D-29 recommended his new lackey for the job; at least this one didn’t require that expensive battery! D-29’s mindset was to save money. But if anyone could hear its thoughts, many would collapse at how the little system thought of the guardian mecha’s energy consumption as more cost-effective! Sid wanted to hide away in the deepest recesses of this master’s consciousness. He had been fine pretending to be a dead fish after experiencing the relentless assault and nagging of this system called D-29. The problem with this new enemy was how formidable it was, as it did not have a physical body that could be attacked. Sid could only hide away and hope for the best! But what was this? The originally glorified guardian mecha, who had served the best and most illustrious of the Empire’s Imperial Family, was about to be used as a shuttle bus to go on a mining trip. How far had he fallen? And there was no resisting. This new master had such strong spiritual abilities that Sid, a newly shared guardian mecha, could only appear while crying invisible tears. "You called, master?" That was all the pitiful mecha could say. "I am sorry, Sid! We’re lacking ways to get to the mine and figured we could ask for your help!" Asked his new master. In reality, this master was a little confusing. Based on observation, he was relatively docile and generous to his master and the other subordinates. But how come he was capable of instantly engaging in crimes?! Does he have multiple personalities? The mecha could only wonder, as he agreed (he had no choice) to shuttle them to wherever this mine was. But boy, was Sid glad that he decided to sell his soul and conscience to this villanous master! Somewhere in a shuttle back to the Academy sat the actual master, who had a horrible feeling. Xavier had no idea where this was coming from, but his ear felt itchy, and his senses were telling him that something nefarious was going on somewhere. It wasn’t really that bad. Or so the little mining dwarves would claim! Luca and Ollie managed to get to the mine nestled close to the top of a mountain by sheer will. Ollie had to be carried by the mecha’s hand because Sid’s cockpit was rejecting Ollie’s energy. That was odd. Xavier was able to stuff him in with no problem, so why couldn’t he do that now? The guardian mecha was again shocked at how the new master was even willing to cheat on his original master, and with a slightly taller stick at that?! Of course, Luca couldn’t bring in Ollie because the mecha was now bound to two energy waves and could not accept a third. Sid had no idea who he could report this to when D-29 kept on fencing him in like a strict supervisor! But no matter, this was his reality now. There was no way he could leave til death would they part. However, it seems like there would be no need for any sort of departure and separation! The closer they got to the mine, the stronger the resonance became. Sid was dead sure there were ores and other materials used for bio-mechas like him in there. D-29 was just watching the mecha’s cognitive dissonance. With the information he nicely (not) procured from Sid, he was now privy to the materials used to make one such mecha. The little system wanted to accomplish a few things with this and prepared a very lucrative deal. "Sid, it seems like you haven’t been upgraded in a while?" The guardian mecha felt like gulping had it been possible! It felt like the evil system wanted to take away the last of his rationality! "You see, my Host, who owns this mine, is very generous and would surely understand your plight. Especially if you were to be helpful in accomplishing his goals!" Sid listened, with his bio-mechanical heart feeling swayed by the sweet words of a little scammer! The mecha tried resisting, actively trying to block off the alluring words. But then his new Master spoke, likely goaded by the crazy system! "Sid, is that true? Have you not upgraded in a while because you were lacking materials?" Luca was concerned! Sid had consciousness and must have been feeling bad if he’d never had a doctor’s appointment in so many years! There was no lying to the master as he had been coded to obey, "Yes, Master. Not only is it a problem with the materials, but also a problem with the tuner and designer. We do not have masters who are capable of dealing with mechas like me." Sid was honestly saddened by this truth. It was one reason why Xavier also avoided using him unless absolutely necessary. What would happen if he was damaged beyond basic repair? However, that meant Sid had to be alone for a long time. His entire purpose was to serve his masters, and part of serving them was understanding the best way to deal with this. So, Sid understood. "D-29 just informed me that some of the materials he can sense from the mine seem to be similar to what you have now. How about we check if there’s also a way for you to get upgrades or at least repairs?" Luca asked, hopeful, considering the number of new materials and blueprints on the Trove. Sid was not expecting this turn of events! Was it really possible for a mecha like him to get such a treatment in this day and age? While a little system was plotting for its Host’s financial freedom, a giant guardian mecha was slowly changing his allegiance unbeknownst to its original master! Maybe this is why many of his friends opted to live the thug life.

Chapter 99: New Shuttle

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