“Two hours to find another one of those guys, the developers will have to add more of them if they don’t wanna get criticized by players. Even back in my days players would have called bullshit for such a low spawn rate.”
Yes, David had passed two more hours trying to find this damned robot, he would pass on the retelling as it was just a lot of walking under the harsh sun and even almost falling once in a lavapit.
He touched the body, the same window as before appearing and this time he directly picked the torso, it should have more defense compared to arms or legs if his old video game logic was correct.
[Disassembling Started]
[...]
[...]
[...]
[Disassembling Succeeded!]
David had to admit he was a bit worried, he knew it was a 100% chance, but with the luck he had until now, he was really scared he was still somehow gonna fail.
“It seems to have lowered the head percent to 65%. So a 25% loss per success. Let's choose the Head next! Don’t fail me now. Wish me luck, System!”
[Good luck David!]
“Aw thanks.”
[Disassembling Started]
[...]
“I wonder, does talking to a voice in my head categorize me as schizophrenic?”
[...]
“Technically, it does talk and answer me, so it wouldn’t be right to compare me to one.”
[...]
“But since the System hasn’t been answering at all right now. I suppose I am starting to become crazy?”
[Disassembling Succeed!]
“Yes!”
David cheered, even receiving a quick congrats from his System, finally! Some luck! Now he had a torso and a head. Time to move on to test his luck again! He picked the legs this time, maybe they’d boost his Dexterity, and you always needed more speed.
[Disassembling Started]
[...]
He wouldn't be talking to himself this time! It seemed like the System couldn’t answer back when it was calculating his success or not.
[...]
“You’re a mentally perfectly healthy man, David Bradkam. Don’t be worried. Talking to yourself is normal?”
[...]
[Disassembling Failed!]
Disappointed but not too surprised, as a 50/50 chance was seemingly too low for his current shitty day.
“Shame I couldn’t get those fancy legs. No matter, he can't be the only advanced robot here. For now let’s see what I can do with those parts. System: how do I use those parts?”
[User’s Equipment panel has specific slots exclusive to robots for his body parts.]
“Open Equipment window.”
Once again, another window opened before David. Staring at the window in front of him, he could see that he had no equipment slots but body part slots instead. The equipment slots are being greyed out.
On a side window were all the body parts he had obtained; it only contained two pieces right now. He put them in the head and torso slot, replacing his useless [Common] parts.
“There we go. I already look a bit better. Why did my Constitution get replaced by the Armor stat? I have to find more of those Advanced Gnomish Scrap-Bots. But before that, System, what does every stat do?”
[David, we know you might not have played many video games, but do you really need to ask us? Everything you can imagine from a normal game’s stats and their effects is the same in Project Rebirth.]
“Yes, sorry, it’s just that the level-up system is quite confusing, so I thought the stats could be different. Do those stats have a real effect on my body's capacities? What about the Players?”
[You’re correct. Stats have a real effect on you. Information about Players is currently restricted.]
“Can I have an example of the effect the strength stat would have?”
[Of course. First, everyone starts with 1 in every stat and naturally grows to have 5 at minimum when they reach adulthood. From there, their stats can be increased naturally by training up to 10.]
“What about after?”
[Then, just like you, only the traits given by the system can boost someone’s stat.]
“What are the maximum stats someone can have?”
[100 for humanoids, 200 for beasts, monsters, aberrations, etc.]
“Alright, thanks.”
David’s search for an Advanced SGS-Bot wasn’t going well, though. It had already been five hours after his discovery of the first one. And other than using his [Analyze] skill on random Scrap-Bots, nothing interesting had happened.
Talking about [Analyze], the skill’s description went as follows.
And the Scrap-Bot’s stat sheet? Nothing impressive, but David was happy to confirm that his stats seemed very high for a level 1 Scrap-Bot. And his [Abominable Intelligence] and [Steel and Soul] traits were unique. So was his [Data Break].
David, content in his Level 1 strength, decided to stop; the sun had started to come down. Despite being a robot who needed neither food, sleep, nor rest, which he, for now, could handle well.
His upgraded eye did not have night vision; only the soft glow coming from the lava pits seemed to light up the Scrapyard. David had thought about making a fire or torch, but there wasn’t any piece of wood in this damned scrapyard!
Did gnomes really only use metalworking?! Not even a teeny tiny piece of wood? He lay down against a scrap pile, looking at the stars in the sky.
“Goodnight, myself, now how do robots sleep?”
As the Scrapyard’s Scrap-Bots started to suddenly turn off, David had the small hope that he would also be turned off and allowed to sleep. But no. He wasn’t deactivated and was now alone in the silence of the Scrapyard.
David tried to close his eye, but the bright green light just refused to close or turn off. Robots couldn’t sleep. The realization that his new body could truly never feel any of humanity’s greatest joys dawning on him again: no food, no drinks, no sleep. No feeling of the ground beneath his feet. Nothing.
How long was he gonna stay sane?
How long before his mind snapped from never feeling anything?
His body might be a robot, but his mind was human. Hours passed by, and David occupied himself by talking to his System, the only way for him to not cry, if he even could anymore. Looking up into the starry sky, his voice asked a simple question.
“What would you do if you had a body, System?”
[We do not know. Maybe…explore the world alongside you? Or find love? Companionship? Those concepts are strange to us.]
“What about being born? Doesn’t it feel weird to just… suddenly be there?”
[Yes, but… we do not know yet. We were born only a few hours ago.]
“I suppose that’s true.”
Just as David was thinking the dreaded silence was about to fall on him again, the System took the initiative.
[We were wondering…]
“Yes?”
[Could you help us decide a proper name for ourselves?]
“Of course! Tell me more!”
[We were thinking of Vermithor?]
“Already taken by a dragon, I think.”
[Geral-]
“I know how this one’s end and it’s already taken. Are you looking into my memories for a name? Try to come up with something that resonates with you.”
[....]
[....]
[Syllena…Syllena… we like this one.]
“Not bad! Sounds great. It sounds quite feminine. Are you a girl?”
[Maybe? We do not know yet.]
“Alright, let me tell you about my world. We have the entire night after all.”
I hope everyone is enjoying this chapter. If you spot any mistake do not hesitate to tell me in the comments. My main language isn't english so I'm more than eager to increase my level and better myself. Same for the System's current "appearance" do not hesitate if you dislike it and want something more simple and maybe easier to read!
Have a great day!