Chapter 55: Getting An Implant

Then he remembered something.

Rexi.

And Alexis.

They had mentioned something about Cadet Points.

Arthur frowned.

"...I don’t remember ever seeing anything like that before."

He hadn’t exactly had the time to carefully inspect every feature of the Imperial Academy’s Neural Link interface.

Perhaps the Neural Link had more information available to him than he realized.

Arthur slowed his steps.

"Neural Link."

A faint chime sounded inside his head.

〘AWAITING COMMAND.〙

"Display my Cadet Information."

For a moment, nothing happened.

Then a red holographic interface appeared before his eyes.

〘IMPERIAL ACADEMY CADET INFORMATION〙

Name: Arthur Von Ashbourne

Cadet Number: IMC-A7X-492781

Status: Imperial Academy Cadet

Loyalty to the Empire: 100%

Cadet Integrity Score: 100

Cadet Points: 40

Arthur stared at the display.

"...Forty, huh?"

He continued reading.

A second section appeared beneath it.

〘CADET POINT USAGE HISTORY〙

Initial Allocation From "Entry Assessment Performance": +50

Disciplinary Deductions: -10

Arthur’s eyebrows rose.

"...Minus ten?"

He stared at the screen.

Then it clicked.

His expression slowly became speechless.

The only time he could remember losing Cadet Points was...

That class.

That insane old man.

Arthur’s eye twitched.

"...That crazy bastard."

So all that minus five he was saying was actually coming out of his Cadet Points... Arthur thought it was some sort of passing grade for the class or something... Not his Cadet Points.

Arthur sighed, then looked at his remaining balance.

Cadet Points: 40

"...So that’s how this works."

He stared at the number for another moment.

If Cadet Points were required to obtain implants...

Then he needed to be considerably more careful with them from now on, seeing as how it only took a word from an instructor to make him lose them.

Arthur closed the window.

"Forty points..."

He rubbed his chin.

"...And I’m about to walk into the implant facility without even knowing how much anything costs."

He sighed.

Maybe Alexis had been right.

He really should think this through.

"Might as well still head there. If things turn out to be too expensive, I can always just turn back."

...

"What the hell am I looking at?"

Arthur had made his way to what his Neural Link said the implant shop would be located at, but he couldn’t help feeling like it had made some mistake.

After going through a bunch of narrow corridors, he’d stepped into the massive hall.

The entire place was bathed in red light.

Unlike the clean, sterile atmosphere of the Academy’s medical facilities, this place felt completely different.

Almost... illicit.

Loud rock music blasted from somewhere deeper inside the hall, the heavy guitar riffs echoing throughout the massive room.

It was strangely out of place.

This was supposed to be part of the Imperial Academy.

Yet the atmosphere made it feel more like some kind of underground black-market establishment.

Everywhere Arthur looked, cadets were testing various types of implants.

Some had mechanical arms.

Others had artificial legs.

There were even cadets with implants covering parts of their faces, glowing circuitry running beneath their skin.

A few of them looked downright freakish.

Arthur stared at one cadet whose entire left arm had been replaced by a bulky mechanical limb with several rotating components.

Another had what appeared to be a mechanical eye that continuously adjusted its focus.

"...What kind of place is this?"

Arthur glanced around.

There were multiple implant shops scattered throughout the Academy grounds.

Apparently, this was simply the closest one to his current location.

Still...

He couldn’t help but wonder why the Academy allowed a place like this to exist.

Arthur stepped further inside.

The moment he did, several cadets turned to look at him.

Their gazes lingered.

Arthur ignored them.

He approached the nearest group of cadets.

"Excuse me."

A few of them looked at him.

"I’m here to see the Doc. I’m looking to get an implant."

For a moment, nobody answered.

Then a bulky-looking cadet pointed toward one side of the hall.

"That way."

Arthur followed his finger.

There was a large black door tucked away in the corner.

"Thanks."

The cadet simply nodded.

Arthur walked toward the door.

He placed his hand against it.

The door opened.

Arthur stepped inside.

The door closed behind him.

As Arthur stepped through the door, he paused.

"...Huh?"

The sight before him was completely different from what he had expected.

It looked like some kind of bar.

Unlike the red lighting outside, the interior was illuminated by ordinary, colorful lights. Blue, purple, green, and yellow lights hung above the counter, giving the room a surprisingly relaxed atmosphere.

Arthur glanced around.

There wasn’t a single person seated at the counter.

Except for one young woman with pink hair and blue eyes, looking through a blue holographic interface.

She sat quietly at the far end of the room, her back turned slightly toward him. She was a cadet a year ahead of him. Arthur could tell because of the silver ’2’ badge on her shoulder.

Arthur narrowed his eyes.

...What would an Iron Angel be doing here?

Arthur didn’t stare for too long.

Instead, he walked over to one of the empty seats near the counter and sat down.

That’s when he noticed the man behind it.

The barkeep appeared to be in his early thirties.

He had deep brown hair and striking yellow eyes and mechanical arms covered with synthetic skin.

A cigar rested between his lips as he casually cleaned several cups with a cloth.

Arthur looked at him.

"Looking for Doc."

The man didn’t immediately respond.

He continued cleaning the cup in his hand.

Then, without saying a word, he reached beneath the counter.

He pulled out a small chip and slid it across the counter toward Arthur.

Arthur picked it up.

The moment his fingers touched it, the chip activated.

A blue holographic window appeared before him.

Dozens of implants were displayed across the interface.

Mechanical arms.

Artificial eyes.

Neural enhancements.

Synthetic organs.

Combat augmentations.

The list seemed almost endless.

The man finally spoke.

"Take your pick."

Arthur stared at the holographic display.

"Don’t mind if I do, hey, Doc."

"The name’s Old Dunner."

The man sighed, crushing his cigar into an ashtray as he spoke.

"You must be new around here, so I’ll let it slide. Don’t ever call me that ever again."

"Noted."

Arthur said it flatly.

Then he glanced toward the door.

"What the hell is going on out there?"

The man reached for another cigar.

He placed it between his lips before raising one of his mechanical hands.

A small flame suddenly emerged from the tip of one of his fingers.

Fwoosh.

The flame lit the cigar.

Old Dunner took a slow puff before blowing the smoke toward the ceiling.

"It’s a free zone."

He leaned against the counter.

"Implant shops like this are all around the base. They’re meant to give cadets a place to unwind a little after getting an implant."

He took another puff.

"Makes the whole process easier too. Letting them ease into things more smoothly, since erratic behavior is expected when someone bites off more than they can chew."

Arthur raised an eyebrow.

Old Dunner shrugged.

"Kids being kids. They come whenever these days."

Arthur glanced back at the holographic interface.

"So this is basically a place for cadets to get used to their implants?"

"Among other things."

Old Dunner took another puff from his cigar.

"Some come here to celebrate. Some come here to complain. Some come here because they just spent half their Cadet Points on an implant and are too scared to go back to their dorms."

Arthur blinked.

"...That’s a thing?"

"You’d be surprised."

Old Dunner tapped the ash from his cigar.

"Some implants can take time to get used to. Your body suddenly has capabilities it didn’t have yesterday. Your brain needs time to adjust."

Arthur nodded slowly.

That made sense.

He looked back at the holographic interface.

There were hundreds of options.

Some were relatively simple.

Others looked absurd.

One implant enhanced muscular output.

Another enhanced reflexes.

There were neural processors, sensory amplifiers, reinforced skeletal structures, artificial organs, energy converters, targeting systems, and countless other enhancements.

Arthur frowned.

"...There are a lot of options."

"Obviously."

Old Dunner glanced at him.

"You came here expecting to find one implant?"

"I didn’t know what to expect."

"Figures."

Old Dunner pointed toward the holographic display with his cigar.

"Don’t just pick whatever looks cool."

Arthur’s eyes narrowed.

"Wasn’t planning to."

"Good."

Old Dunner leaned back.

"Then tell me what you want."

Arthur paused.

"What I want?"

"Strength?"

He raised one finger.

"Speed?"

A second.

"Durability?"

A third.

"Enhanced perception?"

A fourth.

"Neural processing?"

A fifth.

"Something more specialized?"

Old Dunner lowered his hand.

"Or maybe you just want something flashy because clocked twenty and think looking badass is the same thing as being strong."

Arthur shrugged. "Could be either one." He continued scrolling.

He already knew what his biggest problem was.

His body.

More specifically...

His body couldn’t always keep up with what his mind could perceive.

Genesis allowed him to see attacks before they happened.

But seeing an attack didn’t mean he could physically evade it.

He had already learned that lesson the hard way.

During his fight with the Riki Handler instructor, he had seen the man’s knee coming.

He simply hadn’t been fast enough to move.

Arthur’s gaze stopped on an implant designed to enhance neural processing.

Then another that enhanced physical speed.

He hesitated.

...Which one?