Making the Grade (Omnia Online Series Book 2) (15 page)

“I’m sorry Kevin, but I don’t own the rights to any audio filters that can make sense of it.  Would you like me to check on the price of a software upgrade?” asked Samantha.

“Not yet, just store away the conversation for later analysis.  We might need to revisit it at a later date,” said Kevin. “What do you think the chances are that the militia both have stealth vehicles and would be willing to share one with me.  They must think I’m the Governor's stooge in this game anyway…”

“Never mind, it was just wishful thinking,” said Kevin.

“If you wish, Kevin, I could do a search of authorized military purchases over the last few years and see if anything turns up.  This is data from the planetary Senate, so the militia wouldn’t even have to know I’m looking,” said Samantha.

Kevin considered for a moment if he wanted to bother.  By the time anything was discovered this whole assignment might be over.

“Ok, Samantha, but it’s a low priority since I doubt the militia would just leave that type of information hiding in plain sight,” said Kevin.

“Now Sam, I was thinking before that we might wait until tomorrow before scouting out the target base, but after talking to the Governor, I decided to push that up, if possible.  Can you think of anything else we might do to find the base?” asked Kevin, “I would prefer to go in on foot at night when my skills and scout armor will give me the most advantage.”

“One more thing to think about, distractions…  After the last simulated mission, I realized that having a few preplanned distractions, just as I left the research complex would, have made my escape much more likely.  So we need to either buy or build some distractions.  One thought I had was something like a simple alarm clock radio.  Do you think we could buy something like that?” asked Kevin.

“Yes, there are comm broadcast services that people like to listen too.  Something like a political talk channel, or weather reporting service could be an excellent way to get someone looking the wrong way.  But we might want to set up a trigger device, instead of a timer.” replied Samantha.

“Well, that would be a lot cheaper than spending thousands of credits on more explosives, so let's plan a shopping trip.  In fact, while we wait for more information, now might be a good time to go shopping,” said Kevin.

“Sure Kevin, we’ll head back into Omnia for a little shopping after an early Dinner…” Samantha reminded him.

“Fine Sam, but please make it something simple.” requested Kevin.  Samantha had a habit of laying out some very elegant and elaborate meals, and Kevin loved the variety and flavor of everything she made.  But he felt like he was under pressure to make progress on his assignment.  The Governor made it sound like people were panicking and starting to run for the stars.

“Kevin, before you eat, you need to calm down and center yourself.  You let the conversation you had with the Governor increase your level of stress too much.  This assignment will have its own flow, and there is only so much we can do to make things happen faster.  So, sit down and take a few breaths, a few minutes of meditation will do you some good.”  Samantha said.

Samantha was the one in charge of taking care of him, Kevin knew she always had good reasons for her request, so he stopped for a few minutes and followed her advice.

Kevin felt more centered and relaxed after about five minutes, after ten minutes he felt as refreshed as if he’d taken a short nap.

“Thanks, Samantha, I needed that.  I didn’t even notice how much my emotions were draining my energy,” said Kevin. “So dinner then, love?”

That night's dinner was gyros, which is a Greek pita and meat roll.  This one had a creamy cucumber sauce that Kevin thought went really well with the meat, onions, and tomatoes.

After dinner, Kevin returned to the game room and reentered Omnia.

“Samantha, do you have any idea where we should shop for something like a small alarm clock?” asked Drake.

“You can choose, much like your world, there are small stores that specialize in electronics, large superstores with a lot of variety, or what has been your choice in the past, used goods stores.  I wouldn’t suggest used goods stores though since the price difference for electronics isn’t high, and generally, it’s junk by the time it gets to a used goods store,” said Samantha.

When Samantha started listing his options, Drake immediately thought of a Radio Shack.  That was the type of store he needed since they stocked not only clocks and radios, but tools and gear he could use to modify a radio.

“How about something like a Radio Shack Sam.  They’re often a bit more expensive than some of the other places, but the have a wider selection of what I might need.  Is there a place like that in Vastal?”

“Yes, a couple, it’s a city after all.  But the one with the most selection is ‘Bogdan’s Electronics’.”

“Ok. lead the way, my lady.  Should I take a tube capsule or request a cab…  we can put this on our list of expenses for the ranchers right?”

“Yes, but with last Saturdays scouting mission, that six hundred credits is mostly spoken for.  There is a tube terminal just a few hundred meters from the store.  I think you should take a tube there, then a taxi back with your purchases.” replied Samantha.

Without further delay, Drake started running to the spaceport terminal.  He was still feeling light from the difference in gravity, and the run felt like an easy jog.

Drake had put on his armor, weapons, and backpack before leaving the High Jinx.  The only thing he didn’t have was his blaster carbine.  Walking around in full armor and weapons did attract a bit more attention than Drake would have liked, but he wanted to have his gear with him.  He had a feeling that action was just a short time away, which made wearing the gear a weighty comfort.

On entering Bogdan’s Electronics, he felt like a cosplay Star Wars Storm Trooper stopping in to buy a pack of batteries.

Drakes senses were assaulted on entering the electronic shop, there were sounds, flashing lights, holo-displays, and anything Drake ever imagined in the way of electronic gadgets.  It really wasn’t too loud, but the techy geek inside of him wanted to look everywhere at once.

While his eyes were taking in the store, a voice beside him said, “Welcome to Bogdan’s Electronics, Hassan’s largest and best source for everything you need and want in electronics.  Please leave your weapons at the service counter or wait for a sales agent to help you.”

The voice came from a female android, that was stationed at the door as a greeter.

Drake was curious about the Android, he wanted to see if it was just a recording or had some intelligence. 

“I thought it was common to wear a weapon on this planet,” Drake said.

“Yes, sir.” It responded with a feminine voice, “but many of our customers find the presence of weapons disturbing, and we at Bogdan’s Electronics would like for all our customers to be as comfortable as possible while enjoying the Bogdan experience.”

The answer was still too canned for Drake to figure out if it was controlled by an A.I.

“Do you have a name, and are you an A.I.?” Drake asked it directly.

“Yes, my name is Vera, and I’m running an A.I.s replicant program.  In a way you could say that I’m an extension of Vera, she programmed me to answer any of the common thousands of questions people ask when entering one of our stores.  If a customer needs something not previously thought of, she’s quickly able to update my software to include the new answer.  Did you have something you needed to know about Bogdan’s Electronics, sir?” Asked the replicant.

The Android looked nearly human but in a way it was the perfection of the skin and features that immediately gave it away to Drake as being artificial.

“Does Bogdan’s sell a line of Androids?” asked Drake.

“Yes, sir, Bogdan’s Electronics sells almost anything a customer might need in the way of electronic devices, including Androids.” Answered the Android.

Drake was thinking about Samantha, he’d once joked with her about buying a body for her to use.

“Where is the service desk and how do I know my weapons will be safe there?” Drake decided to move on, he had no interest in just waiting for a salesperson, who might just repeat what the Android was saying, anyway.  He could live without the blaster for a few minutes while shopping.

“There are lockers at the service desk to protect your valuables.  The service desk is to your left, near the front of the store, and thank you for choosing Bogdan’s for all your electronic needs.” Said the Androids replicant program, as she pointed in the direction of the customer service desk.

As Drake headed to the customer service desk that the Android had pointed out, he thought about giving the job of a greeter to something like an Android.  It was one of the things he’d hated about fast food, having to put on a plastic smile and give the same rote answers to all the same questions.  To him it made sense, if the smile and replies were fake and repetitive, just give the work to an Android.  Maybe Walmart could buy android greeters in the near future.

There was a young female elf at the customer service desk, she looked like she was young enough to be in high school.  Drake found elves to be a bit exotic, their eyes were just a tiny bit larger than normal, and their hair had a greater range of color.  This young elf girl, for instance, had hair of dark purple.

As Drake approached, she said, “Hello, have you come to check in your weapons, sir?”

“Yes, the Android indicated that wearing them in the store was unwelcome, and she said that you have lockers?” asked Drake.

“Yes, sir.” The girl handed Drake a disk with the number 41 on it.  “This key will open locker 41 there on the end.  Don’t worry about anything you put in the locker, the keys are always quantumly re-randomized with each use, and only the manager has an override, so please don’t lose the key.”

“Sure, how about my knife, does that need to go in the locker too?” asked Drake.

“No, just any ranged weapon, sir” she replied.

Drake found the locker and stashed his helmet, backpack, heavy blaster and his new stun gun in it.  There was a little circular area right next to the handle where he had to press the key to open the locker.

After stashing his gear in the locker, he started wandering around the store.  It was a lot like walking around an Earth electronics store like Circuit City.  There were home appliances like clothing refreshers, and cleaning bots.  There was a section displaying the latest in home entertainment, with big holo-displays that really gave the entertainment flick they were playing life.  Drake didn’t enter this area, it was sealed off by glass, but he imagined that the sound actually made you feel like you were in the 3d scene being displayed.

Drake finally made it to an area where they sold smaller electronics like he was looking for, there were many designs of small radios and clocks to choose from.  At the end of the aisle, there was a holo-display offering to custom build any electronics listed in the store's catalog.  As Drake stopped to check this display out, a female Dwarf approached him, wearing the store colors and a tag with the name ‘Zrinka’ on it.

“Hello sir, My name is Zrinka, would you like to order something from our catalog?  Our store fabber can build anything listed in the catalog and have it for you before your ready to leave.” She said.

This caught Drakes attention since he would soon have a fabber of his own.  Did that mean it could make anything in this catalog too?

“What type of Fabber does the store have?” asked Drake.

The Dwarven lady beamed, “Good question, I happen to know that because I’m the store fabber technician.  It’s been a slow day, so I’m filling in for Erebus, who is on a break.  We have a Khorshid Heavy Industries Model 4 Class 2 Electronics Fabricator.”  She seemed to take pride in both the fabricator and the fact that she worked with the machine.

“How is a Khorshid Heavy Industries Class 2 Electronics Fabricator different from a Hansiung Class 3 Auto Fabricator?” asked Drake.

The woman paused for a minute in thought.

“Well, our Electronics Fabricator is designed to quickly and efficiently produce almost any type of electronic items.  A shop like ours can’t stock the millions of different kinds of items that are in our catalog, so instead we fabricate special orders on site, and only display on the shelf the most commonly purchased goods. Our fabricator is a large one that can produce larger devices than most and usually much faster than a generalize fabricator, but it’s not designed to make non-electronic devices.  That doesn’t mean it can’t, it just takes much longer for it to make something it’s not designed for.” replied the technician.

“Thanks, I’m hoping to have a Hansiung Class 3 Auto Fabricator installed in my ship in a few weeks, and I still have a lot to learn.” said Drake.

He went on to say, “What I’m looking for is something like a radio, that I can set off with a remote signal.”

When he stated his need, he recalled just how far he would be from the city, and remembered how hard it could be to get a comm signal in a remote location.

“By the way, if I was a couple thousand kilometers out from the city, could I still pick up broadcast comm signals?” he asked.

“Most broadcasts have a lot of range, you should be able to get a signal anywhere within line of site from the space station, since that’s one of its functions.  So as long as your in this hemisphere, you should have a good signal,” she replied.

“Good, so do you have any small, lightweight radios, that I can set off with a remote signal, that you could recommend?” Drake asked.

The sales woman took control of the holo-display catalog and quickly entered Drakes request, and sorted the list by the most popular items.

Since the list was still very long, Drake also asked that the radios be rugged, and each should have it’s own frequency to turn them on.

Once their search was complete, Drake ordered a couple radios, that the sales/technician said she would have made up and ready to go at the service counter when he was ready to leave.

That was one thing Drake noticed about the store, a lack of cash registers.

When he asked Zrinka about it, she said that most people who wanted more than one item would get a cart.  The cart would read the ID of any item placed within and had a display that the customer could read as they shopped.  Once the customer approached the front, all they had to do was pay for what they had in their cart and bag their purchases.  Usually, it only took a few people at the front to handle the service counter and help the customer.

Drake had seen a lot of sales people on the floor helping customers. So it appeared to him, that people were still needed to help other people feel comfortable making a purchase, but repetitive tasks seemed to be eliminated in this store.

Drake continued to shop.  He found an area that dealt with small recording and surveillance devices, wich he found a little surprising. 

The sales person, this time, was a male Dwarf by the name of Zikmun.  When Drake asked about how well the surveillance gear sold, he responded, “A lot of our sales are to mercenaries and private investigator types, but half our sales are to people who suspect their spouse of breaking their marriage contract.  We actually don’t sell the volumes here on Hassan as a store on a more settled world would.”

“Why is that,”asked Drake.

The man shrugged, “Hassan is still a frontier world where people are living their dreams and trying to make something of a life for themselves.  They have a lot to keep themselves busy.  On more settled planets and larger cities, people get bored and look for other types of things to keep them excited, so more people cheat on their marriage contracts.  For us on Hassan, this is a growing market, in time we’ll be busy, but for now, it’s mostly people like you who buy our gear.” The man said as he looked at Drakes armor indicating the type of business he was involved in.

Drake wondered if there was anything he could use from this section of the store.

He remembered wishing he had some sort of fiber optic camera he could slip in a crack of a closed door.  He asked the sales person about this type of gear.  He didn’t think he would need anything like that tonight, but it would be good to know where he could buy one.

Drake also asked about the little camera boxes, door bumpers and hack bots.  Those kinds of items were not sold at this store, it turned out.  They were generally considered military gear, and Hassan was still a Chartered Imperial Protectorate Planet.  Hassan had to abide by the same laws as the core worlds of the Imperium, which were under direct control of the Imperial family.

Drake hadn’t looked into how the planets beyond Hassan ran yet, except for a few cases where he dealt with them in training.  He thought that he should get Samantha to give him a civics listen when he had some time.

Drake didn’t purchase anything else, but made his way up to the service counter and picked up the two radios and their controllers.  They were pretty cheap, and only 24 credits for the pair.

Drake placed the radios into his backpack, put on his weapons and left the store.  Since he only purchased a few small lightweight radios, he decided to take a tube capsule back to the spaceport and return to the High Jinx.