[Mmmh, so it's a mix of tech trees and skill trees. But how does it work?] I thought to myself, trying to piece things together. [I'm guessing SP and RP are the currencies, SP for skills, RP for tech? Yeah, that would make sense.]
I looked over the potential rewards on the 'Tree' wheel, and a lot of them sounded genuinely cool. Some of the more common skill tree names stood out right away, because of the simple names, but some were repeated. Dash, Fireball, and Camouflage were easy to understand. Basic utility or combat trees, pretty cool, but some of these repeated options had names of games right beside them.
Then there were the weirder ones, like Glassmaker, no clue what that would do, maybe I can produce glass, don't know how though? Then, Wrapping, which was just vague enough to be either awesome or useless. But one caught my eye immediately: a skill tree that gives Multishot.
[Oh hell yes, I want that one.] I could imagine myself with some sort of powerful sniper or shotgun and shooting a fuck ton of bullets with a touch of the trigger. Though I could only wonder just how powerful the multishot will be and how it'll work.
Other skill tree names I managed to see were Hydrogen Producer, wondered how that'll even work, Rapid Regeneration, pretty good to have, Slash Amplifier, which I assumed boosted slash effects, and something called Biotic Harmony, which I guessed was for healing or something with plants, but I may be wrong. God, I'm so glad I played so many video games, my gamer senses are really helping right now.
Calming myself down a bit, well, trying to calm down, was a total failure. There was just… so much. And this was only the common tier. I was practically vibrating with anticipation at this point.
As I shifted focus over to the tech trees, I couldn't help but mentally grin. Of course, I couldn't actually grin, since I was currently just a white ball. But you get the idea.
Some of the tech trees were super specialized. I spotted one dedicated entirely to sniper rifles, which probably gives me blueprints or something like that. Another focused on copper smelting and refinement, which made me think of crafting and resource management.
There was one labeled solar panel, another for water generation, and one for oil drilling, so maybe I could build my own shit and create a city from this wasteland of a planet? Then there was sensor jamming, and a lot more cool stuff. I really wish there was some sort of description for them, but alas, there was none, so I can only guess my potential award.
And then came the broader tech trees. Stuff like Steam Power, Smelting, Electrical Engineering, Metalworking, and Automation, the backbone of any proper tech progression.
[Jesus, this is like Factorio, Satisfactory, and most sci-fi RPGs I've ever read got mashed together and dumped into this massive wheel.] I didn't know what I wanted more, guns that shoot black holes, or the ability to industrialize a continent, I mean, I've done that in games before. More specifically, in Factorio, with me practically going to different worlds just to have more space to build.
But those plans and ideas? Yeah, they were way off in the distant future. Right now, I was just a white ball stuck on top of a half-finished building. I couldn't walk, run, jump, or even flinch. I couldn't do SHIT. So I did what any true gamer does, I prayed.
[To God, and to the RNG gods, especially the RNG gods, I offer thee my humble tokens.] With a dramatic mental prayer, I used both of my tokens. Immediately, the interface responded with a satisfying click, and both wheels, the 'Equipment' Wheel and the 'Tree' Wheel, began to spin. The wheels blurred white as they spun quickly.
I held my breath. Well… I would have, if I had lungs.
—
Common Tree Token - Thermal Insulation (Tech Tree)
Common Equipment Token - Pip-Boy (Fallout 4)
—
[Well, RNG gods, I don't even know what to say. I don't have arms, so a Pip-Boy is basically a fancy paperweight. And as for Thermal Insulation? Completely useless right now. I guess my prayer went straight to the trash.] Sure, the Pip-Boy is undeniably cool, but without arms or hands, it's just going to sit there collecting dust. And the Thermal Insulation tech tree? Yeah… not much to say about that one.
[Might as well take a look, though.] With nothing better to do than stare at the gray sky or my new unfinished home. I opened my [Inventory] and decided to check out the Pip-Boy anyway.
And lo and behold, there it was. My very own personal Pip-Boy, just sitting in my [Inventory], chilling inside its neat little blue box. I mean, thanks to the big G upstairs for giving me a second shot at life and all, but seriously, no arms? Come on!
I used to have a working Pip-Boy in my old room too, before that damn semi-truck turned everything into scrap. Thousands of dollars, gone in an instant. I'm still pissed about losing all my shit.
Anyway, trying to focus on the silver lining, I tapped on the Pip-Boy icon to see if anything would happen, because maybe there was a way I could possibly use it. Never hurts to try!
—
Do you wish to equip [Pip-Boy] Y/N
—
[Ohh shit, fuck yeah I do! Put that bitch on me] I immediately pressed that yes option as soon as it popped up. I don't know how it'll get equipped, but hey, I ain't gonna question me getting a real Pip-Boy.
…
…
…
[Yo system, did you equip it? Where is it?] Nothing happened. I mean the Pip-Boy isn't in my [Inventory] anymore, it's completely empty, and I don't feel any… different.
Actually, now that I do say that, I sorta feel something on my side, something rectangular... Aw fuck, its the Pip-Boy isnt it? I guess since I didn't have arms, the system just attached it right into my body. Great! Just Great!!!!
I exited my [Inventory] and immediately noticed something new on my UI, a little "1" next to the [Equipment] tab. Naturally, I clicked it without a second thought and was… kind of impressed.
The layout looked a lot like a Minecraft-style inventory, but way more streamlined, just ten slots in total, strictly for armor and gear, with my round body in the middle of it. And right there, occupying one of them, was my Pip-Boy. So now I had nine open slots left. Cool.
So, it was definitely equipped. That meant there had to be some way to actually use it… right?
Ten minutes later, I had exactly zero answers. I poked, prodded, and clicked every possible way I could, and the only thing I managed to figure out was how to unequip it. Every time I clicked on it, the system just asked if I wanted to remove it. That was it. No interface, no startup, no options. Just… disappointment.
I just let out a loud mental sigh and gave up for now. I didn't really know what to do, and the system was just silent. So, I moved on to my next idea of entertainment, which was looking at the Thermal Insulation Tech Tree.
—
Well, thanks for reading
Comment on any mistakes or changes I should make!
Oh, and a quick question, I will be bolding all system tabs and game names, but should I do the same for the tech/skill trees?