"Well," Stephanie said, putting a short white claw to her chin as she looked over all the possible options. "I want to keep this appearances as much as possible… so all these upgrades," she motioned across a list that she'd X-ed out from the side, "that change my outward appearance by adding armor and such I'd like to avoid."
"Sounds reasonable," Derrick said, picking up a clipboard and removing a pen from it's metal hinge to start making notes. "Keep the appearance of all-natural. I can do that," he smiled, looking up at her.
"No mental changes, if that's even a thing. No sex-drive changes, just in case… and no form changes, hips, thighs, breasts, or otherwise. I want the basics to stay the same," she said, still rubbing her chin as Derrick made notes. "Otherwise, I don't seem to have the points to do anything big… so I think I will do a lot of small things."
Derrick nodded, "As for mental changes, PHUK can't do that. Not really," he spoke in a instructing way, knowing that she hadn't been playing for too long and probably was still learning. "It can only alter your perception of what you see and feel, but not of how your brain actually thinks," he said, looking her in the eyes. "You may feel pain, but that's from the feeling of your body not your mind. You may see in heat-only, but that's the vision given to your eyes by the suit in a way the regular human brain can understand it... not your mind. You may find problems easier to answer, but you're not smarter exactly… the game is likely putting in subtle subliminal images to make you think towards a certain direction… but it's not changing how you think."
Stephanie looked to the pad, then back at Derrick, then at the pad. She stared at it for a long moment, thinking that last one over. Subliminal images to make you think towards a certain direction? she wondered. Wouldn't that mean it did change how you think? Influenced it? She sighed a bit, looking the page over as she tried to push that thought from her mind.
"Let's see," she said, looking the information over. "Multi-layered lungs for denser breathing capacity," she said, "with aquatic variation. Reinforced legs… the ones here are listed as internal modification that allows for a drop from less than one hundred feet to do no damage," she said as a question, looking up to see Derrick nodding. "Extendable claws… the three-inch, serrated variety. White, please. And hidden fangs… the snake-like ones that lay flat inside the mouth until posed to strike."
"Poison injections, I take it?" Derrick asked, still taking notes, his warm smile still apparent on his face as this female skunk took control over what she wanted. "You should get a reinforced skeleton to go with your legs," he added.
She nodded, "Alright. I think I have just enough points for that."
"Might I make a few suggestions?" Derrick asked, lowering his clipboard a bit in front of his bloody smock. He shifted his weight a bit and turned to look at her, taking in all of her appearance and liking what he saw. There was something otherworldly about her, his mind thought… something about her didn't add up and he kind of liked that.
Stephanie shrugged, her eyes looking back at the digital pad in her hands as she pushed her thick-rimmed yellow glasses up her short muzzle, her tail flicking a bit to the side as she considered everything she was about to experience. She fixed her shirt again as she shrugged a second time, thinking it over, "You're the expert," she gave him a warm smile as she looked back at him.
"Forget the fangs. They work, but their often uncomfortable even once you get use to them. If you really want a set, I can speak to Nala down in NewGenes. She's a fellow Guildie, and I can ask her to do it as a favor. She owes me anyway," he said with a smile.
"Kind of you," she said, though she waved a finger. "But that's a no on the altering and what-not… I don't want to actually look snake-like."
"No, no, you wont. I made a business out of doing all the low-level mods and being connected… but Nala that Assistant Manager who's almost always running the store since her boss' Player ended up on restrictions over same bad grades," he smirked. "She's Super-Specializing in 'Hidden Alterations'. Her Black Market skills are demanded by people all over The Kingdom, including NPC criminals. The last two guys to win the long-run tournament events all had her cheetah-enhanced legs… three of the top long-distance swimmers of the same tournament also had her aquatic modifications," he said, a bit enthused, thinking about it. He shook his head, and smiled to her, "Trust me. She's the best at what she does, and being a Guildie is the cherry on top."
Stephanie rubbed her chin, "Alright," she said, "Will those kinds of things fit into my budget?" she asked.
He smiled, "If not, you can always go into 'Experience Debt'," he grinned.
"Oooh. How's that work?" she turned, looking around all the tech gadgets and devices just waiting to help someone do some harm.
"Like taking out a loan at the bank," he grinned. "You promise certain levels of experience to pay for advancing those skills early. It's handy if you know you're going to be playing all weekend or every night in a week," he explained. "Let's you bypass some backtracking and prepare for the long haul."
"Downside?" she asked, putting her hands on her hips as she looked back to him.
"Well, the obvious… without Experience as an actual currency, the only way to take your upgrades back if you don't pay in a timely fashion—gaining levels and auto-paying your your pre-bought upgrades—is for someone to come and take them from you," he gritted his teeth. "Usually by way of Bounty Hunters," he admitted. "You seem entertained, though, so I offered it to you. You can borrow up to five levels in advance and have to pay it off at a rate of one level per seven days," he said with smile. "Easy to do at lower levels… harder to do at higher."
"Cause the distance between one level and the next becomes greater," she offered. "OK, let's do what I asked for and," she stopped, and thought back to something she had seen on the pad from before. She took it back into her hand and scrolled through the items until she tapped on one and showed it to Derrick, "What's an Omni-Form-Melder?" Stephanie asked. "I don't really understand it's description, and it's five levels of expense," she noted.
Derrick stood straighter. He smiled, but his smile twitched at the end, "Oh. You wouldn't want that," he grinned a bit, and waved a hand at her.
"Sounds like I would," she insisted. "Total override and interface of any Omni-Form Technology. Non-Magical, pure Science integration of ability and skills of any Omni-Form device for a limited but set amount of time," she read the first few lines of the screen. "I read the rest, but I don't get it."
"Imagine the controls of a flight sim," he offered and she nodded and thought about it. "Now, if that helicopter or plane you're thinking of is an Omni-Form vehicle, then that means it can shift it's form into a few variations… from color, to padding, to armour, to weather preparation, etc," she nodded, but raised a finger if about to ask for something more, and he continued, "If you, as part-machine, had an Omni-Form-Melder, one of those forms it could take would incorporate you into the design."
She blinked, and then raised her left eyebrow really high, "I'd become a helicopter?"
"For all intents and purposes, yes. Probably your arms would be little wings out to the sides, your body the main compartments, and your legs out the back of the body… Probably with a black paint job and white racing stripes," he smirked. "People could even ride inside you. It lasts for a set time, depending on your level with it… the default is an hour. You're stuck that way for that long, and it wears off right away after the set time is over… cool down is usually six hours in the beginning."
"And if I get blown up or something?"
"Risk versus Reward?" he asked. "If you would live through the damage taken, then you do… however painful… even after the time wears off, you and the machine will be hurt one and the same. While as one, you both increase the stats of the other. If you take enough damage for the vehicle to be destroyed, you die and head to the graveyard to await a deal to come back to life or a Guildie resurrecting you," he said. "Just call," he smirked.
Stephanie stared blankly at him for a moment. It did sound kind'a cool, but also a little strange. She looked back at the pad, and thought about her choices.