The young man contemplated the question. Unity’s partly formed consciousness was hard to understand, but there seemed to be a guiding principle behind the upgrade’s logic.

“Hmm,” Lana said. “If I get it right, Nathan says its less of a question of complexity than sheer mass. In that case, something that takes a total of two-hundred eighty kilos will be a lot faster than one requiring eighteen tons. We should get the cannon first, hope it’ll be quick, and get the plating upgrade right after.”

“The girl makes a lot of sense,” Bulco nodded in approval.

“Asteroid cannon it is,” Nori said and entered the command.

Nathan felt the order run through the ship, affecting it in a subtle manner. He could have resisted the order if he wanted to. He let it through.

Bulco stepped toward the cargo hold and paused at the entrance. “That is so cool.”

“What is?” Nori asked distractedly as she guided the ship. The holo controls glowed around her fingers.

“The containers opened on their own and a bunch of the stuff got sucked down into the floor.”

Nathan nodded. He could feel the raw alloys run through the ship, like blood pumping through veins.

Lana tapped a few keys and one of the main monitors changed to show the surface of the ship. A small bump began to emerge from the hull, directly over the bridge.

Asteroid Cannon upgrade: 2%

“It’s fast,” Nori said, offering Nathan a faint smile. “You were right.”

“Yep,” the young Expert said happily. “Looks like it’ll be done in about an hour.”

“Good, then let’s not waste any more time. I’ll take us to the Grand Mall first. I’m sure Diamond will be thrilled to get the ammo.”

“Thrilled is putting it mildly,” Bulco said dryly. “Have you ever seen a fat old man get jiggy with it?”

Nathan grinned, and Lana chuckled at the mental image. Nori was guiding the ship with gentle movements of her hologram-wrapped fingers, her eyes narrowed in concentration too much to join the general mirth. The surface became visible as they burst through the cloud layer, showing familiar destroyed buildings.

“Ah, guys,” Lana frowned as she poured over her console. “I’m getting weird readings on the sensors.”

“What do you see, girl?” Bulco asked.

“I’m not sure; there are a lot of red and yellows, and--” Lana’s eyes became as wide as saucers. “The Warped are attacking!”

A stunned silence filled the bridge.

“Can you show us?” Nori asked.

Lana nodded and tapped her console. The main viewscreen changed into a topographic map of the city with Lou’s Yard at the center. The conquered shelter was still colored in intense red but unlike before, two tendrils of yellow spiked with red dots extended out of it, one to each of the inhabited shelters.