Arknights: Mobile City

In that moment, everything else around Obsidian seemed to lose its color.

He stared at the silvery prosthesis in front of him with a look that could only be described as seeing a ghost, scrutinizing every detail over and over.

The prosthesis was almost identical to a human limb—sleek, simple, metal lines filling out its shape, save for several openings at the wrist.

It was a flip-top design. Obsidian lifted the lid to find, beneath each cap, a chamber—just like the cylinder of a revolver, six slots in total.

With just a glance, Obsidian immediately understood how all six would be used.

Three chambers were for energy. Any kind of liquid fuel, as long as it was absorbable, could be used… Liquid originium would work, of course, but Obsidian doubted ordinary liquid originium could provide enough power for TT2, even for a localized effect.

The [TT2 Protocol] was a [Singularity Technology] developed by Wing T—allowing time within a zone to accelerate, pause, or rewind.

This prosthesis was clearly a stripped-down version, retaining only the time acceleration function… But even so, the energy demand would be astronomical. Right now, Obsidian definitely couldn't power the arm with ease.

Thinking of this, he didn't hesitate to load all three cans of [Enkephalin] he'd just pulled into the prosthesis.

That was exactly what they were for. In the source material, T Corp always relied on Lobotomy Corp to supply that ludicrously expensive energy… [Enkephalin], as a clean power source, could deliver insane amounts of energy.

Then there were the remaining three chambers…

Looking at them, Obsidian fell into thought.

Those three were for "time."

As with all Singularity Technologies made by the Wings, the foundation was inherently human-centered.

To activate T Corp's Singularity, one essential thing was needed: time—taken from people.

T Corp's Singularities didn't really create time, so much as borrow it. To use these powers, you first had to extract time from a person, quantifying that time as a resource. Only then could it be spent to accelerate, pause, or even rewind time itself…

As for those whose time was extracted? Their own time would "slow down." In the original setting, some people would only get two hours a day, while others enjoyed a full forty-eight—that was how it worked.

This prosthesis, equipped with Singularity Tech, had three such "time cartridges."

Each cartridge could hold 48 hours' worth of time—and, conveniently, each could also extract time from others.

When a cartridge was placed on a subject, their day would slow to just eight hours, while the remaining sixteen hours would fill the cartridge.

These stored hours could then be used to speed up someone—or even accelerate time for a small region, depending on how much was spent.

It really is the City's own brand of "human-centered" technology…

Obsidian murmured to himself, slotting the cartridges in with slow deliberation, a faint smile crossing his lips.

But… the good news was that in the City, people were always the most plentiful and valuable resource.

Even now, Obsidian had enough means to use this prosthesis to its full extent.

Anyone from the City knows a few tricks when it comes to "human-centered" methods, right?

Stowing the prosthesis, Obsidian controlled Pioneer while personally heading to K Corp's factory.

He and Pioneer arrived almost at the same time. The tanks on either side of the room still bubbled with nutrient broth, their grown bodies floating within.

Obsidian didn't transfer his consciousness into any of them. Those bodies were for backup only, and needed to stay submerged to develop higher ampoule tolerance—necessary for handling more regeneration ampoule doses.

But… now, it was finally their turn to shine.

He flipped open all three lids and attached the "time cartridges" to them, activating the extraction function.

It wasn't as lucrative as the W Train from the original, pulling two thousand years from every passenger every ten seconds, but for powering a single prosthesis, it was enough.

Once every three days, the cartridges would be full—144 hours of time ready to use for acceleration. Not bad at all.

Obsidian eyed the bodies drifting in the tanks, stroking his chin thoughtfully.

There were so many ways he could use all this time… The City needed it everywhere. But for now…

He looked at Pioneer, moving him over to retrieve the prosthesis. Pioneer, ever-obedient, took it, and after a quick round of assembly, swapped out his own right arm for the T Corp prosthesis.

"Feels pretty good."

After adapting to the new arm, Pioneer remarked as much.

Even the grip strength had improved—a full ton, thanks to T Corp engineering.

Then Pioneer slotted in the rest of the cartridges and, in his left hand, loaded both a K Corp regeneration ampoule and a breakdown ampoule.

"At last, I look like a real leader—able to wield [Singularity Tech] from all the companies."

Pioneer's electronic eye glimmered, the synthesized voice calm as ever, before he turned and strode out of K Corp's factory. Obsidian lingered behind, lost in thought.

Harvesting 144 hours of time every three days… If he just used it to boost regular industrial output, the profit margin would be too small.

Even doubling the speed of a small assembly line for a day would eat through it all. If that was all he did, it'd be a tragic waste of such a powerful technology.

"Hm… In any case, it'll soon be time to send people out to explore beyond the City. After the Doctor visits and leaves, I'll send Pioneer. With ampoules and the [TT2 protocol], he should be fine."

Obsidian stroked his chin, mumbling to himself—then frowned again.

"But what do I do with all the time I've banked up in the meantime? Letting it sit feels like a waste…"

He needed a way to use it up. Once these little details were handled, Obsidian would have to see how well the new Eye currency was circulating.

He'd have to find out whether this new currency—Eye—would actually take root.

These worries lingered in Obsidian's mind, right up until the moment he looked up.

He glanced at the [Tearful Thing], still gazing at the endless stream of footage on its screen. In that instant, Obsidian suddenly had a realization.

"Wait… Can I… use my own foot as a stepping stone to launch myself into the sky?"