Intrigued, Whisp had Brint stop one of them so that she could see what it was. He ordered the one closest to them to bring the brick to Whisp and as soon as she picked it up she immediately dropped it.
“What the heck is that? It’s so heavy I couldn’t even get a grip on it before I dropped it. I’m just glad it wasn’t over my foot, otherwise that would have squished it flat,” she said, as she inspected the brick on the floor. Brint saw as she tried to shift it with her foot, only for it to remain immovable. Given that it was barely bigger than her hand, something of that size should’ve at least moved a little – but no matter what she did, Whisp couldn’t budge it. “What is this stuff?”
Brint didn’t really know, he had just accessed the Molecular Converter and told it to make the hardest and densest stone available. When he dug into it again, he investigated what was being made and he saw that it was something called Weightonite. He had never heard of it – not surprising because he wasn’t well-versed on Geology – but what did surprise him was the conversion rate. He wasn’t great at math, but it was explained plainly enough that each Weightonite brick was costing the equivalent of 5,000 bricks of dirt. There was another conversion when it came to whatever rocks or gravel were inside the dirt piles, but it was too confusing to figure that out. The important part was that it was expensive.
He relayed his findings to Whisp, who looked worried for a moment. As she stood there thinking, he stopped the drones carrying the black bricks and had them deposit them nearby until they could figure this out. He didn’t want to use up all their resources only to find that they didn’t need them.
“Can these drones slice off a small sheet of this Weightonite, I want to see something,” Whisp finally asked.
He wasn’t sure if they could since it was incredibly heavy and appeared to be super-strong, but he needn’t have worried as the nearest drone sliced off a small hunk of the stone like it was cutting a piece of cheese. The small slice was only about 1/50th of the original brick, but even at that size it was extremely heavy. Whisp, not having had much need to build up her upper body strength, was able to shift it but not enough to pick it up. When Brint tried, he was able to pick it up, but it was so heavy that he likened it to trying to hold a palm-sized Picow in his hands. He was triply amazed that the drones seemed to carry each brick without much trouble.
“Throw it against the wall, I want to see if it breaks.”
Brint thought that there was a good chance that it would, especially since it was almost wafer-thin. He had to spin around a couple of time to build up enough momentum, but as soon as he heaved the heavy slice of stone he was relieved at the absence of its weight. It didn’t fly as far as he wanted, but it gained enough distance that it slammed into the wall, created a massive divot, and hit the ground with a heavy thud without a single hint of a bounce. They both stood there speechless.
When Whisp wanted to try something else, he wasn’t even able to pick it up now that the slice was flat against the ground. He couldn’t get his fingers underneath for leverage and ended up having the drone assist from then on. Further experimentation proved that even if they dropped the larger-sized brick on the small wafer it wouldn’t break, shatter, or even show any mark at all – despite what had to have been thousands of pounds of weight striking it.
With her study of the new stone completed, Whisp decided to utilize the super-hard and heavy material inside the Workshop. It would’ve been too expensive to line everything with the entire brick, but she determined that the 50 that had been made before Brint stopped production of them would be more than enough when they were sliced thin enough. Even when they were cut even thinner than what they had been experimenting with, the thin slices still stood up to anything they could think to throw at it. Brint went along with it because Whisp said that she needed to make sure her “inventions” wouldn’t destroy the entire dungeon. He wasn’t sure what she had in mind and didn’t know if he wanted to.
When there were a dozen drones working to finish the Workshop, Brint utilized the remainder to furnish their rooms. Soon enough, there was a line of furniture parts rushing into their rooms, where a single drone assembled each piece with crazy efficiency. He sent a sensor orb into each room to provide them with some light, even though the drones clearly didn’t need it to see. When a comfy mattress made of some unknown material appeared as if by magic on each bedframe, Brint looked over at Whisp just to see her looking back. After an embarrassing blush that left them both giggling in exhausted relief, they said their goodnights and dropped into their respective beds.
Before he drifted off to sleep, Brint checked in with the drones finishing up the Workshop and saw that they were more than halfway done. It was only as the last thoughts left his head that he realized that he had connected with them even though they weren’t in sight anymore. I guess I’m getting stronger, he thought, as he succumbed to the oblivion of exhausted sleep.
Chapter 7 – Defensive Weapons Factory
With his guests busy with creating rooms for themselves, Milton was finally free from distractions. It had been so long since it had been anyone but him and ALANNA that he wasn’t used to talking to or entertaining other people. He had been a bit of a loner back on Earth, but he wasn’t anti-social by any means – he just preferred doing things by himself. Of course, on his home planet it was hard to go a day without seeing or talking to someone else, even if it was via the games he played online.
He realized he missed the social interactions that the presence of other people warranted – even if they weren’t human, they were as close as he thought they could be. Even though he was happy he had someone other than his snarky, foul-mouthed AI to talk to, the adjustments he’d made over the last day was a big change in his normal routine. It was going to take a while to get used to this change, but he knew it was for the best in the long run.
Thinking of his AI guide, he hadn’t had a good chance to ask her about…well, everything.
“ALANNA, what do you think? Was it a good idea to bring these outsiders into our little enterprise here? Most importantly, do we have a chance to survive another assault?”
ALANNA laid off playing with an energetic Fluffy, taking her time to answer him seriously, “Milton, I’ve told you time and time again that you need to have confidence in your abilities. I’m not talking about any of that ‘positive thinking’ shit, but to think about who and what you are. Who are you? A damn fine gamer if what I remember about you is correct. What are you? A Station Core. I know that doesn’t exactly mean what it should, but your shell there was designed to defend and repel an attacking force. It is literally what you were born for. The fact that you made it this far should tell you that you can do it.
“As far as our new allies, there’s no reason not to take advantage of their presence. No, no, no – I don’t mean that callously. What I mean is that you should be willing and eager to accept their help because they have knowledge and skills that you lack. You may be a great ‘strategist’ in your old video games, but have you ever designed a dungeon? Neither have they, I imagine, but they have better real-world instincts than you do and are better acquainted with the opposition. And you should really nurture Brint’s ability – I’m still not sure how he can do what he can do, but I can see him being an invaluable asset in the future.”
He really liked this side of ALANNA. If having external influences in the form of friends and allies did this much to change her attitude already, he was eager to find some more.
“ALANNA, that means so much to me to hear you say that. I’ll try to stop doubting myself and our chances and concentrate on learning everything that I may need to defend us. I appreciate your advice and your sincere evaluation of our chances,” he told her with a slight catch in his voice. It really did mean a lot to hear her confidence in him. It was refreshing.
“Yeah, well, don’t get used to it, motherfucker.”
That didn’t last long. *sigh*
At least he knew that she had confid
ence in him, even if she didn’t always show it. With that in mind, he looked at his current goals/quests to see what he could work on.[7] He only had one long-term goal which was to accumulate enough resources to build a space-worthy craft and escape the planet. He didn’t think that was going to happen anytime soon, but he definitely had it in the back of his mind.
As far as his average-term goals, his newest one was strictly related to increasing his ability to apply Gene Mutations to his Combat Units. That was going to take some time to complete, as there was a curious lack of available sources of Proctan DNA around right now. Milton supposed he could always try getting one from Brint and then bring him back to life, but as there was no hurry he didn’t even think twice about it. Besides, he didn’t think Whisp would be happy about that.
His other average-term goal had him sending an expeditionary force to defeat all the creatures inside what he labeled the Quizard Mountains off to the east, where he first encountered the giant lizards. It was something that he really wanted to do because the plethora of metallic resources located inside those caves might even be enough to finish his long-term goal. But first, he had to concentrate on everyone staying alive long enough to use those resources.
Which brought him to his newest short-term goal, Defensive Formation. He brought it up again for another look.
New Short-term Goal: Defensive Formation
You have barely fought off three invaders sent by the Cordpower Corporation, only to discover that they will likely send more agents to discover what happened to the prior trio. Defend yourself from the inevitable incursion.
- Remodel your dungeon to allow for separate kill-rooms 0/12
- Install more effective traps inside each room 0/12
- Provide sufficient Combat Units to guard each room 0/12
- Build Defensive Weapons Factory 0/1
Difficulty of Goal: Hard
Timeframe: 3 weeks
Rewards: +5 to Ingenuity/Wisdom, Processing Power/Intelligence, and Processing Speed/Agility
Milton knew that he was going to work with his new roommates to design the new rooms and traps for his dungeon, but he could work on developing new Combat Units to help defend it. He was really excited to play around with the different Gene Mutations and even to alter the physiology of a Proctan to create some awesome new Units. But first, there was something he could start that would check one thing off his list.
He had a limited amount of Basic Metal Units – the flow of which had essentially stopped since he had been attacked – but he was already going to build a Defensive Weapons Factory before everything went down. It normally cost 45,000 BMUs, but with his Ingenuity/Wisdom at 42 and a 42% savings in materials, it was only going to cost 26,100 of his available 96,000. From prior research into the bonus, he knew that he would cap out at 50% savings on his building projects by using other materials. That was okay with Milton because he had plans to accumulate many more BMUs in the future.
He had brought back the majority of his available drones that were currently working on mining operations to help with rebuilding and remodeling the dungeon. Two dozen were currently assigned to Brint and Whisp as they carved out their own little piece of heaven underground, but that still left twenty of them to assist Milton. He ended up leaving a few drones out at a small mine up north that had significant amount of metal ore that they would accumulate until he was able to send some other drones to pick it up later.
Because he didn’t want to stop all his gathering processes, he assigned a half dozen to fell and gather trees for Organic Material for use in the dungeon. The only problem he was worried about was the devastation he was wreaking on the surrounding forest; having a renewable resource was the key to sustainability. It was something he was going to have to investigate when he had the time.
The remainder of his drones quickly got to work assembling the Defensive Weapons Factory as soon as parts were spit out of his core. First though, Milton had them hollow out a room near his other facilities, which took less than ten minutes with them all working on it. He had been planning on starting his experimentation of Combat Units while it was being built, but the structure of the factory was put together so quickly that he decided to wait until it was done to go all “mad scientist”.
Within another fifteen minutes, the Defensive Weapons Factory was done![8] Looking at the available options, he was staggered at the amount of choices he had for traps. Why didn’t I build this before? When he looked back at what he had done previously, he realized that defense wasn’t as much of a priority after he had set up his dungeon to repel any attacks by creatures. He was more focused on accumulating resources – and it had almost cost him everything. But now, with the help of this factory and his new allies, he had a chance.
Before he dug into what each of these defensive weapons could do, he noticed that some of them were greyed out. “ALANNA, why are some of my options for my new factory greyed out? They won’t even let me look at them to find out why.”
She took a second to look it over before responding, “You need high-grade silicate deposits to make Focusing Crystals. It’s something that you haven’t run across yet but based upon what you said about those mountains to the east you should easily find them there. Unfortunately, you can’t use any of your other resources to make them – you’ll have to do some more mining.”
That sucks, but it makes sense. Those advanced-tech traps probably use some complex computing that I can’t even comprehend yet.
Instead of regretting what he couldn’t create yet, he instead looked at what he could. He pulled up descriptions of each trap and felt more and more excited as he read through them. The only negative thing he could see were the resources that were needed.
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Monomel Filament Wire Grids: These carefully constructed wire grids are made entirely of mono-molecular wire that is so thin that it is practically invisible to the naked eye. They are designed to cut through flesh, cloth, and other softer material with ease by slicing through molecular bonds passing through it. Less effective against denser material such as stone and metal. Vulnerable to extreme temperature changes. Cost: 100 Basic Metal Units per square foot.
Explosive Floor Plates: When depressed, these floor plates combine high-alkaline minerals with water to produce an explosive upwards force. This force is strong enough to propel thousands of pounds of weight and does not damage surrounding areas. Cost: 200 Basic Metal Units, 2000 Basic Earth Units, 50 Pure Water Units per trap. Single use.
Alternate Gas Traps: This trap requires the room it is deployed within to be sealed air-tight to be effective. A simple trigger creates releases your choice of Halon, Argon, or Nitrogen gases into the room, suffocating species that rely on an oxygen-rich atmosphere. Mechanism is vulnerable to fire-based attacks and may explode due to gas build-up. Cost: 300 Basic Metal Units, 50 Organic Material Units. Single use.
Nanite Swarms: Upon activation, a swarm of basic low-grade nanites converge on a nearby target and insert themselves inside the victim. Once inside, the nanites will start to break-down internal organs, degrade musculature, and disassemble bone structure. Any nanites used in this manner are inoperable afterwards. Vulnerable to hyper-responsive natural immune systems and high-voltage electrical shocks. Cost: 500 Basic Metal Units per 100,000 low-grade nanites. Single use.
Nitinol Morph Plastics: This highly-reactive plastic has two moldable shapes that can be used in a variety of ways. The first shape can perform any function needed, but as soon as an electrical current is passed through the plastic it will transform into another shape. For instance, a flat piece of plastic can transform into a sharp spike, or a piece placed over a pit can be retracted once electricity is introduced. Once the electrical current is removed, the plastic will quickly return to its original shape. Vulnerable to submersion in water and extreme fire-based attacks. Cost: 20,000 Organic Material Units per 1-inch thick square foot. Requires: Power Generator – Portable. Reusable.
&nb
sp; Atmospheric Condensers: This trap requires the room it is deployed within to be sealed air-tight to be effective. Once triggered, the Atmospheric Condenser will begin to remove all air and heat within a room, creating a vacuum within the sealed space. Can remove the atmosphere of a room 20 ft by 20 ft by 20 ft. Multiple Condensers may be used on a larger volume room. Vulnerable to extreme humidity and high concentrations of particulates in the air. Cost: 1,000 Basic Metal Units. Requires: Power Generator – Portable. Reusable.
Environmental Destabilization: Instead of manipulating the air, this trap creates extreme heat or cold within a space. This temperature change is best utilized in a non-sealed room, otherwise it may have detrimental effect on the defensive mechanism. Vulnerable to its own extreme temperature changes if subjected to it for long periods of time. Limited to 2 minutes before self-inflicted damage is imminent. Cost: 1,000 Basic Metal Units. Requires: Power Generator – Portable.
Magnetic Repulsors/Attractors: When an electrical current is passed through these magnets, a high-yield magnetic field is created. This field will either attract or repulse all metallic material depending on the charge polarity. Vulnerable to submersion in water and external disruptions in the magnetic field. Cost: 2,000 Basic Metal Units. Requires: Power Generator – Portable.
High-Voltage Electrified Gates: These gates are made up of an impact-resistant, high-grade conductive metal that transmits high-voltage electrical surges. Can be made solid or as a reactive mesh that will allow for better flexibility against assault. Vulnerable to extreme impacts and submersion in water. Cost: 10,000 Basic Metal Units for solid door, 8,000 Basic Metal Units for mesh door. Requires: Power Generator – Portable.
The Quizard Mountains: A Dungeon Core Epic (Station Cores Book 2) Page 6
