Chapter 11: Chapter 10: Evil Experiments!

'Hey Fred, should I go with royal or oligarch?' -As I debated whether I should redecorate, and to what style, the night slowly passed by. I wasn't just debating on color themes however, I was also making a bunch of upgrades to the upstairs. There is a pseudo-TV (It's basically my screen, but larger), an oven, a Peltier fridge, as I unfortunately don't have the liquid, and can't make complex liquids in general (get on the Fred), even our AC is running on brine, a panel to open the doors (on both sides) with a card reader, and I am slowly cleaning up the outside. Also, I'm currently making an access point for a database, but I will have to make a third data block if I want it to work properly. Carla is still somehow soundly asleep, despite all the noise of the elevator and doors working. Speak of the devil!
"Wakey wakey princess. Did you dream of fields of flowers and unicorns?"

"Uuuugh. Five more minutes."

"You woke up yourself, so you know that's not gonna work."

"Dammit, you're right." -She groggily says as she starts slowly shift. That process makes her release Custo, and it falls unto the floor with a bang, startling her upright.
"What was that?"

"That was Custo. Oh how could you forget the one you spend the night with?"

"What?!" -She responds with a light blush. Oh, how precious.

"You fell asleep with the backpack on and everything. Custo removed it, and then you caught him and hugged him for the entirety of the night. You even snapped one of his legs! I'm gonna have to fine you for that."

"Oh, I'm so sorry! I don't really have anything on me, but I may-"

"Oh, hush. It's all fine, I'm messing with you." -She visibly relaxed at that; "So, did you like the couch?"

"Jerk. Yea, it was pretty good, but a little but too soft. Nnngh!" -Carla said while doing light stretches.

"So, you gonna stay for a while? Or maybe leave and come back later? How will this work?"

"Well, I got a couple years as the time frame, so probably gonna stay. Thanks for the blanket, by the way."

"A couple YEARS?!?! Year as in the turn of four seasons?!?"

"Well yea, it's not that long I know, but they wanted to quickly deal with it."

"Ok, me, breathe, just breathe... Ok, I have a question."

"Shoot."

"I noticed something while you were sleeping, namely your ear."

"What, you don't like elves or something?"

"I Knew It! Elves, the long living. Elves, the ones with nature. Elves, the beauty of the forest. Elves, the every man's or woman's dream."

Carla was sporting a light blush;
"H- hey, I'm not that pretty!"

"Says the prettiest woman I have ever seen! Says the eleven out of ten! Pah, treasure yourself more."

Carla, who was red as a tomato at this point, spoke, changing the subject;
"Ahem. You said the long living, does that mean that your kind doesn't live long?"

"No, a hundred is basically a natural limit, and medicine can up that by fifty years, but you would basically be useless, and most people in that situation die from their brain shutting down due to inactivity."

"Ok, so, too many details at the end there, and HA! I'm older than you!"

"Well, technically yes, also technically extremely yes, but possibly no."

"What?"

"First yes because despite not quite remembering my age, I'm pretty sure I didn't gray, so less than eighty. Second yes because in my current state, I was only awake for a little over a year, and thirdly, possibly no because my people are gone without a trace, and knowing us, we would not have taken it without a fight, destroying the planet included."

"That's... wow. I have so many questions."

"Later, for now, can you please look to your right and help me choose? Royal or Oligarch?" -I say as the 'TV' turns on.

You are reading story Batteries not included at novel35.com

---

Date is... um... Ah! June fourth. Fred, please remind me to add names on the calendar and clock. Anyway, after a day of exploring the room, Carla slept while hugging a blank body pillow with heating on the now firmer (and longer) couch. She expressed interest in the elevator, was sad at the refusal to let her use it, spent half an hour looking at the Nanos strip the rust and fill the cracks in the walls, and even helped to right the radio tower. She is surprisingly strong, and according to what she told me, the village they live in is "mana-rich" so she got a lot in her, and she mostly focused on her muscles, so most of it went there. I will have to ask the modem about it.

On the next day, she decided that if she was going to stay here, might as well scout out the area, and hunt for some food. She already knows about the fridge and stove, so I suspect they will be used a lot;
"There is a deer on the left."

"Thanks."

As I can see basically everything in a (almost) seven-kilometer radius, directing her to prey is easy. I am slowly and silently trotting alongside her with Custo, who I painted camouflage, so it doesn't spook anything. I am also currently making another room on a restored side, as a surprise. It will be a not quite apartment, with separated rooms and everything. Fred is not happy with me 'wasting' resources (I think it's just being a good host), but is happy that she will be further from the elevator. Also, update on our overall progress. When I want something printed, I often just give the blueprint to Fred, or tell him to make one, and then he brings it up the elevator, so I never really need to look into the bunker, so I didn't. Apparently, we now have ten printers. Fred also ordered a catalog, so he can download a machine for any task. That food issue that I threw at him? We are currently busy loading a biological reconstructor. It should be ready in about three days, so that's neat. After that will be something extremely important. And advanced manufacturing plant. You remember those printers? Now imagine that, but on steroids. It got its own kind of Nanos, a conveyor belt, a bunch of weird machines, robot hands, both inside, and outside. This is apparently the most economic answer to the question of advanced liquids, as we will need it later anyway. This thing can make virtually anything. Even biological stuff, but because I asked for food right now, we will make the reconstructor first. Oh, also, turns out that me dumdum (not surprising) and there actually was an update for the modem. What does it do? Allow you to cancel. So now we can easily load massive, but currently useless, projects, and just stop the loading when we actually need something. Neat, isn't it?

Anyway, the deer is dead, is currently being bled, and it's my turn to make myself useful.
"I can carry it."

"Didn't you say that that thing is not made for heavy stuff?"

"It wasn't, to save cost, but it is now!"

"Huh. So, you can just make these? If so, can I borrow one?"

"Probably gonna need to insert an actual mind into it, so it moves on its own, but I can even make one specifically suited for you."

"Insert a mind?"

"Nothing too smart, about a level of a dog. Anything else would require too much power and make it heavy as all hell."

"Sounds sick!"

"When you come back, just come up to the terminal, and I'll help you design one."

"That glowing cube thing? Got it."

---

"And that's that! You will have it by tomorrow!" -The resulting Custo is what I will can a Hunter-Helper. It's got the best sensor suite possible, a wristwatch accessory with a screen to show info, speech recognition, gesture recognition, some basic self learning, a hollow compartmentalized stomach, a solar panel, hydraulics for maximum strength, and a bunch of other stuff. And the best part, it likes to cuddle and acts like a dog. And, just in case, I secretly added an emergency radio beacon with a bunch of preprogrammed alarms, and a thin heating on its entire casing, with a big one at the stomach. Hugs for the win! So, as it goes into print, and Fred starts downloading the software, I look with fascination as Carla disassembles the carcass. While giving her small pieces of advice, like where the trashcan is.

Oh! Something funny to note! We came from the side opposite to the new construction, so she didn't see it. It's already evening and will soon be time to turn in, so I start moving the couch to the new construction and slack the brakes on the elevator for a bit to make a noise, so she notices. Her face is priceless.

"Hey! Where are you taking my couch?"

"Your couch? Pretty sure it's mine."

She reddens a bit;
"Still, what are you doing to it?"

"Oh, not much." -I say when the fridge starts moving as well; "Just moving it."

She jumps away as the entire counter she was leaning on begins moving;
"Ok, this is not funny, what is going on?"

"I'm not doing anything funny?" -I say as the 'TV' loudly falls off the wall, scaring her, and begins moving as well.

"Fine, I will find out myself." -She says stomping towards the door where all the items are slowly moving.

As she opens the door and looks surprised to not see the outside, I say;
"Welcome to your temporary, or even permanent, home! Now camera-free!" -It's not really 'camera-free', but instead of the bulky square ones I used previously, these are tiny things, hidden all around. Freedom of privacy, but safety of cameras, the best of both worlds.

Surprising me, she starts crying;
"Thank you, I haven't ever received a something like that."

"You think this is free? You will have to pay rent." -She frowned at that; "From now on you will have to participate in my Wile experiments, like a chair that gives massages, or the effect of sweet food on someone's mood, and the most deprived of them all, the required softness of the bed for perfect sleep!"

A small, but strong smile, like a rain in a desert, appears on her face alongside tears;
"Jerk." -She says lovingly, punching the passing couch down, crushing a couple thousand nanobots.

"Deserved."

You can find story with these keywords: Batteries not included, Read Batteries not included, Batteries not included novel, Batteries not included book, Batteries not included story, Batteries not included full, Batteries not included Latest Chapter