Chapter 6: Ch.0006 – Sweetness

His drones had been as tireless and busy in their work as could be expected of ceaseless automata, and a veritable pile of wealth awaited him upon his return. 

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The Enlightened Tinkerer, Master of The Circuitarchy 

Leader of The Nation of Space 

Era: I 

Population: 33 - Units: 39/50 

Controlled Sectors: 0 – Controlled Settlements: 1 

--- Resources --- 

121 SC – 310 Essence 

--- Nation Skills --- 

Divine Weight I 

--- Leader Skills --- 

Your Faith, My Might I 

--- Unit Production Skills 1/3 --- 

Chameleon Recon Drone (I) 

--- Structures Tab --- 

Common Structures: Terminus (I), Pylon (I), Population Node (I), … 

Military Structures: Assault Assembler (I), Cover Wall (I), ... 

Industry Structures: Resource Extractor (I), Manufactorium (I), ... 

Religious Structures: Piety Terminal (I), Network Pylon (I) 

Culture Structures: Bitrecessor (I), Bitron Pylon (I), ... 

Economic Structures: Trade Hub (I), Exploratorium (I), ... 

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Jimmy surveyed the screen, his thoughts slow and deliberate. 

There was a plethora of matters that he wished to start upon. His archetype was religion, as odd as he found it, and he saw no reason to refrain overly long from dipping his toes into whatever advantages it could confer on him. 

There was also the matter of the imps and the establishment of an area in which they could live within his settlement – he'd bid them to remain in their village until he could house them. 

But the discovery of the monster had shunted all such plans out the window. 

In the face of a looming existential threat, only one thing mattered, he knew. Power. 

The question remained, did he build that power whilst he could, or plant the seeds for something greater. 

The monster did not know of his presence. That was his one advantage. 

It could not assault what it did not know existed, and if he had his way, that day would be a long way away in the coming. He frowned whilst in thought. Rushing ahead would risk weaker gains for immediate security. He could not afford to wholly allow the threat the matriarch represented to govern his actions, as much as it was a factor that he could not ignore. 

He nodded to himself, a resolute certainty in the choice that he had made. 

It was a gamble, he knew. 

He had a sizable force at his beck and call, but Jimmy had not a shred of doubt about who would emerge the victor if something as powerful as the matriarch or even the monolichen were to stumble upon his base. He could only hope that he was spared such ill luck until he was ready. 

Jimmy splurged his essence towards the construction of a resource extractor and settled it on the opposite side of the deposit, away from the terminal. It took him nearly all that he had to spare, but its worth would see it pay itself off quickly enough. He immediately directed his automata to its construction and then waited with bated breath as it came into being. 

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Resource Extractor (I) 

290 SC – 290 essence - 1 hour 

1 unit slot 

The Resource Extractor (I) trains the specialized automata that can extract its designated resource at a far greater speed and efficiency than their more general counterparts are able to achieve. 

--- Units --- 

Extractor Automata (I) 

--- Upgrades --- 

- Efficiency Studies (I) - 310 RP - 5 days. 

Improves the rate of resource extraction. 

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Extractor Automata (I) 

45 SC – 45 Essence – 5 minutes - 1 pop

Can quickly and effectively gather the resources it is tasked to. Cannot construct nor repair structures. Cannot attack or defend. 

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Fortunately, the process took hardly twenty minutes and Jimmy immediately queued up the creation of an extractor automata. 

They were stubby little things, smaller yet stouter than their generalized cousins, like some odd amalgamation of R2D2 and C3PO. Its brass skin shone with the light of the midday sun and their multi-purpose hands, made of equal parts fingers and specialized tools, grasped at the air with an eagerness to begin. 

Jimmy saw no reason to stifle them. 

He set the little thing upon the essence deposit and watched with something akin to muted satisfaction as it descended on its target like a wolf upon fallen prey. Soon enough, he had the resources to see another one made, and tasked it too with gathering duties. And thus, he settled into a pattern, creating an extractor when he could and quietly waiting when he could not, and with each extractor he made the time wasted with waiting was whittled away at bit by bit until six extractors stood with their kin, gathering from the deposit with hardly any time spent in between. 

A glance at his sheet saw his essence soar up at impressive speed. Once he had enough, he immediately set upon his next immediate necessity: a population node. As it was, his unit count stood at forty-five, with only five slots left to spare until he slammed face-first into the limit. 

A population node would see that issue quickly resolved. 

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Population Node (I) 

120 SC – 120 essence – 20 minutes 

Gathers more manelectricity in order to support the maintenance of greater number of units. 

Increases the unit cap by ten. Must be built near a Terminus (I) or Population Hub (II). 

--- Upgrades --- 

- 

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The structure itself was small, bland and cheaply built. It assembled itself quickly enough with only a single automata to speed it along, and bound itself to the terminus with a single, thick black cable. It somewhat resembled a wind turbine, albeit without the blades. A single pulsing light at its tip blinked yellow as it slowly rumbled into creation. 

His supported unit cap immediately rose by ten. It was far from enough for his needs, so he set upon a construction spree, investing the essence that he had accrued as he accrued it to the creation of more and more nodes until eight of their number dotted the field and his cap had been raised to a hundred and thirty units. 

Satisfied, he set about expanding his army. Ten wolverines, five eagles and four chameleons were called into being once he had the essence to spare. With an army that stood at fifty strong, Jimmy felt that he finally had the numbers to achieve a range of more useful functions than just defence and assault. 

Two chameleons with eagles as their escorts were separated from the newly minted cadre.  One pair of chameleon and eagle was sent to observe the metaleonid territories for signs of assault whilst the other pair were to replace them when they returned to recharge, and then repeat. Six wolverines and three eagles armed with contraption grenades were gathered into a hunting group to stalk the forest and accrue SC. 

That left him with thirty-seven units to defend the base if he were attacked. Jimmy stared up at the sky. 

It was painted a dull, dying orange flecked with streaks of white and red. Night was almost upon him. He needed to be ready for whatever it may bring. 

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Watcher Sentry (I) 

25 SC – 25 essence – 10 minutes 

Serves as an early warning system to both detect and ward off threats. Though lacking formidable means of attack, it can hold off weaker attacks long enough to be reinforced. 

--- Upgrades --- 

- 

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The watcher sentry was an immobile structure about the size of a telephone-booth. It bore the same brass colouring as his every other structure and boasted of a large, armoured eye-like device above a slightly pyramid-shaped base. True to its steam-punk aesthetic, a number of vents and shafts littered its body of dubious need, and a single large turret-like barrel peered out a crevice in each cardinal direction. 

The eye fluttered open upon completion and whirled towards him. 

“This construct serves the maker.” it said, its voice tinged with the robotic tones of its nature. 

He nodded, thanked it and turned away. Three more watcher sentries were placed in a wide radius around the base before the day’s exhaustion and the darkening skies saw Jimmy stride back towards the terminus. The sentries were hardly an impenetrable defence, but they would ward off the pests and provide him with ample warning should anything more dangerous stalk too close for comfort. 

That done, he drew in his army like a protective blanket around him, masking him from the world’s view, and then tried to find what comfort he could on the grass as he slowly drifted to sleep. 

It was not a restful one, nor did he wake in a pleasant mood. The early morning sun shone down upon him, and his body rumbled with complaint. The air bore a pleasant chill that the heat of day would supplant quickly enough, and the scent of grass and earth was all he could smell. Jimmy drew himself up to a seated position and spared a few moments to gather his thoughts. His body ached after a night spent on the bare ground, and his stomach growled with hunger, but his most pressing need was of a more... discrete nature. 

One that he had entirely forgotten in his haste to ensure the protection of the settlement the day before. 

He needed to shit. Jimmy was a man that valued cleanliness so he knew that what would come next would be a very unpleasant experience. 

He had a worker dig a hole a short distance away from the base and then did the deed. A bundle of grass served as a poor substitute for toilet paper, but he made do with what he had. With that regretful experience over with, Jimmy started with the day’s work. 

His automata had been at work all throughout the night and his SC balance bulged with the fruit of their labour. More than a thousand essence awaited his command, along with an additional hundred SC. His hunting party had done its task well, and seeing as how his unit count remained unchanged, he assumed that they’d not suffered a single casualty. 

The thought served to buoy his mood as he put his gains to good use. 

Five more extractor automata were made and sent off to work and coupled with those that were already tasked to the deposit, completed their encirclement of the resource. With no space left around it, any further extractors he made would serve to replace the workers he already had mining away at it to further improve the efficiency of his gains. But that was for another time. 

Jimmy next queued up the creation of ten eagles and five wolverines and allowed the assembler to do its work before he shifted his attention towards the base’s outer edges. Four more watcher sentries were placed to plug the gaps between the others and create a roughly square-shaped defensive net around his structures. 

With the security of his base strengthened enough that even the matriarch would think twice, Jimmy conceded to his body’s demands and started in the direction of the Virast’s tribe. 

He would have preferred to have the start of a manufactorium settled before he left, but it was an expensive structure, and his defensive needs outweighed such matters for the moment. He hoped to have one ready soon but until then, he hoped that the imps would have what he needed. 

He gathered a small troop of escorts and set off. 

The journey there was quicker than it had been the day prior, though that was because he chose the fastest way there rather than a twisting, sinuous route to hide the direction in which Space Port laid. 

They were his citizens and he thought that they could be trusted with at least that much. If the imps were surprised to see him approach from the exact opposite direction that he’d come from earlier, they didn’t show it on their faces. Virast was a bundle of respectful appreciation, and he was again met with a bevy of curious and inquisitive stares. 

“Chief comes! We have tribute!” it declared as it ushered in a troupe of imps carrying a large woven basket between them. They dropped it by his feet, and he had one of his drones inspect its contents. 

He raised an eyebrow. It was a head. A metaleonid head. Not the matriarch, not that he’d suspected as much. Likely one of the weaker ones. 

It was a disgusting thing, but he thanked Virast for the trophy, nonetheless. He would have his drones dispose of it once they were away, but for the time being, he played the part of a grateful lord. 

“Virast, I have something I need from you.” 

“Yes? Tribe yours. Anything we have, yours.” 

“It isn’t much. I need bowls. Preferably made of stone, or fire-resistant wood if you have either. The bigger the better. Also, knives, if you have any.” 

“Knives? Yes. Bowls? Yes, also yes! We have! No stone but very strong wood. Carvers very good. Biggest?” It turned from him and barked at its closest kin who scampered away. A few minutes later and they returned with just what he’d asked of them. Their knives were crude but serviceable and the biggest bowl they owned was a thing of woven root about as wide as he was, and heavy to boot. 

He thought it less a bowl and more a cauldron, which he supposed would be of far better use. It was wholly resistant to flame, or so Virast claimed, and would last for years with proper maintenance. 

He accepted the gift with a mask of gratitude across his face and then asked again for as many baskets as they could spare, which the tribe again gleefully granted him. It was a small thing to give away for them, he supposed, but one of abundant use to him. 

The last thing he required of them was a guide; chiefly, one that could lead him to sources of water and food, be it berries or meat. It was there that the imps failed him. 

“We no hunt or gather. We grow. Tribe has much mushrooms down.” Virast gestured towards the earth and then to one of the imps that had accompanied it during their first meeting. Its name was Ssinst, he recalled. The creature nodded. 

“Sporekeeper, am I. Grows mushrooms. All we need. Water taken from dirt. We no drink. Mushrooms need.” 

Jimmy was intrigued and asked for a sample of a mushroom but Virast, as genial as it had been so far, seemed reluctant to do so. “Mushroom is important to tribe. Holy. Cannot give freely, even to chief of chief. I give life if you prefer. My life to appease anger.” 

Touching, but he told it that he was hardly angry. He wasn’t even really surprised. A species named fungal imps with a close relationship to mushrooms? He should have expected as much. 

He’d already received what he’d needed most of all, and so he thanked the imps for their hospitality and then pried himself from their eager graces.  

Jimmy hurriedly made his way back to the base and then after confirming that all was working as intended, assembled a gatherer force. 

A single chameleon, one of his original four, would lead the way to a water source that it had identified. His workers carried the imp's bowls and cauldrons with simple instructions to thoroughly wash them before filling them all with water. An escort of eagles and wolverines would serve to protect them from the worst of monstrous predation, or so he hoped. 

His confidence in being able to tackle the threats that loomed around him had been shot by the sudden and violent appearance of the matriarch, which was why he had decided to not lead the expedition himself. Perhaps he had been lucky to not encounter such a powerful thing during his wanderings through the forest, or perhaps there truly was nothing as powerful there. 

He chose not to gamble with his life. 

The units were sent off and then, and Jimmy watched them go, all too aware of the dryness in his throat. He hadn’t eaten or drunk anything since breakfast the morning before. Food, he could go without for a while longer, but water was a more pressing issue. 

He knew well that water in the wild was not generally suited for drinking. Diseases and bacteria abounded everywhere, and in an alien, twisted landscape, who knew what new varieties of nasty awaited him in The System’s new world. 

Unfortunately, it was a needed risk. But not one that he could not do his best to mitigate. 

To that effect, he set about preparing for purifying the water by building a fire pit. 

Starting a fire proved more difficult than anticipated for both him and his units. However competent they had seemed, matters outside their immediate area of expertise seemed to be a bridge too far. 

And so, Jimmy had been forced to use gathered sticks, chipped stones and bundles of grass to attempt what early man had mastered hundreds of millennia ago. He had not fared well. Jimmy was a man of machine and engineering prowess, not an outdoorsman. 

Making fire was not a skill he had practiced. Fortunately, there was no better motivator than the impending threat of dehydration and he knew enough from having watched various documentaries to eventually find success. 

His units eventually returned just as he was done. They were unharmed with loads full of crystal-clear water that left him licking his lips in anticipation. 

The flame flickered wildly in its pit and Jimmy immediately had the large cauldron of water placed over it. From the size of it, he knew that it would take a while to fully come to a boil and so set about creating smaller pits for the other bowls until he was finally done. 

Almost a dozen minutes later and the cauldron was bubbling away, its contents ripe for the picking. He cautiously scooped up a bowl of scalding water and stared at his reflection upon its surface. The face he saw there seemed no different to what he usually looked like, if a bit dirtier and scruffier, but after a moment, he thought that he spied a hint of something new. 

Something exiting. 

A sense of achievement glistened upon his eyes. He stared at it for a few minutes as the water cooled, and though he didn’t grin, he thought that the water was perhaps sweeter than any other that he’d drunk in a long time. 

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