Chapter 16: Book 1: Chapter 12 – “A Report on the Ecology of the Bearded Vulture.”

When the AI had first started his experiments on the Bug Juice, the bioexplosive had proven frustratingly... stable. It wouldn't ignite under intense temperature, electrical current, or even high impact. In a way, he assumed it made sense; it would be stupid as hell to carry around explosives in your butt if any little thing could ignite them.

But then that begged the question HOW were the Nitropots actually igniting their payload? Alpha's first theory was simply "Spiritual Power." That would be his luck, though it would make sense, given what he'd seem from this World so far. If that was true, then he was back to square one. He would either have to find some kind of natural source of Spiritual Power or develop an alternative detonation method.

Did they somehow change its composition in their bodies? Was the Bug Juice merely inert before being processed by a Bait Ant? In a way, that would be both simpler and more frustrating. And so the next three days had been spent observing the ants and documenting various theories.

It wasn't long before Alpha noticed a pattern in their behavior. He noticed that both the Bait Ants and the Soldiers, before going on patrol or on a mission, would always first eat a meal comprised of the strange glowing mushrooms before topping off at a Queen. Originally, Alpha hadn't given the behavior much thought; it seemed perfectly normal for soldiers and scouts to have a meal before heading out. What finally drew his attention was the behavior of the Workers. Or rather, their lack of such.

While the Soldiers and Bait Ants ate before each expedition, the Workers were much more sporadic with their meal times. They would often grab a bite here and there throughout the day as they passed through to their next task. This difference in behavior gave Alpha the clues he needed to piece the puzzle together.

He theorized that the mushrooms themselves were the secret to the Bug Juice's explosive properties. It was likely that not only did the mushrooms serve as a source of food for the Ants, but as their source of power, as well. Seeking to test his theory, Alpha piloted his Dummy Ant to collect a sample. Sorting it in it's "stomach," the Dummy ant moved to the nearest Queen to test his theory.

The reaction was instantaneous.

As soon as the Bug Juice came in contact with the pulped mushroom, the Dummy ant's abdomen erupted into a small fireball. The nest was thrown into a panic as Solider ants rushed into Queen's chamber. However, after a few moments of chaos and finding no apparent attacker or danger, the nest calmed down and got back to business as usual. A couple of workers picked up the "corpse" of his Dummy ant and dumped it into the pile of monster parts (that apparently doubled as a graveyard).

Taking the chance to reform the Dummy ant away from prying eyes, Alpha pondered what had happened. According to the Dummy sensors, as soon as the pulped mushroom came in contact with the Bug Juice, there was a massive release of some form of gas. This gas became super-compressed so quickly that the friction had ignited it, resulting in the explosion.

At the same time, it wasn't as powerful as the one seen in the Bait Ants. Nor did it have the same properties of the napalm employed by the Soldiers. It was a step in the right direction, but there was still more going on here. After the Dummy Ant had reintegrated into the nest, Alpha ordered it to collect several samples from various parts of the Mushrooms and bring them back to the Base.

Once the samples arrived, the next day was dedicated to setting up different experiments to test both the mushroom's properties and its interaction with the Bug Juice. The results were both fascinating and promising.

When pressed, the mushrooms released an oily substance primarily composed of biological methane trapped in liquid form by a few specialized compounds. The mushrooms seemed to use this oil as the fuel for its bio-luminescence, providing both light and warmth to its Ant hosts in their dark, underground home. It most likely also accelerated the decaying process of its food, the ants, so generously provided, making it easier for the mushrooms to absorb.

When mixed with the Bug Juice, the carbon atoms were quickly stripped from the methane, releasing a massive amount of hydrogen. This rapid release would, in turn, generate vast amounts of heat and energy. Alpha theorized that the Nitropots used this to release and detonate the mushroom-bug juice mixture, resulting in the Bait Ant's explosive personalities.

The Soldier's weapon was a bit harder to figure out. It wasn't till some Bug Juice was mixed with the dried dregs of the mushroom's cap left over from the oil extraction process that Alpha made a breakthrough. When combined with the Bug Juice in the right proportions, the mushroom dregs created a sticky, paste-like substance ignited when exposed to a combination of oxygen and hydrogen.

Where the Bait ants used the Oil and Juice mixture as an explosive, the Soldiers seem to have developed it into a propellant instead. They would first extract the oil from their "meals," then mix the Bug juice with dregs left behind. Once this combustible paste was formed, they would then use the hydrogen released from the Oil-Juice mixture to propel it towards their targets from a long distance. The paste would then react with the oxygen in the air, and the hydrogen that was pushing it forward, to create the napalm effect that Alpha had observed.

All in all, it was a beautiful example of symbiotic co-evolution and adaptation that would have brought a tear to Alpha's eye if he had one.

Alpha then ordered the Dummy Ant to start collecting as many mushroom samples as possible, even if it would decrease the rate that the Bug Juice was gathered. He also made sure to order several samples of spore from the mushrooms. While the Bug Juice was something he would have to rely on the Ants for, the Mushrooms should be easy enough to grow in small quantities in the Base.

While the natural napalm had its uses, the Bait Ant's method was more in line with Alpha's immediate project. Thus with this new information at hand, Alpha got to work designing several land mind type devices.

They were a simple thing; two containers, one holding Bug Juice and another holding the shroom oil. These were placed in a third container, with a pressure plate installed. When something heavy enough or enough force was applied, the inner containers would rupture, mixing the two compounds together. The resulting explosion was impressive, even by Alpha's standards.

[Alpha] - "FIRE IN THE HOLE!"

With a bang, the small-caliber turret Alpha had formed, let loose a single shot. The compressed soil bullet slammed into the small metal target a hundred meters away. There was a ding of stone on metal, followed by a massive explosion that sent a plume of dirt and gravel into the air. Alpha cheered in victory, releasing all of the frustration that had built up in the past week.

The device was admittedly crude and primitive, but it was the best he could manage at the moment, given his limited supplies.

Alpha grinned (can a blob of nanobots grin?) as he thought about what was coming next.

Now it was time for some field tests.

 

---

Four Days Later

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Alpha laid a few inches underground as he waited for the Copper Armadillos (Copperdillos? Bah, he'd think of a name, later) to appear again. The great thing about being an AI was that it meant he could store large amounts of his shows and stories in his back-up memories. (If the General asked, it was totally only used data processing and information gathering. He absolutely didn't have 5 petabytes worth of novels and movies stored there. Absolutely not.) At the very least, stakeouts like this didn't have to be boring.

It had taken him nearly a day to lay and bait all of his homemade Landmines. The Armadillos seemed to be very picky eaters. They would often roll by large deposits of equipment, searching for large metal pieces with little to no rust or oxidization on them. HOW these pieces of equipment managed to remain in such a state, Alpha had to be unable to determine. The few samples he had collected were chemically identical to several common copper alloys he was familiar with. But other than being slightly more robust than he would have thought, they didn't exhibit any other anomalous properties. The only thing that separated these items from their mundane and rusty counterparts was seemingly decorative (though often elaborate) patterns etched into their surface.

An interesting curiosity, but not something useful to him, when considering the Armadillo's Biometals. As bait, though, they were just what he needed.

After burying the landmines, Alpha hunkered down waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Nothing had appeared the first day, nor the next, or the one after that. Just as Alpha was starting to get impatient, he detected the earth's faint rumble as something entered the Valley. A group of four Armadillos rolled in at high speeds from the north, displaying surprising agility and coordination as they weaved around larger obstacles and crushing smaller ones. The creatures stopped a few dozen meters away from Alpha's traps, unfurling and spreading out in search of a meal. Very soon, one of the Armadillos carefully approached one of Alpha's decoy baits, munching on the shiny metal with happy little armadillo noises.

It quickly finished the meal and moved on to the next one. Halfway there, however, the unsuspecting creature stepped on one of Alpha's hidden traps. There was a satisfying click, followed by a massive explosion as the Armadillo was thrown into the air, screaming in pain. The remaining Armadillos scattered, quickly rolling up into a ball and fleeing the area, while their companion crashed with a heavy thud after being thrown into the air and falling several dozen feet.

However, Alpha's cheer of victory was cut short when the fallen Armadillo stood up and shook itself off. Though its underside was bloody, and it walked with a limp, the creature appeared more stunned than hurt. Alpha stared in amazement as he watched the beast shake off an explosion that would even give him a pause in his current form. The Armadillo then rolled into a ball once more and tried to make its way towards the valley exit, though much slower and less agile than before.

[Alpha] - "Wait, Biometal! Come back!"

Alpha panicked slightly. He'd spent too much time and resources on this; he couldn't let his prey escape. Playing back the events in his mind, Alpha quickly formed a plan. He jumped out of his hiding spot, took on his Jet-Pteranodon form, and charged at the Armadillo.

Alpha's form had next to no offensive capabilities, but the creature didn't know that. The surprise of Alpha's appearance, coupled with the explosion's after-effects, caused the beast to serve wildly... right into another hidden landmine. The second explosion threw the creature into the air, though the damage was much less, as it was rolled up in its defensive scales. 

Alpha was ready this time; as soon as it reached its peak, the AI shifted into his flight form, rocketing forward and using a tendril of Nanobots, snatched the Armadillo from the air.

With a burst from his engines, he then began to rapidly gain altitude.

Seeming to sense something was wrong, the Armadillo peaked out, then seeing its predicament, started to flail wildly, trying to escape. Alpha wasn't about to let that happen, however.

Not yet.

As he extended more tendrils to restrain the creature, the AI spoke up in a cheerful tone.

[Alpha] - "You know, where I come from, there's a planet called Old Earth. Well, I guess it used to be just 'Earth,' but that's beside the point. Anyway, that planet had a wide variety of interesting biological. Oh, not as impressive as here, I'll assure you, but they made do with what they had. One particular animal always fascinated me for some reason. It was called the Bearded Vulture. It was a scavenger by design, but every so often, it would have a hankering for something... fresher."

Alpha continued to gain height, circling the mountain in a corkscrew pattern.

[Alpha] - "But you see, in the place it lived, the prey was scarce at times. Those creatures that WERE around were often small, fast, and smart. Not something the large bird could capture on its own. Instead, it goes after something a bit more manageable. Specifically, it enjoyed Tortoise. Unfortunately for the Bearded Vulture, it wasn't built with the tools needed to crack the Tortoise's hard shell. So instead, it did something I find quite ingenious."

At this point, the two had risen far above the cloud cover, and even the peak of the mountain was a small feature on the landscape below. The Armadillo was shaking in fright now, no longer struggling, and it curled tighter into its ball.

[Alpha] - "It would find a slow or sometimes sleeping Tortoise, and pick it up with its claws. Then it would fly as high as it could. High into the sky were no Tortoise should ever be. And when it had gone as far as it could... it would let go. Well, they DO say there's more than one way to crack an egg, but buddy, I can see you're like me. You're more of a 'hands on' kind of learner. How about we have a practical demonstration of the technique? I'm sure that everything fall into place for you."

With those words, Alpha retracted his tendrils and released the Armadillo into the open air.

[Alpha] - "Be sure to take notes! There will be a POP quiz after this, hahaha hahaha!"

 

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