June, Tuesday 23th, 2048

The next morning, we went back to the complex. Except Mantis, who got to rest at the camp because her chest still gave her trouble. Herbie was still sitting there as it had before. The paint was chipped off where shrapnel had hit, but on the windows not even a scratch was visible. Also, two of the duffle bags I had hung on the outside had been damaged by shrapnel. The metal shards had cut through some of my spare clothes, an extra bedroll and punctured a can of my extra food. Overall not too bad, all of that was replaceable.

Longhorn, Ladybug, Pink Orchid and I went for another patrol of the complex, this time looking into a few corners we had not looked into the day before. We did not find any active Macks. Those we killed the day before were still laying around.

Our two non-combatants Benjamin and Mark made their own tour of the complex, mapping the place and noting broken tech that might be interesting to analyze. They were escorted by the HANAF soldiers.

Over lunch, we discussed what to do with the technology remnants in the place.

I said “There are at least two things I would like to further explore. One is the surviving fabricator we shut down by cutting the power supply. The other are the half-completed Type 21 Macks.”

Longhorn: “Why these in particular?”

“From the fabricator I hope to learn how to upscale my Assembler, or at least to reproduce that fabricator as-is. The portal tech the Type 21s use to bring in reinforcements is extremely interesting too.”

Longhorn: “OK, but we will share the results. You will take Benjamin along and you will dig out the secrets in that fabricator together. And how you do that is something I need to know afterwards.”

She continued, talking to Mark: “You will examine the more, um, mechanical aspects of the burnt-out machinery. Perhaps you can figure out what the scrap was good for before Omega Lily trashed it.”

As we returned to work, my first action was to obtain some decent equipment. I subvocalized “Elya, extracting the data from the Type Three fabber required some human-made computing equipment. Is there a substitute in your catalogs?”

Certainly. We could re-create the original electronics from Class 0 items, but for convenience I recommend the Multipurpose Signal Analyzer Mark I from the Class I General Electronics catalog, Plus maybe some duct tape for attaching it to the object under analysis. The latter is in the Generics catalog you already have access to.

“Show me the prices in table form.”

Item

Point Cost

Description

Class I General Electronics

50

Catalog

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Multipurpose Signal Analyzer Mark I (blueprint)

500

Oscilloscope, logic analyzer, spectrum analyzer and more in one piece.

Duct tape (blueprint)

10

High quality, space-rated duct tape.

I could not suppress a chuckle. Benjamin asked “What?”

“I just reviewed my list of printable items, and it contained duct tape. Such a simple item among all the high tech!”

Subvocalized: “Elya, I’ll take everything in the table.”

Done!

New balance: One token and 4147 points

“Elya, print out an analyzer, but make it look like a comparable Fluke model. Better yet, fake the user interface too. And a roll of the space-rated duct tape in red." I subvocalized that too, of course.

A few minutes later both were ready and Benjamin asked “How did that happen?”

“I had the items in my list of printables and ordered them through my little aug”. In the background, I heard a little sigh from Elya.

“You just happen to have blueprints of proprietary electronics?”

In my most haughty tone I replied: “I Have My Ways.”

Benjamin shut up after that. We made our way to the big Mack fabricator. That thing was large enough to build a small car in.

We cut open the cover to get at the electronics, then I realized that we did not have power. So we dragged one of the dead Macks to the fabricator and connected its battery as a power supply to the embedded computer. Then I taped the analyzer to the fabricator and started connecting probes.

Eventually we had the fabricator’s controller running and reviewed the list of printable items together.

I said “Let’s take number One, Three And Four last. I already have those and can forward them to you if we get interrupted here.”

Benjamin agreed and we reviewed the rest. Some maintenance, repair and assembly drones. Useful but not a vital catch.

The Type 9, an unarmed resource collector drone. It might at some point be useful to take out the trash, meaning take it to the recycler.

The Type Six and the Type 28. Dangerous combat units and certainly valuable intel. If only to find out what exactly they could do.

Blueprints for chemical processors. Yes please. I did not understand much of it yet, but it might be important some day.

And finally, more than what I had really hoped for: The blueprints for the fabricator itself, in smaller parts to be assembled later. Meaning one could start from a humble Type Three and bootstrap their way to this bigger fabricator.

This time, we shared the results from the beginning. We spent the rest of the day with a tedious download from the fabricator, lunch break and some interesting discussions about Mack computing tech. In between, I found myself acquiring the blueprint for a USB charger because the flashlights we brought were running out of juice. The chargers would be running off the cockpit power supply of the Type Three.

Purchased: Generic USB charger (multi voltage input) (blueprint)

Price… 50 points

New balance: One token and 4097 points

June, Wednesday 24th, 2048

We went after the secrets of the 21s that day, but without huge success. A large number of schematics and much computer code were gathered, but we did not understand the mechanics. Elya hinted at more insights through buying gateway tech of my own and looking at the blueprints, but I shied back from the investment as long as we were deep behind enemy lines, or at least in no man’s land. Perhaps I would need to make an emergency purchase or two.

Towards the evening, most of the group took a break, while I worked on extending the entry hole to the complex. I soon reached a point where getting in and out was reasonably comfortable for humans, but walking out with the mech was not possible yet.