The first step was to select materials that would not harm his body when placed inside of him. The first choice that came to his mind was silver, but he quickly scratched that thought away after realizing there was no electricity in this world.
After thinking for a bit, he settled on silicon instead, even though they have certain risks such as cellular damage. To offset this danger, Ryder decided to use polyethylene glycol (PEG) to coat the nanobots in order to reduce the likelihood of cellular damage and immune system rejection.
Thankfully, the lab provided the silicon for him, as it wasn’t that rare of a material. However, Ryder had to make PEG by himself, as it was nonexistent. Producing PEG wasn’t hard, as it only involved polymerizing ethylene oxide, but the problem was that he didn’t have any of the said oxide.
Thus, Ryder went through the tiring process of having to make ethylene oxide through the chlorohydrin process. After preparing enough PEG (around 1 microgram), which wasn’t much since nanobots are tiny, he now basically had all the materials ready for the nanobot.
For the structure, Ryder worked on making carbon nanotubes as they provided the framework for the nanobots. And of course, he had to make them from scratch. Using graphite as the base material, Ryder wanted to grind it into powder.
He used the ball milling technique, which involved grinding the selected materials into nanoparticles using a ball mill. The lab had many of these mills mainly for grinding materials into powders but it was better than nothing. He placed the silicon and graphite into the ball mill and set it to rotate at high speed.
Since electricity was nonexistent, the magical runes provided the source of energy needed to power the ball mill.
While waiting for the milling to finish, Ryder worked on programming the nanobots on a computer. Powered by runes, these “electronics” functioned even faster than the ones back on Earth.
However, this was the part where he faced a setback. In his rush to create the nanobots, he had forgotten that this world did not have any programming languages, and therefore had no engine to program on.
Ryder slapped his head for being so stupid, but that didn’t mean he gave up. He started to brainstorm ideas for implementing the functions into the nanobots.
He first thought of only using chemical stimuli, but that wouldn’t work as he wanted to enhance his muscles, not his metabolism. Physical stimuli were also out of the picture since it was way too situational and inconsistent.
Stuck, Ryder knew he had to step beyond his comfort zone. This wasn't Earth, where everything could be determined through formulas and logic.
Thinking back to the time when he saw the magical runes in the empty chamber he and Brigitte had taken refuge in, Ryder suddenly came up with an idea. What if he were to use runes as a source of commands for the nanobots to act upon?
He still had no idea what the magical runes truly did, but he was willing to give it a try. Acting quickly, Ryder sought out Brigitte and then made her call upon a colleague who was familiar with runes.
The researcher’s name was Kade, and similar to Brigitte, he was also a fanatic with his area of expertise.
“So, buddy, what did you call me here for?” Kade grinned while throwing and catching a rune.
The two of them were back in Ryder’s chamber but in a place where Kade couldn’t see Ryder’s worktable. Ryder knew he couldn’t expose what he was doing, so he just told Kade what he wanted to do with the runes.
“Yeah, uh, is there a way to inscribe commands into the runes?” Ryder asked.
“Hm? You mean you want to learn rune magic?” Kade raised an eyebrow, then laughed. “Haha, Brigitte already told me about your condition, you can’t learn rune magic without having mana.”
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“No, I never meant that,” Ryder tried to explain. “I just want to know whether runes could inflict commands onto other entities.”
Kade gazed at Ryder with a befuddled expression, he didn’t know what the other person was thinking. What was his goal?
“Yes, in the realm of rune magic, there are all sorts of runes for any situation,” Kade boasted. “For example, if you want to gain speed, just use a speed rune. Or if you want more strength, then use a strength rune.”
Ryder nodded, then motioned for Kade to continue.
“Just like that, there is a rune for command as well, though it’s mainly for people to control their slaves or whatnot,” Kade said. “It’s one of the more difficult runes to master, however.”
Ryder was relieved, this means that his idea could work after all. He then stared at Kade intently, trying to form a plan in his mind.
Kade, on the other hand, was still kind of weirded out by the whole situation. Adding on to Ryder’s staring, he started to get some wrong ideas.
“Uh, buddy? I’m sorry but I don’t swin-” Kade tried to start.
“Please, Kade, help me make some command runes.” Ryder interrupted with his hands clasped together.
Dumbstruck yet again, Kade was trying to make sense of this situation.
“But you don’t even have slaves,” Kade uttered. “At least, I don’t think you do. What are you going to do with these runes anyways?”
“Uh…” Ryder began. “You know that I’m from a noble family.”
Kade nodded; he had heard about this from Brigitte, who had provided him with information about Ryder’s background already.
“I need these runes to, er, command the maids,” Ryder forced out, his cheeks growing red from embarrassment. He didn’t have any better reason to give.
“Uh huh… I see,” Kade spoke slowly, he at least appreciated Ryder’s honesty. "But how do you know you're getting out of here?"
"Dr. Krugal said he would set me free as long as I complete my task," Ryder bluffed. He actually didn't know whether Dr. Krugal would let him go free.
Kade raised an eyebrow, a little skeptical, but nevertheless wanted to continue to see where Ryder would take this. “Okay, but what do I get out of this?”
Kade smirked while looking at Ryder, wondering what he would offer. Ryder had already thought of this beforehand, and he knew Kade would want something in return.
“I’m willing to work as your assistant for a month!” Ryder offered. “I’ll listen and complete whatever you want me to do, no matter the task.”
This was a win-win situation for him, since not only will he get the command runes, but he can also work as an assistant for another researcher. Who knows, maybe he will learn some rune magic as well during that time.
On the other hand, Kade looked a little disappointed after hearing Ryder’s offer. “That’s it?”
However, after seeing the unresponsive Ryder, he sighed and walked over to him.
“Fine, fine, usually I wouldn’t agree to do work unless I get a fair compensation,” Kade started while placing a hand on Ryder’s shoulder, “but since Brigitte was the one who introduced you, I’ll give you a chance.”
“Thank you,” Ryder was grateful.
Kade scratched the back of his head in a moment of sheepishness. “Don’t thank me just yet, I want to see what commands you want.”
He motioned for Ryder to come with him and together, the duo walked to Kade’s chamber which surprisingly wasn’t the one Ryder and Brigitte took shelter in.
“Alright so before we begin, I need to know how many commands we’re talking about,” Kade said.
“Uh, before that, what is the smallest size a rune can be?” Ryder asked. He also didn’t want to drop the bombshell just yet.
“Well, they can come in any size,” Kade began, “but usually they are adjusted to fit into slots of gears to be used.”
Ryder nodded while in thought. “Does that mean they could be as small as virus?”
A typical sized virus averages 100 nm in diameter, which is about the size Ryder wants his nanobots to be.
“A virus?” Kade stroked his chin. “You mean you don’t want the rune to be on the maid’s body, but in it?”
“Yes, that’s right,” Ryder excitedly said. “Is it doable?”
“It’s not impossible,” Kade finally stated. “But the rune would only last for like a couple of days before your body either ejects it out or is destroyed by your immune system.”
“That’s fine,” Ryder replied. He already made PEG for that reason. But just knowing that runes could be made to the size of viruses made him even more hopeful.
“Now, back to my question, how many runes are we talking about,” Kade asked while preparing his equipment.
Ryder glanced at Kade nervously before saying, “just about a couple hundred thousand, is that fine.”
“You say what?!”