Waves thundered against rocky shores in the near distance. I surveyed the barren expanse of sand and rocks that made up this so-called 'island'. Though perhaps 'island' was too generous a term. The desolate pile of earth spanned a mere forty meters, utterly devoid of vegetation.
No matter. Once I got my economy rolling, I could expand this place with my drones. If the Saudis could construct artificial islands, then so could I.
Shielding my eyes with a hand, I squinted up at the sky. Despite the nautical charts inexplicably crammed into my head, I still had no idea where I was, only that I was somewhere in the pacific ocean between Japan and America. Imaginary crew members constantly greeted me too, organizing my headspace.
I naturally ignored these power-induced hallucinations, dismissing them as figments of my imagination conjured up to cope with my predicament. Having watched my fair share of movies, I was keenly aware of this trope. I refused to take part in some angst-ridden psychological thriller. No thank you, mister ROB.
Pointing to my first creation, I commanded, "Okay, drone 01, search the seafloor for rocks with high metallic content." I paused, considering potential obstacles. "If you spot any boats, avoid them and report back to me immediately."
The drone bobbed up and down, mimicking a nod, before scurrying off to complete its task. A satisfied smirk played on my lips as I watched it go. Although I could give it orders without speaking, something about doing things the old-fashioned way just felt right.
In a battle, I would undoubtedly utilize my available tools to their maximum potential. For now, however, I savored the luxury of taking my time, doing things properly. Why possess all this power if I couldn't relish the journey?
I whispered to myself, "And now, I move on to the next phase of transforming this place into a proper base."
Pouring more spawning sludge onto the ground, I queued up seven drones inside seven newly-formed pools. As I finished laying down the seventh pool, a wave of dizziness crashed over me. I fell to my knees, gasping for air.
Holding my mouth closed, I fought against the rebellion in my stomach. What was happening? Had I reached some kind of limit to my power?
Trying to recall any overlooked aspects of my abilities, a rumbling sound interrupted my thoughts. Wait, was that coming from...?
Grimacing, I pressed a hand against my stomach. Of course! I had completely forgotten about my bodily needs. Clearly, I was alive and required sustenance.
Now the question remained: what should I eat? A pizza joint in the middle of the ocean seemed unlikely.
My gaze drifted to a seagull hopping around in the distance, minding its own business. Contemplating my next move, I felt no revulsion at the thought.
Well, as they say, when in Rome…
I bent my knees and pounced in a fluid motion, strength transforming into explosive energy. A sonic boom shattered the air as I broke the sound barrier, snatching the seagull in an instant. I shot past the small island, skipping along the water's surface before coming to a stop, my limp prize clutched in my right hand. Laughter escaped my lips as I returned to my new home. Figuring out how to pluck the feathers and cook the bird took some finagling, but I managed.
The drone returned as I turned the pigeon meat over on the skewer. "Oh, you're back," I said, glancing at it. I could queue up anything I had blueprints for, including items that came standard on the ships. These things took almost no time to produce, as long as they weren't as complicated as a computer.
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Without a verbal response, the drone approached one of the spawning pools and dumped its storage contents inside. An update report pinged through the command uplink, causing me to blink in surprise. The seafloor, it seemed, teemed with untapped resources. I practically salivated at the prospects, mentally crunching the numbers. The figures were shocking.
Processing every ten kilos of raw ore reduced an ORE drone's spawning time from three days to a mere thirty minutes. A single ORE drone could salvage 100 kilos of raw material in a day. Within weeks, I would command a workforce of thousands, powered by eldritch science and requiring no real upkeep. The only limitation was the time I spent eating to recover my internal stamina and create more spawn pools.
A question nagged at me: What did the drones even eat? Seaweed? Using the command link, I asked drone 01 directly. Its answer made me blink in disbelief. Rocks. They ate literal rocks. How was that even possible?
My thoughts were interrupted by a chime only I could hear. Glancing at spawn pool 01, I watched as a fresh ORE drone crawled out. A grin spread across my face. This was good. My fantasy base would be built in no time.
I commanded drone 02 to get to work and did my part by creating another seven spawn pools. Curious about the materials my drones had gathered, I experimented with eating some of the processed metals they brought back.
"Steel tastes good!" I exclaimed, chewing on a sheet of steel as if it were a potato chip, savoring the metallic flavor.
Only precious metals elicited a pleasant taste. Other materials like lead or various types of rock were bland and unappetizing.
Over the course of two weeks, my little home underwent a stunning transformation. What was once a deserted rock covered in bird droppings had become a tropical paradise. The drones tirelessly hauled massive quantities of rocks and sand from the seabed, stacking them along the edges of the island to fuel its expansion.
The islet had grown from a mere forty meters to over two hundred, now worthy of its name. My ambitious plans involved expanding this budding island until it stretched roughly a thousand kilometers in length and width, a project that would take years to complete.
But the changes didn't stop there. Anticipating future conflicts, I had the drones dig deep caves into the island. The ORE drones possessed remarkable boring abilities thanks to their mining lasers. In less than two days, I found myself pacing within a vast cavern two thousand meters below the ocean's surface.
Four hundred spawning pools constantly churned out new drones to expand my fledgling kingdom. And a kingdom it would be indeed. I intended to construct a fleet of warships, albeit old World War 2 era vessels, as the newer models required materials I had yet to acquire or were burdened with prohibitively expensive costs.
It was hard to believe that a Cold War era aircraft carrier truly required a million metric tons of steel. That had to be at least a twenty-fold markup!
Additionally, I had queued up one such ship with Cold War technology replacing its outdated components. It would be ready sometime tomorrow, having a much longer gestation period than the cheap drones.
Bored, I walked out of my subterranean base and lay down on the sandy beach. I breathed in, trying to relax under the afternoon sun. Wispy clouds drifted across the azure sky. My eyes drifted shut as a sense of peace washed over me like the gentle waves.
"It might not be secure, but the view is unbeatable." I murmured.
I was about to doze off when a ping from one of my scouts jolted me awake. The scout was a new type of drone with stealth radar capabilities, disguised as a rock and relatively inexpensive.
"Hmm?" I sat up, instantly alert.
I brought up my command interface, a mental map overlaid with the location of my drones. It was incredible, having all the areas my forces had explored mapped out clearly, the terrain visible in intricate detail. I swiftly spotted the problem: a red blinking dot on the southern beach of the islet.
I noted that drone 01 had reported this in - probably an irrelevant detail.
"Let's see what the little thing found, shall we?" I mused, rising to my feet.
After a brisk jog across the sand, I felt a rare sense of anticipation building. ORE-01 hadn't just found another beached seal or pile of garbage.
It was a person.