…
…
Systems initializing…
…
…
Analyzing environment…
Atmospheric makeup: 22% oxygen, 77% nitrogen, 1% assorted gasses
Air quality: Minimal pollution
Humidity: 78.4%
Gravitational pressure: 9.807 m/s²
Temperature: 19.74° Celsius
Evaluating structural integrity…
…
Structural integrity at 60.3%
Evaluating damaged sections…
…
Memory banks: 14.7% damaged
Fabricator: 4% damaged
Transportation mechanisms: 48% damaged
Control Systems: 3% damaged
Evaluation result: Acceptable damages
Rebooting onboard consciousness…
…
…
“Ugh…”
“Where am I…”
“…”
“Eve, you there?”
“[Yes, Evan.]”
“Good…that’s good…”
With a flick of my thoughts, I brought up all the available information I had at my disposal.
“Looks like the memory banks containing blueprints of structures and tools, as well as scientific, historical, and cultural data were mostly saved. But the memory banks that held more abstract studies were lost. Eve, any way to restore the data?”
“[Unfortunately not. I was able to recover a few pieces of data, but the rest have been permanently lost.]”
“Damn.”
“…”
“So what now?”
“Well, first thing’s first. I need to know where I am and what I’m dealing with.”
Using my intimate connection with the machine I inhabited, I initialized the analyzation and surveying tools I had at my disposal. And in an instant, I could see. I saw that I was within a dense forest, with yellowed leaves littering the ground. Thick trees with gray bark surrounded me, and I noted that the sun, an orange ball of fire, was setting behind the distant horizon. Looking down, I took a look at myself. My Chassis, once shiny and pristine, now had the left side twisted and warped beyond recognition. My ‘eye’, a camera, zoomed in on the damage. From what I could tell, my legs were totally ruined. There was no way I was going to be able to walk on them.
“So now what do I do?”
“[Suggestion: Begin a calendar. Information regarding the day/night cycle would be useful.]”
“Good idea, go ahead and get that started.”
“[Noted now: Year 0, Month 0, Day 0, Hour 0, Minute 6 since initialization of onboard consciousness.]”
After beginning my calendar, I ruminated on what to do next.
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“Fixing myself takes priority. Memory banks can wait, they’re not vital. Fabricator is mostly fine. Control system also mostly fine. I won’t be able to do anything else until I can move properly. What would I need to fabricate new legs? ”
Eve quickly analyzed my damages, and came up with a list of materials I would need to make full repairs.
“Most of this stuff would be too difficult to find and synthesize. I’ll have to make do somehow.”
I decided to use my legs and see what needed to be replaced and what I could put off for a bit. At my command, small hatches around my body slid open, allowing the small crab-like legs to come out and scratch at the ground to find purchase. A strange clicking noise emanated from the damaged section of my body.
“Luckily the fabricator wasn’t damaged that badly, otherwise I would be in a world of trouble.”
The fabricator was a marvel of modern technology. It was a 3D printer, refinery, and synthesizer all stored within a few meters of space. As long as I had the raw materials and time, I was able to craft basically wherever I wanted. Scanning through the countless blueprints within my data banks, I realized that I couldn’t find the schematics for my own body. Either they were destroyed, or were never included in the first place. Luckily, seeing as I was the one who built it, I was able to make due with the details from my memories.
Realizing that repairs wouldn’t be possible at this point in time, I decided on the next best course of action: removing and cannibalizing the broken area.
“Just like the simulations,” I chuckled to myself.
With a super-heated laser directed by my ‘eye’ I delicately cut through the damaged sections. Once the damaged sections had been cut off, I toppled over, as without the damaged sections I was unbalanced. Using my functional legs, I slowly managed to push myself over to the damaged metal lying on the ground. It took a while, but eventually I pushed myself on top of it, where I began to slowly feed the metal into the fabricator. As the metal alloy was being refined and separated into their base parts, I scanned my functional legs and took measurements. Within half an hour, I had three brand new legs, and even some spare metal to work with. But now the problem was how to install these legs.
“Nano-machines seem like a good idea, plus I can make quite a few with the metal I have available.”
Once again using the fabricator, I created around 50,000 nano-machines, which used up a small portion of the metal I had available. My mind zoned out during the process, and I hardly realized the rain that had begun falling from the cloudy sky. Once they were finished, I took a look at the time.
Year 0, Month 0, Week 0 , Day 5, Hour 7, Minute 56
“Damn, Making those nano-machines took longer than I thought. Oh well.”
This was one of the side effects that came with inhabiting a Chassis. Without the need to sleep, eat, drink, or go to the bathroom, it was easy to simply lose track of time. I would barely notice the setting and rising of the sun, and oftentimes had to ask Eve to remind me of the time.
Using Eve as a sort of conduit, I connected to the nano-machines. I directed them to repair and install the newly fabricated legs. Like flowing water, they glided across my metal body, bringing the 3 new legs with them. With flying sparks, they melded them into place and attached wires where necessary. Once they were finished with their task, they retreated back within my metal shell.
“It doesn’t look too pretty, but at least I can move somewhat normally now.”
I had to consider my next course of action now. Since I was now technically a non-living organism, I had no need for shelter, food, or water. The only thing I needed to continue was power. Speaking of power, I decided to check my power levels. My Chassis was powered by a small nuclear battery, which theoretically could last for thousands upon thousands of years when used at normal levels. However, using the fabricator depletes a large amount of energy, so I would have to use it sparingly until I could create a reliable energy source. Fortunately, my power levels were still relatively high.
“All that I know about my environment is that I am in a forest on Fortuna. From the data that have, Fortuna was supposed to be like an early Earth, with large oceans and small continents. So why are there trees here? Life shouldn’t have been able to evolve to such a point for millions, if not billions of years.”
“[Your conclusion is correct. There is a discrepancy between the original data and the current environment.]”
“I need more information on my environment and surroundings.”
“[Agreed.]”
Looking through the schematics in my data banks, I found a blueprint for a small scouting drone. It was quite a basic model, only able to scout within a 16 kilometer radius, but it was the best I was going to be able to make right now. My records indicated it was first used in wars back on Earth as disposable scouts, so it seemed perfect for me right now. After using more of the cannibalized metal, I fabricated the drone, which I then charged overnight from my own power supply. Once it was fully charged, I assumed remote control. Suddenly, I could see from the drone. The drone had a camera on the underside that allowed me to personally see what it saw. Watching the power levels of the drone carefully, I shot about a hundred meters into the sky, giving me a birds eye view of the surrounding area. Spinning around, I could only see the orange forest, with a few mountains in the distance. In the sky, I spotted a bird, identifying it as an osprey. Its brown and white feathers gleamed in the light of day as it circled the sky, scanning for prey.
“Ospreys are piscivores, so there has to be a lake or river nearby. But also, if there are ospreys, there must be an entire ecosystem and food chain.”
[If that is true, then there is a possibility that there is sentient life on this planet. Please keep this in mind as you scout.]”
With that thought, I started flying westward. Seeing nothing of note except a few fauna such as deer and boars, I began to fly to the north, staying within a 16 kilometer radius of my main body so as to not lose my connection with my drone. Near where I spotted the osprey, I finally found something interesting: A faint column of smoke rose from the forest floor, but it was too far outside my maximum range to get a closer look. This discovery disturbed me greatly.
“[Where there is smoke, there is fire.]”
“Yeah, that’s what worries me. Could it be caused by natural fire?”
“[Unlikely. Considering the recent rainfall, it would be difficult for any fire to start.”
“Well, what if lightning struck during the storm? That could start a fire, right?”
“[Impossible. No lightning or thunder was detected during the storm.]”
This led to a dilemma. Should I investigate, or remain hidden? Fortuna was not believed to be inhabited, and I had very limited offensive capabilities. The only best weapon I could use in a pinch would be the superheated laser I was equipped with. And if there was sentient life, I had no idea what their level of technology had reached. If they had reached the level of technology equivalent to my own, I would be in dire straits. In the end, I concluded that I still needed more information to make an educated decision. Perhaps they would not be hostile, assuming the fire was the result of sentient life in the first place. Bringing the drone back to my body and landing on top, I once again extended my legs and began the journey towards the column of smoke.