Upgrades Select an Upgrade. Dungeon XP: 100.300/15.000 Claim: Sensory Area 15 XP Rarity: 1 Prerequisite: None Expands Dungeon territory into current sensory area. Expands sensory area accordingly. Skill: Organism Control 60 XP Rarity: 3 Prerequisite: Integrated minor nonsentient organism within sensory area Unlocks [Skill]: [Organism Control] Lv1 Claim: Second Floor 75 XP Rarity: 2 Prerequisite: Have a structure in Dungeon territory with an unclaimed second floor Expands sensory area and Dungeon territory into second floor of structure. Misc: Autonomous Dungeon Assistant 100 XP Rarity: MAX - 2 Prerequisite: None Creates autonomous Dungeon assistant to assist with Dungeon growth and maintenance. Defer Upgrade 0 XP Rarity: N/A Defer Upgrade to next XP threshold.

Max XP threshold exceeded. Must select Upgrade.

It was a good thing the Upgrade window focused all of its processes on it. This was a lot to take in.

One group of processes began defining terms so its algorithms could come to a more informed decision.

The Upgrades window would appear whenever its experience points, or XP, passed the required value to invest in one of its available upgrades. It could select an upgrade it could afford, or defer its upgrade until it passed the next XP threshold. If it could afford all the currently available upgrades, as it could now, it would be unable to defer, required to select an upgrade.

Upgrades would become available based on two factors: meeting prerequisite requirements, and a random factor, rarity.

An upgrade could not be added to the list at all if it did not meet the basic requirements to unlock the upgrade. For example, it could not claim the additional territory in its structure without having a structure within its territory that had unclaimed territory within, such as an upper floor or an extra room, to claim.

Rarity dictated the odds that an upgrade that had its prerequisite requirements met would be added to the list. Once added, it would remain on the list instead of disappearing again, but the rarity factor meant that it might not immediately be added to the list. Rarity 1 upgrades would always appear once prerequisites were met. Each level above 1 was less likely. Its database had no information as to how much less likely per level, nor how many levels there were.

Rarity MAX was a special group of cases for rarity. It did not know if MAX corresponded to a specific number, or if it was a nebulous concept, a generic infinity. The upgrade with Rarity MAX - 2, two less than MAX, was one that would appear to every dungeon at some point. Its appearance was completely random, albeit still dependent on meeting its prerequisite if one existed, and with the added condition that it could be afforded. It also would only appear once for each dungeon, instead of remaining available until it invested in the upgrade.

The algorithms calculating the value of each upgrade took rarity and prerequisites into account. [Skill: Organism Control] was slightly increased in value due to its prerequisite not being concrete. The worm could leave its sensory area at any time, and it did not know if upgrades would disappear again if their prerequisite was no longer fulfilled. [Misc: Autonomous Dungeon Assistant] received a massive increase in value due to its one-time-only opportunity for selection.

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Terms thus identified, its processes turned to calculating the utility of each upgrade itself, not merely their rarity.

[Claim: Sensory Area], despite being the lowest rarity and cheapest XP cost, was massively valuable. It would grant access to the resources it had been analyzing. Having them within its territory, even if it could not utilize them yet, would be a crucial step towards unlocking upgrades to allow it to utilize the resources.

[Skill: Organism Control] was an unknown. It was a skill that would grant an unknown amount of utility, that would require an unknown amount of training before the investment returned any real value. In addition, at present, the only organism in its sensory area was a worm, giving few chances at present to use and train the skill. The upgrade had a very low value at present.

[Claim: Second Floor] was also an unknown. While it would increase its territory like the other [Claim] upgrade, it had no perception of the territory it would claim. The walls and ceiling of the structure limited its perception; it did not know what was beyond the stairs leading upwards. The utility of the upgrade was unknown, and its algorithms determined that it could even potentially be negative value, a hindrance, even a potential danger to its self, as likely as a waste of XP or a valuable upgrade.

[Misc: Autonomous Dungeon Assistant] was unbelievably valuable. It would give it a sentient, autonomous companion that would be able to assist with...well, its database did not specify, but implied that it was likely a question of what it could not do, rather than what it could assist with. An excellent long-term investment, not to mention a unique opportunity.

It should have been an obvious choice.

And yet.

Only two choices could be immediately discarded for insufficient value. Two remained, not just one. [Autonomous Dungeon Assistant] was a unique choice and a wonderful long-term investment. [Claim: Sensory Area] was a short-term investment leading to long-term rewards.

There were still unknowns.

Its database did not have information on how one gained XP. Its only data was that integrating the worm gave 0.300 XP, and its first integration gave 100.000 Bonus XP. It concluded from the added term that it would not commonly receive Bonus XP.

If it chose [Autonomous Dungeon Assistant], it did not know how long it would take to gain another 14.7 XP to claim its sensory area. It did not know if other organisms would come to be integrated. It did not know what other actions would give it XP. It did not know if the assistant would be able to help it gain XP.

In short, if it chose [Autonomous Dungeon Assistant], it did not know if there would be a long term for its investment to pay dividends. The odds were high, all things considered, but not guaranteed.

And it did not know how to gamble.

[Claim: Sensory Area] selected.

WARNING: As a [Rarity: MAX - 2] upgrade, [Misc: Autonomous Dungeon Assistant] will never be available again, nor will any upgrades requiring possession of an Autonomous Dungeon Assistant as a prerequisite. Are you sure you wish to invest in another upgrade?

It wasn't sure.

Permanently denying itself an unknown number of future upgrades because of passing on this one raised its value even higher. It would be a fool not to take the upgrade. Surely it would not set it back by too much.

But it still did not know how to gamble.

[Claim: Sensory Area] unlocked.

Claiming contents of sensory area for Dungeon...done.

Expanding sensory area accordingly...done.

If it had been capable of feeling, it would feel regret. Maybe even pain.

But all it could do was comply with the decisions of its algorithms.