A list of items appeared. The first ten all had the label Solar Panel Version 2. Their cost, when he tapped on one, seemed to be roughly the same as for the kind he had already made, but used more of one particular substance. In addition, the specs were now semi-comprehensible, and apparently these solar panels would work twice as well. Nick wasn't sure why those hadn't been the automatic option in the first place, but doubted Petra had the vocabulary to answer. At any rate, solar panels still made sense as an opening move.

The next item was labeled Heal, but beyond that Nick had no idea what it was for.

The third item said Scanner Version 2. Nick assumed it would be an improved version, and the cost was much higher but bearable. The materials were common and easily replaced.

After that, there was a suggestion to build twenty items called Melee Monsters and ten called Ranged Monsters.Apparently this would raise the Defense stat of Petra from zero to one. Nick suspected he was going to veto this, or at least prune it back a lot. Having a sentry or two made sense, just in case the planet wasn't completely uninhabited after all. He wasn't planning on ambushing any adventuring parties any time soon, though. Petra was probably just following game logic there.

The next item just said Food. When Nick clicked on it, it was an entire room, with multiple mystery gadgets and what seemed to be a pantry for raw materials. A kitchen? I'll definitely find out what that has to offer.

The list went on, but Nick didn't see any reason not to get started. He selected the new solar panels, and found a button to approve the order. When he clicked it, Petra helpfully gave him a time to completion estimate, and lists of how much of the relevant materials he currently had in stock and how much would be left after the production run.

He was a little surprised when the guys started moving around without instructions from him, but he shouldn't have been. Apparently Petra knew where the supplies were, and told the guys what they needed in order to transport them over to her. It looked like he wasn't needed at all, at least for a little while.

“Hello! We're hoping for just a few minutes of your time to answer a couple of quick questions for a survey.”

That was lifted intact from a phone message from a survey telemarketer. A visual prompt on the flat display showed up as a menu:

Yes

Not Now

No

Please remove me from your contact list.

Nick snorted at that last option, and selected Yes.

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“All right, thanks! We appreciate you taking the time to talk. First question: In English, hydrogen, oxygen, and carbon are_________?”

Nick typed, elements.

“Thanks! Second question: water and carbon dioxide are________?”

Nick was less certain. Do I put 'molecules' or 'compounds'? He dithered a moment, then put compounds.

“Thank you.” Petra both said that and wrote it on the tablet. Then it cleared, and the new text simply said 'Updating.' “Please say...” Petra fell silent, waiting.

Nick obliged. “Updating.”

“Thank you.”

What followed was long and tedious and improved both Petra's English and her ability to speak aloud. He couldn't get a lot of his questions across. Nick was starting to suspect that Petra, even this improved Petra, wasn't a full AI, like with a soul and stuff. Petra didn't seem to want anything except answers to questions, to enable her to perform her duties better.

Things he did learn:

Petra was chock full of blueprints, millions of them. So long as she got the ingredient atoms, she could build whatever Nick wanted. The challenge was conveying to her what he had in mind. He was nowhere near able to ask her for a spaceship to take him home.

Petra knew a lot of science. She got time from his phone's clock, and distance from some range-finding app that he had forgotten he'd ever tried. She knew millions of chemicals, too. Nick wondered how much biology Petra understood, and if she could really help him with food. Hopefully he'd find out soon.

Petra relabeled the resources for him. Granted, “element 33” was not much of an improvement for Nick's understanding, but at least it was English. Petra was happy to rename things whenever he edited them.

Petra could handle a lot of devices at once. Nick could make the “dungeon” as elaborate as he wanted, eventually. So as long as he could bring in more resources, the sky was the limit. Well, the planet's core, maybe, since I'll be digging down, not going up. Although, I suppose I could go up, eventually, but that would take a lot of materials and I like the idea of having solid rock between me and the Death Star.

When the first improved solar panel finished printing, it was night outside, so Nick followed the Mason and Taxi that floated it up the stairs and watched. The little guys lay the new panel right beside the old ones, then went back downstairs.

Huh, I thought maybe they would tilt them to aim them at the sun better, like I did leaning them on a rock. Oh, dumbass—Petra can't see the stars and doesn't know how high the Death Star is going to get in the sky. I didn't put cameras on the little guys.

Nick took a moment to view the night sky, despite the chill. It really is beautiful out here. Beautiful, and deadly. I wonder how far I am from home. I wonder if one of those tiny specks is the sun, the real one over Earth. I wonder if I'll ever make it back.

Nick thought about it. In the early days, he would have jumped at any chance to dive back through the portal to Earth. And he still missed Earth terribly. He missed decent food, and showers, and beer, and company. I guess if you wait long enough, even loners get lonely.

But against that, Nick felt an urge to accomplish something before going back. Yes, survival was an achievement, and getting back would be too, but...he didn't want that to be it. He wanted this whole crazy adventure to have meaning. Like, he wanted to show up at home in a spaceship he built himself and could give to NASA. Or bring home a cure for cancer. Or a peace treaty from the Galactic Republic or whoever.

Nick had the greatest opportunity anyone ever got. His pride would not stomach it if he blew it. If he crawled back through the portal empty-handed. That wasn't enough any more. He smiled, nodded to himself in resolve, and went back down into the dungeon he called home.