Nick wasn't completely giving up on the space phone, not yet anyway. Sure, he had no way to make Element 21.5, whatever that was. But maybe there were alternatives. Just to be thorough, he asked Petra how to make Element 25.5, and got a device with a crazy long ingredients list, and sure enough, it contained Element 21.5 and Element 25.5.
He continued down the list, checking how to make Element 31.5, Element 32.5, and Element 54.5. Each one required an elaborate device, and each device had a long list of ingredients, and the half-elements always showed up. You had to have some of the stuff to make some of the stuff. Nick was stuck.
Is one of these especially easy or hard? Nick wondered. He tried to see if there was one sample that he could use to make all the others. Element 21.5 needed itself. Element 25.5 needed itself and Element 21.5. And so on down the list. Nick checked every option, right to the last. Element 54.5 required...
Wait. Nick blinked hard and stared again. It all had started blurring together after a while. Nick kept looking over the ingredients list for a device to create Element 54.5. He wasn't finding any ingredients with a 0.5 on the end.
Wait, can I actually build this one? Nick looked to see what was in stock and what was missing. It would take a lot of materials, even more than a “Petra-smarter brick” cost. He groaned when he looked at the rare materials needed. Element 90 or 92. God damn it.
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“I bet one of those is fucking plutonium, isn't it?” Nick pressed his palms to his forehead for a moment. The chances of a chunk of plutonium ore or whatever being nearby was probably close to zero. Back to the drawing board.
He took a break, wandered through the dungeon a bit, took a nap, and sat back down to try again.
“Petra, do you know where alien civilizations are?” Nick asked aloud. If only I knew how to ask that question in a way Petra could understand...
Nick went back to drawing. He'd gotten Petra used to him using a stick figure to represent himself. Now he drew a whole lot of stick figures, and called up Maps. Where are the closest people? He tried to ask. Petra didn't get it.
Nick drew and labeled Earth, then drew several stick figures below it, and added 8,000,000,000 next to the figures. He labeled the number Population. For comparison, he drew BigBall and added a population label.
Nick paused. Does Petra count herself as a person? I don't want to insult her. He wasn't sure whether to mark BigBall's population as 1 or 2. After a moment, he put 2 in, and waited to see Petra's reaction. Petra changed the 2 to a 1...but marked the number bright green.
That's interesting. But is Petra counting people, or counting humans? And what does the green mean again...? He thought back. It means not sure. Is Petra not sure whether she is a person, or... Nick felt a chill.
Or is Petra not sure BigBall is uninhabited, after all?