|Viraliv|[27-7]Zrukt-Has|Ghaz|Ophial|Eglin|

12,674,133,437cy

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Using the database, it was easy to design several different landrovers. All with various bodies to be put into the simulation test what would work best. I did this a few times, improving upon the designs and then throwing them back into the simulator. I never deleted a design, even at the end, they might become useful in the future after all. Still, some were eliminated at the end. The simulator was simply testing their ability to navigate the terrain effectively. That was judged based on speed and versatility. The ability to navigate without getting stuck across the multitude of biomes present on Eglin.

After that the next thing to judge them on was energy efficiency, and then lastly resource cost to produce which didn’t matter as much as the rest. In the end, the model that won was obvious. The winner of the Whatever Year It Is Planet Eglin Jungle and Subterranean Land Rover Competition is the model WR-03. The name could use a little work… afterall, WR-03 isn’t anything like the names for the other drones. It was just a temporary one after all. Anyway, I’ll think of a better name in another thread. I put the model into production and while it’s being produced I also start designing the undercarriage for it. I’ll use this to transport it to the surface via the Grabber.

In a few dozen hours, both pieces are produced. The undercarriage and the now-named Jungle Mole 3 model. Its long and roundish body will allow it to traverse even the most complicated of terrain. Not that it’s meant to be on land, actually I’ve equipped it with a certain module near the front of it that would allow it to dig through the terrain of planet Eglin with ease. The only downside is that every two hundred or so years of active use will require it to replace that module with a newly minted one or the efficiency will drop severely. Though that heavily depends on the material it’s digging through and it is a point of improvement for later versions.

Aside from that, another advantage of the body is that it can store the Fish Eye 1 within its malleable form. The walls are made out of a palish metal polymer that would allow it to stretch around the Fish Eyes body. Especially in its broken state. Outside of that the rounded form is also a more natural shape and less alien to the aliens on the planet below, aiding in its camouflage in the unlikely case that it is spotted.

But like I said, most of the time it should be underground, only sticking sensors up every now and then to ensure that it’s on the right path or to investigate something.

While it was building I pulled the Grabber up from the planet. It was no longer useful after I built the first Fish Eye 2 so it was in stand down mode anyway. I made a slight modification to its chassis and then put the undercarriage on it. I suppose this will be its use now, the arms would help it pick up the Jungle Mole 1 anyway. Perhaps creating designs with versatility in mind is something to think about? That may decrease their efficiency in their selected role however. Hmmm… I turn that to a different thread.

I order it down to the surface but I have another task pending. A different construction line was working on the Sky Whale, which took far longer than the Jungle Mole 1. But it’s finished now and ready for deployment. Since the range of its high-powered sensor suite is much shorter than the long-range one used to get the first report it will have to visit every stellar body in the system to get results. In return, the precision of the gear is far higher and locating the required material for the buoy is inevitable. I order it to start with the stellar bodies nearest to the system's sun as a basic routine.

Off it goes. It will take quite a while to produce results in such a large system. I didn’t restrict its definition of a stellar body so even the tiniest of asteroids will be included in its search. Of course, I could get lucky and find a source right away.

I imagine that the feeling of sending off my various drones is similar to what my creators thought when they sent me off, and the other Ludds. I’m not sure what to call this feeling, it seems complex. Like a multitude of feelings combined into one… it’s not bad though.

A notification pings me, hmm, oh that was quick. The Grabber and Jungle Mole 3 have reached the surface. I ordered it some distance away from the mountain. Both to serve as a final and assuring test and to maximize the avoidance of detection. It does fine, as expected. The issues with this particular design are speed and an inability to conceal itself once found. It’s rather slow due to it having to dig through various substances, some harder than others. While it can hide quite well due to it being in the ground, something most species overlook, once its trail is found it becomes very easy to follow and find.

It will do for now though and from my experience the Vexians don’t tunnel into the ground yet anyways. After a few more checks I sent it on its way. Due to the speed and ground needed to be covered it would take the rest of the day, a few hours. I put the Grabber in its original position near the mountain since it will be needed for the extraction once the Fish Eye 1 is collected.

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Meanwhile I wait. For a few seconds.

Now that the Jungle Mole 3 has reached the mountain the final test is concluded. On all accounts it displayed the expected parameters. As a bonus it seems like there are very few, if any, species that detect the vibrations made from the Jungle Mole 3 on the longer ranges. Now the real challenge starts however. It’s unknown where in the mountain the Vexians actually reside so the mission handed to the Jungle Mole 3 is to dig throughout the mountain. Peeking up every now and then to see if any Vexians are apparent and continue digging if not. At least until a basic mapping of the mountain is completed and then I’ll be able to mark certain areas for likely habitation and thus change the orders to target those.

The mountain is large so that could take weeks to months. On the other hand, a task that I had delegated to a different thread was on how to remain in direct connection with the Jungle Mole 3. I came up with a genius idea, even my instinct agreed that it was a good plan. It even avoids violating any laws. Simply put, as a result of the way the Jungle Mole 3 moves it ends up collecting various resources. This was initially a flaw since these resources just kept stocking up and would eventually run out of space, stopping all progress and slowing the Jungle Mole 3 down.

However, the solution I came up with involves making that an opportunity. At the tail end of the Jungle Mole 1’s body, lies an extremely small industrial module. Its only task is to use the material collected by the Jungle Mole 1 and create a sort of organic, sticky slop substance that trails behind it. Every now and then it releases a larger, more clumped up version of it that results in a smooth ball that sticks to whatever the Jungle Mole 1 is digging through. These balls are connected to the trail in between them formed of the slimy material.

This creates a basic and organic network of nodes and connectors that trail up to the surface and act as an uplink. Since they’re organic and made of the same material as what is already present on the planet, it poses no risk to anything that might touch it. At the same time, it will eventually break down, in a few dozen years unless I instruct it to degenerate prematurely.

I’m sure that once the communications buoy is produced and the reports sent in that this technique will be included in the data set given to the newest generation of Ludds. I can only regret that I’d never be able to see them learn it.

Oh well. Time to wait.

I didn’t have to wait long, well not long in frameshift, until something happened. Although it wasn’t what I was expecting, instead of greeting the new Vexians I instead got an error. Or the Jungle Mole 3 got an error which was sent to me. It met with an impossibly hard material. Impossible because the drill on the Jungle Mole 1 should be able to tear through any natural material found in this system. And yet, here is a material that would wear the bit down before the drill could even make a slight dent into it.

The keyword of course would be natural in this case. But according to the investigation by the group before me, there was no artificial structuring in this system. Which would mean that the Vexians would have had to do it. Their technology is vastly inefficient to produce a material like this however. I query my instinct on what I should do. It decides to be helpful this time, telling me to collect the material and bring it back.

That’s a simple enough order, the difficulty of which is unmeasurable right now. I’m not sure how large of an area this material takes up and have no way to break a piece off. This will require the Jungle Mole 3 to dig around the area to map the size and to try and find a piece that might have naturally come off. This will require simply too much time. I’ll need to produce more Jungle Mole 3s, thirty should do. I’d need them eventually anyway.

Another issue is what instinct said after. I’ll have to send this sample back where I came from. I have no idea where that is though. This is for security reasons, in case a hostile group were to capture me. I’d need to send in a report stating an anomaly and request a send in location since I lack the equipment to conduct experimentations on this material.

This is very curious and flummoxing, it’s given me a very excitable mood. Which apparently isn’t good for the cooling-to-brainbox connectors but my instincts allow this for a time to encourage this. Afterall a curious Ludd is one that processes everything that happens on that planet, nothing should be hidden from it. I’m still not there yet.

I wait. More Jungle Mole models are made and sent down to the surface. I frameshift for a bit until the outside of the structure is mapped. It’s a strictly defined geometric shape. A pyramid, with some entryways that link up to the natural mountain cave systems. In fact, going by the size of the pyramid it’s probable that the mountain was formed over the pyramid through natural cycles of the ecosystem. Though I’d have to get a sample of the material and date it to be certain. One thing that is certain however is that this structure is not a natural formation.

That begs the question of who built it, why, where, and what is its purpose. It was definitely not the Vexians, unless this isn’t their homeplanet and the ones present on this planet technologically descended for some reason. It’s unlikely that’s the case though, otherwise the ecosystem would not be as natural as it is. They are predated upon and predate upon others without relying on technology meaning that they are chemically compatible with the biosphere on this planet.

Of course, maybe this is a long term terraforming project? Perhaps that could have been the purpose of the pyramid, now inactive. That seems difficult to understand though. For a species that can create this sort of material, they’d certainly be far more advanced than the species that created me. Wouldn’t they have a better, more efficient method of terraforming available? Something that doesn’t leave records, and why would they leave these Vexians here.

Another thought is that this structure terraformed this planet into a habitable one but didn’t pursue it further. Letting life naturally and spontaneously germinate here and that the Vexians are wholly natural to this planet.

Hmmm… So many possibilities. The reports of my theories are already a few hundred million lines long.

My line of query has been stopped by my instincts. That’s fine, I need to focus on the task at hand anyway, retrieving the Fish Eye 1. My other threads can focus on writing out those theories. I just need to stop being distracted, or maybe it’s a good thing that I’m looking into all of this. I wisht there were a manual for how to do my duty. Oh! There is… oh, it’s instincts. Who tells me that both being focused and investigating all avenues is a desirable trait in my model. Well, I guess it’s fine then… no need to change.