"Bzzzt...-ravo-Th-ta--ulu, c---come in, d---do---ead---e?"
Hearing the radio suddenly click to life, the Council froze.
"Do not answer it," Bright warned before continuing, "If they know they are dead and we killed them, they could retaliate or try to send another group into the IKEA."
"Then what do you suggest we do?" Clair asked, focusing on Bright.
"Destroy it. For all we know, it could have a tracker of some kind. Lord knows the Foundation is beyond paranoid about everything and anything," Bright suggested.
...
As my integrated humans discussed what to do with the radio, I instead focused on following the signal and examining the radio's design and internal mechanisms.
It was far from a simple device and was seemingly quite complex than what its exterior would suggest.
From my examinations, it seems the Radio had multiple...features that allowed it to communicate through dimensions, even reaching mine through the IKEA.
The radio did have a tracker, but not in the way that my Humans suspected. The tracker was more for directing the radio waves to that specific radio to prevent other radios in the area from detecting the frequency, tapping in, and listening to something they shouldn't, which was a bit excessive for my tastes. Though a helpful thing that I could use in the future.
I copied the radio's design to memory for later use, then focused back on the conversation at hand. Only a few moments had passed since I concentrated on the Radio.
...
"I disagree. I think we should use it," Sarah suggested.
"Why would you want to do that?!" Bright shouted, asking Sarah why she'd even consider contacting the Foundation.
"It's simple. If we don't, we will eventually die; at least with them, we can have a chance to return to our families," Sarah responded, crossing her arms and starting at Bright with a bit of heat in her gaze.
"They could," Bright agreed, "But they would more likely make you a D-Class and make you into cannon fodder than put in the effort, especially since we are all from different Earths. For all we know, that specific Foundation could be even worse than the one I worked for. They could have deviated from their original goal and conquered the Earth all to 'Secure, Contain, and Protect."
"Yes, but we won't know unless we contact them," Sarah insisted.
"Let's put it to a vote. Who thinks we should contact the Foundation? Say 'Aye. ' Those who think we should destroy it? Say 'Nay.'" Clair spoke up, wanting to end the debate.
"Nay," Bright voted.
"Aye," Sarah voted.
"Nay," Jay voted.
"Aye," Vernon voted.
That left Clair as the tiebreaker.
Moments passed as all of those gathered looked upon her before she finally sighed, "Nay. As Bright informed us, the Foundation is dangerous. They attacked us on sight. Who knows what they'll do once they find out that we killed their agents? It's best if we destroy it."
Those who voted it to be destroyed let go of sighs of relief while Sarah and Vernon seemed to be outraged.
"But we do not know for sure! They could be the only ones that could help us get back to our families!" Sarah shouted while Vernon nodded in agreement, seeming a bit mad for the typically calm and rational man.
"And who is to say that they cannot hear us already? Last I checked, none of us here are experts in the fields of engineering or electronics," Vernon suggested.
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"It's...It is possible but also unlikely," Bright said before continuing. "While the Foundation could do that, they likely would not, as that would only drain the Radio's battery, making it near useless for a long-term mission like these guys were likely on."
"Why don't we just keep it for now? Listen in and see if the Foundation sends in or does anything else?" Vernon suggested, "That's much more preferable to just destroying the thing," getting Sarah's nod of approval.
"Sure, but we'll need to isolate the damned thing. We don't know for sure if the Foundation is listening in on our meeting or if they were paranoid enough to implant explosives in it," Bright suggested.
"Explosives?! Why did you not start with that?" Jay asked, jumping up from his seat. Bright chuckled and replied, " I'm just messing with you. Calm down."
Coming to a decision, the council ultimately decided to keep the radio instead of destroying it, having it as a backup option, or using it to tap into whatever the Foundation sends through in the future, not that they knew that the Radio did not work that way.
...
Meanwhile, a group of scientists at a particular foundation site grew annoyed that they had already lost contact with the expedition team they had sent through. However, as the Foundation could attest, its scientists weren't anything if not stubborn. Within a week, they would have another expedition team ready to be sent through, this time one made entirely of D-class personnel to lower the expedition's costs.
Even a particular scientist known for his love of shotguns became interested in the...project and was contemplating joining in on the 'fun.'
...
Losing interest in what my Integrated Humans were doing, I focused once again on building the ruins of Invictus. I made significant progress, even creating a mile-wide ring of the ruins around the Dome. I have begun making plans for the Monsters that would inhabit the city, but the main attraction would be several different entities.
The first would be Corrupted Enforcers, Enforcers that, after an unknown amount of years, have fallen into a state of disrepair and have begun malfunctioning, attacking everything on sight. Due to the extensive damage over time, I intended these Enforcers to range from level 25 to 100, with the level 100 Corrupted Enforcers being Enforcers that were minimally damaged. I even wanted to add another variant of machines, Corrupted Watchers.
The Watchers had one purpose: scouting out dangers and alerting nearby Enforcers of the threat. They were relatively weak but could quickly swarm someone if they were not careful, with their level range being 5 to 15. The Watchers had three abilities: flight, scanning, and a small beam weapon, all at the cost of durability. They would be the weakest machine of the ARK Machine series of Robots, but they'd be the most numerous.
The second group of entities that would roam the streets of Invictus would come from several different species.
Ants. A versatile insect from Earth that could fulfill a wide variety of purposes, ants were one of the most successful creatures on Earth. On one Earth, an estimated 20 quadrillion Ants live across every continent and many islands.
The Ants I planned on creating would be 'Giant Ants,' with the basic drone being the size of a large canine and other casts being smaller or larger depending on their role in the Hive.
These...Ant Colonies would be spread around the city, of course, and would be given a single Queen and 200 drones. From there, it would be up to the Colonies if they wanted to survive. It would be an...experiment of sorts, one that I could control and influence at will by providing or removing food within the city, adding or removing Enforcers and Watchers, and more variables. These Colonies would also be hostile to one another, essentially making it a war between the Hives and the remnants of the defensive forces of the city, with the war stretching on the surface, in the tunnels created by the Ants underneath the town, and the metro tunnels that will eventually make a large majority of the undercity.
Those were my future plans, but for now, I could only continue expanding the ruins each day until I complete my objective. It was also noteworthy that in creating the ruins, I had to make the bedrock and the soil that the ruins would sit upon as I stretched and expanded my Dungeon with the ruins, slowing my progress quite a bit.
As for the food sources I planned on spreading around the city, they would be small gardens, fruit-bearing trees scattered around the streets of the ruins, and the underground fungi farms that would serve as the main food source for the Ants and likely be maintained by them as well.
As for the traits of the Ants, I intended to go with several different approaches.
One colony would have strong warriors but would be terrible at farming, meaning that they would have fewer Ants than the others but stronger warriors in exchange.
Another colony would have the advantage in numbers, but in exchange, it would be smaller and weaker, making them a decent swarmer.
The last colony, on the other hand, would be in between, possessing a range attack but having no other advantages than the other two colonies. They'd be slower than the Swarmer Ants, yet faster than the Warrior Ants. They'd be smaller and weaker than the Warrior Ants but would be stronger and bigger than the Swarmer Ants. They would essentially be the average of the other two colonies, with the only advantage they possess being the ability to use Acid projectiles.
Of course, the colonies would keep each other in check unless one gained an advantage over the other two. I had no doubt that the Humans would completely wipe them out if they did not grow in power fast enough.
The last...'party' that would be calling the ruins home would be the least in number and certainly not the strongest, but perhaps the best when it came to intelligence and cunning, allowing them to outsmart the Ants and Corrupt Machines but not be able to overpower either without sufficient preparation.