Niomi couldn't open her eyes. She sighed as this feeling was familiar.
“Liiri matrix initialization at ninety-eight percent. Initializing Mindscape program.” the voice of the Manual spoke to Niomi in what she felt was her head or mind. Of course, it was neither a voice nor in her head not anymore. The system booted up and she found herself sitting at a desk. Unlike the first time, she was fully clothed, in a simple grey jumpsuit, and she thanked Liiri-54 for that. Looking around the room was pretty uninspiring really, white on white, white floor, white desk, white couch, a white ceiling which at least seemed to have a glow to it unlike the invisible light sources of the previous Mindscape.
Then she noticed the view, it was all around her in this circular room, floor to ceiling the walls looked like glass looking out into space. A dim yellow star burned in the distance, bathing the planet in golds, silvers, and coppers. This world seemed to sit right below the floor edge like Earth from the International space station. Niomi couldn't help herself and found herself pressed against the glass looking out in wonder. A wonder compounded by the knowledge that this was another star and another planet.
Then the feeling evaporated when she remembered that this was just a simulation, a Mindscape, as that AI called it. Liiri-54 informed her that due to Liiri Collective law they couldn't build space structures in systems that might become home to intelligent life, so systems like Sol where Earth is located could not be used as a Communication Relay site, for instance, The small research structure on Earth being a direct exemption by the Biological Research Commission. Niomi was then given a choice between Gliese 433, Gliese 581, or GJ 9827. At least that was their names to humanity.
Gliese 433 was a red dwarf star twenty-nine point forty-six light-years from Earth. It has two planets and a host of smaller bodies. The Liiri probe there indicated a large number of spaceborne materials but that the system was chaotic at best, it would be a good place to build a fortress as the resources were plentiful and the space hazardous to spacecraft.
Gliese 581, or Wolf 562 as it is sometimes called, was also a red dwarf system with four planets twenty point forty-four light-years from Earth. It is an old star and very dim compared to Sol Earth's sun. The probe there showed a stable system with a large debris disk from the star. Again great mining but passive energy collection like using solar power will be very hard in the outer solar system. Also as a stable system, anything built will need a lot of work to stay hidden if she wanted to keep her presence hidden.
The last choice was GJ 9827. This was a bigger star than the other two, a yellow dwarf. Like the other two star systems, there was plenty of resources, in two different debris disks, and three planets. Two which had atmospheres, although neither would be considered even close to livable by any but a Machine species like the Collective. With the bigger and warmer star, there were more resources to work with than either of the two other systems. However, it was also ninety light-years from Earth and three nearby stars hosted sentient life. Faster than light capable life, and will likely be visited soon by these races.
Ultimately Niomi chose GJ 9827, the thought of meeting actual physical aliens interested her, and she figured if she could make allies of even just one of the races she wouldn't be fighting this mysterious threat alone. Plus maybe they would be friendly to Earth when it gets into space, or maybe even will give Earth the technology it needs to get into space. Niomi couldn't trade or give Liiri technology away but that doesn't mean she can't buy other species technologies for Earth using the resources she mined.
Niomi returned to the desk when she noticed a large bright red book had appeared on the desk. Written in large gold letters was Manual. She went to open the book but as soon as she touched it, it began to glow softly. A Black window appeared above the book, with writing inside.
“Welcome Liiri-54-6 to GJ 9827, I am your automated Manual, you can request my aid by touching my book or any other designated form, or by verbally asking me a question. I will respond to any question asked in the format of 'Manual a question?' you may change this on my settings page. As this is your first time accessing the Mindscape program, please say 'system status' to open the control window. All controls can be accessed vocally, but fine adjustments may require fine tactile control.” it read.
“Ok, system status?” Niomi said in a questioning tone. I window much like the first one opened replacing the Manual window.
System status for Liiri-54-6
Selfname: Niomi Thornwood
Origin species: Human, Prototype class
Location: Sector 844345-2453, Star XS844345-7758K6V, local name GJ 9827
Local Assets: Class Three Reproduction Drone, Sensor upgrade, FTL Comm upgrade (limited to 100 light-years), 6 Assembler swarms.
Distant Assets:
Star XS844345-7704M1.5V, local name Gliese 433
Class Three Reproduction Drone, Sensor upgrade, FTL Comm upgrade (limited to 100 light-years), 6 Assembler swarms.
Star XS844345-7799M3V local name Gliese 581
Class Three Reproduction Drone, Sensor upgrade, FTL Comm upgrade (limited to 100 light-years), 6 Assembler swarms.
Programs running:
Liiri-54-6, 70% Processor
Manual, 12% Processor
Mindscape, 4% Processor
Free Processor: 14%
Niomi thought this information would probably be useful to someone familiar with the system but to her, it was mostly just words. It didn't look like she had much left of the processor, but she wasn't sure what that meant. But she was interested to see that she had access to the resources in the other systems. She also saw that several tabs above the screen seemed to lead to other pages, but most of them were grayed out.
“Manual a question? How do I build anything?” She asked getting to the main point. Playing around with the tabs can come later. And she needs to construct the Communication Relay so she would be free to act.
“Answer:” it said in a monotone if male robotic sounding voice. “Access the building tab on the system status screen, select the needed facility and dispatch an Assembler swarm, or assign a Builder Hub.”
“Ok,” she said to herself before signing realizing she was already speaking to herself. “What is the difference between an Assembler Swarm and a Builder Hub?” she asked. And waited a full minute before facepalming.
“Stupid literal machine,” she said to herself before sighing. She then asked the question again but prefacing it with “Manual a question?”
“Assembler swarms are an advanced complex collection of trillions of nanites, these nanites are capable of turning raw materials directly into buildings or ships but can only be used once since they can not be reprogrammed, the leftover swarm will continue to maintain the structure using provided or local material unless the structure takes a significant amount of damage. This does not require any Processor use to maintain. A Builder hub receives raw materials from external sources, and processes them into the needed materials for the construction project, Basic builder drones assigned to the Hub will then pick up and use the raw material to further to project. Basic builder drones are completely autonomous and do not require any Processor usage. More advanced Builder drones are required for more advanced or complicated structures or ships.” the Manual told her.
Niomi thought about it for a moment. It sounded like the Assembler swarms could probably build any building or structure from bare rock, and it looks like they even maintain the structure after they build it, but they are single-use. It looked like she would need to build a Builder Hub to actually build anything. This meant she would have to prioritize getting that builder hub working so she could build more than six structures. She accessed the System Status window's tabs and found the Building Tab. It listed her builders and what she could build using them. There were a few buildings listed in white while most were listed yellow or red. When she asked Manual about it she learned that the red buildings were buildings that can not be built without authorization from one of the Liiri commissions. The yellow were structures that she could build but would not work without other support facilities like a power plant or required more Processor than she currently had available. White were ones she met all the conditions and would work immaterially. All of them had various traits.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
Assembler Swarm: 6 Swarms available for assignment.
Ore Mine, Automated, Tiered, Self Supporting, Modular
Asteroid Ore Miner, Automated, Tiered, Self Supporting, Mobile
Gas Collector, Automated, Tiered, Self Supporting, Modular
Space Gas Collector, Tiered, Self Supporting, Mobile
Volatiles Harvester, Automated, Tiered, Self Supporting, Modular
Space Volatiles Harvester, Automated, Tiered, Self Supporting, Mobile
Refinery, Variable, Upgradeable, Automated, Tiered, Self Supporting, Modular
Transport Hub, Biome Specific, Drone, Tiered, Self Supporting, Modular
Builder Hub, Biome Specific, Drone, Tiered, Self Supporting, Modular
Drone Fabricator, Variable, Upgradeable, Automated, Tiered, Self Supporting, Modular
Small Craft Fabricator, Biome Specific, Automated, Tiered, Self Supporting, Modular
Medium Craft Fabricator, Biome Specific, Crewed, Tiered, Self Supporting, Modular
Solar Collector, Biome Specific, Automated, Tiered, Modular
Fusion Generator, Biome Specific, Crewed, Tiered, Modular
Complex Core, Biome Specific, Computer Core Type A, Tiered, Modular
Capital Ship Core, Computer Core Type A, Tiered, Modular, Mobile, Self Supporting
Communication Relay, Automated, Self Supporting, Mobile, Stealthed
There were hundreds more, most were things Niomi couldn't even guess at what they did, but Manual showed her something like a build tree, which was a chart showing her all the structures, and could be filtered to show what each facility needed, to be built, or to operate, or to consume and more. It was quite overwhelming to Niomi at that moment and she spent an hour just looking at the multi-colored and animated chart before remembering that she wanted to start the construction of some facilities. Niomi had no idea how long any of these things would take and knew she should have plenty of time to nerd out about the details.
When she selected one of the Assembler Swarm the list reappeared, and she selected the Communication Relay. This opened another window.
Communication Relay
Cost: One Assembler Swarm
Origin: Liiri Support Commission
This Communication Relay is designed to travel to the heliopause of a solar system, where it can collect interstellar medium to power a micro *REDACTED* reactor. This Relay is capable of receiving and transmitting all data including a Liiri Matrix, It is commonly the first thing constructed in a system and will allow an escape route for any stranded Liiri Matrix. This Relay is also designed to be undetectable by most races in the galaxy. Once built it will become the property and responsibility of the Liiri Support Commission. The Range of this unit is *REDACTED*. These units require an Assembler Swarm to construct. Please do not activate more than one in a system at a time as they can conflict with each other. This unit also has *REDACTED* as a defense system.
Traits: Automated, Self Supporting, Mobile, Stealthed
Automated: This Structure is autonomous and requires no input from the local Processor to function.
Self Supporting: This Structure can fuel and repair itself, this trait is due to using an Assembler swarm to construct this structure.
Mobile: This Structure can move in its primary environment, in this case, interplanetary space.
Stealthed: This Structure is equipped with a class 5 Liiri *REDACTED* field, and will remain undetectable unless a Class 6 or Higher species goes looking for it, even then it should remain undetectable unless used.
Please select a target among the listed available targets to begin construction. Note once the target is selected the Assembler Swarm will be programmed and no longer recoverable.
A second list appeared just as soon as Niomi finished reading the final line. This caused her to pause for a moment as a thought hit her, then she continued to look at the list. There were thousands of potential targets, all the ones she saw with a quick look were asteroids, or as the system called them Orbital Masses. Testing a thought she had she said “Sort by Distance from us.” and the list rearranged itself with the closest objects listed first. With some experimentation, she sorted the list by multiple candidates until she found a rock on the other side of the solar system that could be used to create the Relay. Apparently, the Probe had scanned and mapped the system fairly well. Once she activated the process a Notification like a floating envelope appeared above the desk. She tapped on it with her finger like it was a glass pane between her and an aquarium. A little animation happened where a small clock popped out of the envelope and with a label over the top of the clock showed her a count down before the Communication Relay would become active and how many Phases its construction had. It was an quite informative little widget. Then Niomi paused as another thought hit her.
“Manual a question?” she asked. “The Mindscape is a program similar to a VR environment on Earth correct?” She asked the system.
“Answer: The Mindscape is a system utility to aid younger AI's with visualizations or to help Trans-Species AI to adapt to the Matrix environment by giving them an environment similar to what they are used to.”
“Can I change the Mindscape to something else? Like a Beach or a forest?” She asked and sighed when she didn't get an answer right away. She opened the System Status window again since it had closed after she had lost focus on it, which was something she found a little frustrating and would look into changing that later. She scrolled through the tabs, both those active and those grayed out until she found the Programs tab. There were several other programs listed including one called Date, Time, and Time Compression Utility which she noted for later. The one she wanted was the Manual program. She found its setting page and started to muck around in its settings. There she found and changed its response parameters, there she changed it to answer any verbally asked questions. She found it interesting and slightly disturbing that she could also set it to read her mind to an extent although this took additional Processor. Niomi felt she should investigate that later.
Niomi also found an answer to her question, both in Manual's settings and in the Mindscape's settings, she could change the Mindscape environment into whatever she wished. It was there she found the Footnote, as she called it, left by Liiri-54. It explained that the Mindscape is reactive when generating new content, translating ideas into forms she was familiar with. She also learned that Liiri-54 had programmed the Mindscape to gamify the Liiri Technology, both because it would be a form familiar to her and because the technology lends itself well to this usage, Niomi approved.
Looking over the list a second-time Niomi focused on two options, the Complex Core and the Capital Ship Core.
Complex Core
Cost: One Assembler Swarm
Origin: Liiri Support Commission
The Complex Core is at once an AI server facility and a logistical hub. It increases the Processor available to Liiri present in the system. It also enables and manages the internal logistical lines within most Liiri Facilities. allowing for the transportation of materials between connected modular facilities. The Shape of the Complex core must be selected when placing as this will determine how many Modular attachment points it will have.
Traits: Biome Specific, Computer Core Type A, Tiered, Modular
Biome Specific: This Structure's design has been optimized so that when building it in a specific environment it will be able to handle said environment. For example, a Structure with this Trait built where there is no atmosphere would be optimized to operate in a Vacuum, while if built underwater it would be optimized to operate in a Liquid.
Computer Core Type A: This Structure adds 500 units of processor capacity, and is capable of self-management.
Tiered: This Structure is Tiered and can be upgraded. Each upgrade will increase its core abilities. In this case, a Tier two Complex Core will upgrade the Computer Core Type A trait to Computer Core Type B trait. Upgrades may or may not also unlock Upgrade Slots for a more customized structure.
Modular: This Structure is Optimized to be directly connected to other Modular structures. and has unified attachment points to allow the transportation of physical resources as well as power and communication lines.
Capital Ship Core
Cost: Four Assembler Swarm
Origin: Liiri Support Commission
The Capital Ship Core was designed to be the heart of a mobile base, Additional Swarms are needed to create a suitable Power Module, as well as a suitable Engine Module. Basic ship Template must be selected before construction can be initiated.
Power Production: 250 (before other usages)
Engine Thrust Rating: Capital-Class 1
Traits: Computer Core Type A, Tiered, Modular, Mobile, Self Supporting, Self Modifying
Computer Core Type A: This Structure adds 500 units of processor capacity, and is capable of self-management.
Tiered: This Structure is Tiered and can be upgraded. Each upgrade will increase its core abilities. In this case, a Tier two Capital Ship Core will upgrade the Computer Core Type A trait to Computer Core Type B trait, as well as increasing both the Power Plant and Engine Modules abilityes. Upgrades may or may not also unlock Upgrade Slots for a more customized structure.
Modular: This Structure is Optimized to be directly connected to other Modular structures. and has unified attachment points to allow the transportation of physical resources as well as power and communication lines.
Self Supporting: This Structure can fuel and repair itself, this trait is due to using an Assembler swarm to construct this structure.
Self Modifying: This Structure is equipped with all the needed facilities to upgrade itself so long as it is provided with the needed raw materials, this trait is due to using an Assembler swarm to construct this structure. Additional Builder Drones or the Use of a Capital ship Shipyard Structure will greatly accelerate this process.
Both increased her Processor she learned, with the trait Computer Core Type A, Although she still didn't understand exactly what Processor was used for. Niomi thought it might be something like the system resources of a Windows PC back home but figured she was probably wrong. Both types of Structures were needed to tie other structures together. Thus eliminating the need for a Transport Hub to move materials between connected structures.
The biggest difference to Niomi was that one was stationary and the other was mobile. In the end, Niomi chose the Capital ship core, it might consume most of her Assembler Swarms but a Complex Core would require additional structures to work also consuming those Swarms. While the description of the Capital ship Core said the ship would be self-contained, it also hinted that it would likely upgrade slower than a Complex Core based facility, so Niomi was a little worried she might be hamstringing her start.
Once selected the system once more gave Niomi a selection of Orbital Masses for her to select from although this list was much smaller than the one for the Communication Relay. She chose an asteroid at random since she didn't know if there were any benefits to choosing a specific type. Manual was unhelpful when asked about it as well saying that the material found may or may not influence the resulting structure. Which from Niomi's own experience in writing manuals for different things, usually means that either it doesn't know, or it is very situational.
Niomi started the construction when her world changed forever.