( John POV )

"That, my dear Jade, is because you get to choose our starting location!"

Before I finish the sentence, I know all is forgiven. Her eyes sparkle, literally, and she kneels to look at the continent.

With a voice that hovers somewhere between excited and professional she acknowledges the trade.

"A fair deal, indeed! It’s a much better challenge to analyse, in any case! So, first things first, we want ready access to water and wood to cover the basic needs of our community. Without those, our early game is very hampered."

As she monologues, areas on the continent are highlighted in bright green, presumably those areas satisfying the conditions. It contrasts nicely with the red of areas already taken by other players.

"Wood is available almost everywhere, they’ve clearly designed the continent with that in mind. Water’s going to be more of a problem, though, especially during the dry season. However, we wouldn't want to be stuck in a swamp during the winter season."

She says while thinking out loud.

The green glow dims considerably around the delta areas, cutting out the swamplands and those northern areas relying on oases and small streams.

She continues on, seemingly reading of a script instead of making active decisions. then again she is an AI so she probably already finish her decisions.

"Now, normally I would assume the best spot would be on one of the really big rivers, giving us excellent growth potential. It would give us good trade access with other players, too."

"Assuming that they want to trade in the first place."

I remark, after all it’s only natural some players would rather try to conquer then to co-exists.

Jade however ignores me, and simply continues on.

"But, there’s a good chance that those locations will be hotly contested. By the wildlife, as well as by other players. We want somewhere a little quieter, which means strategically selecting a slightly less desirable location."

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

Jade keeps rambling off statistics, slowly cutting down the possibilities as she factors in flooding, predators, microclimates, and so on. Eventually, she reaches a shortlist of three areas.

The first is near the eastern edge of the mountain range, following a large, eastern-flowing river, lined with occasional flood-plains. A good place for agriculture.

The second lies along the northern coast, in the area described by the documentation as ‘Mediterranean’. It’s littered with small ponds and streams that well up from natural springs, giving access to both fresh and saltwater.

The last area is a southern location, different from the others: it’s thickly wooded and mountainous, on the banks of a glacier-fed stream. Defensible, and probably good hunting, but a harsh climate. Which reminds me:

"What about possible prey? Or useful flora, for that matter?"

"I was getting to that, you impatient meatbag! I haven’t checked it yet."

She retorts quickly.

She goes still for a minute, clearly collating a lot of data.

Having found the data she was looking for she starts explaining.

"OK, that limits our options significantly. The southern forest is a no go zone; survival requires hunting techniques that would need significant research. Good for wolfkin, but not for humans. Similarly, the northern coast pretty much demands fishing until we’ve tech-ed into more advanced agriculture, and the documentation says the sea life can be pretty hostile. Given we’re using humans, the eastern river-side area is the best choice."

At this, the planet grows wildly in size, as Jade shrinks us from our cosmic scale. After a few seconds, we’re looking down at the savannah plane through which the eastern river winds. Below us, a few specific areas are highlighted in the familiar green.

"And now, the final selection process!"

Jade pulls an empty bottle out of the digital aether, and impossibly spins it in mid air. It stops pointing due west, but she frowns and nudges the decanter to where she actually wants it.

I pretend not to notice.

"Ahem. Behold, the ideal starting position!"

She exclaims loudly.

Ah, whatever would I do without her melodrama.