Chapter 71 - First Day

Note :

Gods I am so done with everything. Just more and more work piling over these last few days, with medical appointments with borderline hostile nurses on top of it.

Chapter 71

Starborn Mountains, Starfire Valley

Valley Mouth

Sapphiria sighed as she was finally, fully free of the armor, and slotted the last piece into the sarcophagus.

With it here, it would continue to recharge the capacitors even as they slept.

She'd have stayed in her suit, but she would probably gather some stares if she went to bed in full armor. Besides, she had to be seen doing some squishie functions, like using the lavatory or eating.

"Alright. Time to turn in everyone." She said as she walked into the main compartment. "We have a long day ahead of us tom-what?"

Everyone was gawping at her, and she suddenly realized that no one was looking at her eyes.

She colored -out of embarassment or anger, even she couldn't tell-, and took a step forward.

Suddenly everyone found something more pressing to do, like remaking their beds or stashing their personal items back into their storage compartment.

She went towards her own bed, and heard a muttered 'Kalia really is the luckiest one' from Ramina that she chose to ignore, before turning in.

Thankfully, the beds were made to close into their own little quasi pods, in case of atmospheric breach, and she called out one last time before closing it.

"Lights out, thirty seconds."

A chorus of mumbled acknowledgments answered her, before she swung the pod shut, and dove out of the android.

*****

Her simulation was definitely more homey than the snowpiercer, and Sapphiria gratefully flopped into the sofa, sighing as it almost swallowed her whole.

Cia appeared next to her, standing over the furniture, but she simply stayed silent.

"What? No comments?"

"They would be superfluous ma'am."

The AI groaned, running her hands over her face. She didn't even need to see the simulacrum's tiny grin. She knew it had to be there.

"Of course they would be." Through a supreme effort of will, she raised herself from the hellishly comfortable cushions. "Okay. Status report?"

"Components for the perimeter defenses are being packaged for shipping. Extra utility bots are also finishing assembly to carry and deploy the parts." Sapphiria nodded. Her wheeled construction bots still couldn't make it through the forest, though it would soon be possible. The trail had been widened by the logging groups and some of the more problematic obstructions were being removed. It wasn't going to be pleasant to navigate, but it would be good enough for the bots.

Besides, she had tunnels big enough now that she could contemplate making the automated multi purpose rovers colonies used for rough terrain. Those things had a module compartment on their backs that you could swap out for whatever mission you needed. You just had to slot in the appropriate module.

They wouldn't punch through the woods like the snowpiercer, but they could make their way to and from Astralis, and even wander about in some areas of the valley.

But for now, her bots, wheeled or humanoid, would do. She'd already fallen behind enough making oversized vehicles. Plus, she'd already seen how uneasy the militia was with her wheeled bots, and she'd rather not roll a giant one into town unless she absolutely had to.

"Good. Autocannons?"

"The design for the gun towers appears workable, but ammunition will be more complicated. They are low enough that a simple dedicated maintenance ascender-" which was effectively a tiny bot made to roll along the structural beams like they were vertical rails. "-to suffice, but carrying large quantities of ammunition will not be possible, due to their relative bulk and the inherent risk in carrying weapons with live impact fuses."

"Right." A single one of those ascender bots could keep a machinegun fed easily. They could come up carrying several thousand rounds of ammo packed into a few boxes, and the gun would already have a fair few up there to begin with. But an autocannon would be more complicated. "So we might want to put the ammunition storage up there?"

"That is a possibility. But it would have to be protected against the elements, and require some structural integrity."

Technically the boxes could just sit out in the snow for years with few adverse effects, they were waterproof, but having unsecured shells with, as she had said, live impact fuses on top of a tower that was nothing more than iron beams wasn't a good idea. One box falling could certain kill a squishie from just its kinetic impact, let alone if everything inside detonated.

"I'll draw some plan. Maybe reinforce the tower to take the extra weight."

If nothing else, having armored ammo storage on top of the tower could be useful if something took the foot of the tower or otherwise neutralized the ascender bots.

"Understood. As previously instructed, further colonial smelters have been added to the fabrication queue, and space has been set aside for them. Mining bot fabrication has also been slowed to avoid wasting their output."

It wouldn't technically be wasted, just stockpiled, but it would still incurr an opportunity cost, as she could have used the resources making them to do something else. Besides, after enlarging the tunnel, she had far more mining bots than she needed. For once, she was a bit too ahead of the curve.

"Good. ETA on perimeter completion?"

"On site assembly will depend on meteorological conditions, but no longer than a week."

"Excellent." There was a short silence, before Sapphiria cleared her throat. "Any...news, from Astralis?"

Cia's face became even more neutral than usual.

"None outside of all clears." She paused. "Should I...send a message on the next cart to the outpost, asking for a status report from your g-the town's leadership." Hastily corrected the simulacrum.

Sapphiria bit her lip.

"It's okay, you can call her what she is." Because that's what Kalia was now, right? Her girlfriend? Stars it had been such a long time since she had one and not just a friend with benefits or a stranger at a bar.

"I was more worried about seeming to imply you using our message couriers for other purposes."

The AI burst out laughing.

"I'm not going to send romantic letters or laviscious photographs over our communication systems don't worry." Not yet at any rate. Also she firmly intended to do the lavicious stuff in person and with her own hands.

"Of course. Nevertheless, should I ask for a status report?"

"...No. But send in one of our own. Speaking of. How's the snowpiercer doing?"

"All appears to be within expected parameters. No major system malfunctions. Minor errors on some subsystems but those were fixed via automated diagnostics. Hull stress from environmental navigation is acceptable, though given our modifications to the hull segments I would recommend a heightened maintenance schedule." Sapphiria nodded. That made sense, they'd done their best not to weaken anything, but neither of them were ground vehicle engineers. "Tires are nominal as well. Environmental systems report activity spikes, as it appears the crew do most of their hygiene duties in well defined times."

"I'll take a look at that. We need to put in some shifts." Rather than having everyone wake and go to sleep at roughly the same time. She hadn't cared because she never truly slept and she could pilot the snowpiercer from the pod, so long as her android meson communicator remained operational. "What about navigation sensors?"

"Continually sweeping the surrounding area. Taking the same way back will not be an issue. No significant anomalies have been detected, though a brief sensor ghost was a few hours ago."

"I remember that. But it vanished immediately." She'd been warned instantly, in case it was a stealthed monster.

"Indeed. The...experimental sensor also performed reliably, allowing a very detailed picture of the local terrain. If I may suggest it, perhaps it could be used for surveys?"

"I'll take a look into it. But there's no guarantees we'll find more of that condensate or be able to make...magitech out of it."

"Magitech?"

"Do you have a better term for it? It's magical technology! Magitech."

The simulacrum opened her mouth, then closed it, tilting her head as she processed something. Sapphiria could feel her digging through the library core, specifically it's dictionaries.

"...It seems to have precedent, for standard english."

"I'm glad you approve." Sapphiria's voice positively dripped with irony. "I'm sure dialectic choices are of critical importance."

"They will define the language used by the Federation for perhaps centuries to come. Such a cavalier attitude is how you have ended up with...'junkbots'-" the simulacrum's nose actually twitched as if she had smelled something bad. "-in your vocabulary."

"...Right. In any case, right now we have bigger concerns. Namely, our little expedition. We need to record everything we can about those 'aberrations'. If they were truly the source of their knowledge about spells, it could give us considerable insights." She raised a hand as Cia opened her mouth, forestalling her. "I know. I should, and will, ask Kalia. But she's not ready for the 'hey, I'm a robot from outer space' talk. Not yet. Better to frame it as someone who has no idea of the recent developments in magic. Plus it'll enable me to ask about those airships. If they can truly manipulate gravity..." Her gaze grew unfocused as she parsed through the mountains of files, designs, speculation. "...then all bets are off."

Literally.

"Understood. Shall we begin work then?"

"Yep. I'll get started on the updated tower schematics. Ring me if anything comes up!"

*****

"So, how does it all fit?"

Sapphiria blinked, as she adjusted the control, and started going up the hill.

As far as she knew, they were out of the valley, though there was no hard limit per se. It was kind of disturbing how far they'd gone, yet how little distance they'd covered. Hopefully they would make better time as they went north and into sparser vegetation.

"The systems in the snowpiercer?" She hazarded. "You saw them. Shit, you help me put it together."

"No, I mean..." She made a cupping motion in front of her chest. "In your armor?"

The AI almost slammed the breaks as her eyes twitched.

"Is that really what we should be discussing right now? Don't we have better things to do?"

"I mean yeah, but still! It's a fair question, and there's no one else here!"

The AI sighed.

"If you must know, the armor is made for my comfort, and I'm fine with some...compression."

Compared to what some of her lovers had done to her chest or asked her to wear over the years, it was nothing in terms of discomfort.

"I see..."

"Not that it should be a concern for you."

It was, perhaps, a bit catty. But the artificer almost exploded out of seat, only stopping herself as she realized the person she was about to screech at was both at the metaphorical wheel and could probably rip her in half with one hand tied behind her back.

"EXCUSE ME?!?"

"I meant no offence!" Added Sapphiria, quickly. "Just making an observation."

"Well you can keep those to yourself."

Sapphiria looked over her shoulder, and stared meaningfully at the artificer, who subsided.

"...And I'll keep mine to myself as well. Sorry, I guess I really did do the same."

"And then some." Sapphiria went back to looking at where she was going. Though technically she was handling everything through the sensors and navigation systems, doing it 'blind' might make the squishies ask some rather uncomfortable questions.

"To be fair though, your clothes leave, uh...little to the imagination."

"They have to, to fit in the armor."

"Maybe you could change in something a bit less...form fitting?"

"If I do I'll have to shed it and get back in my suit before hopping into the armor. And every second lost might cost somebody's life."

"Ah." Ramina coughed. "Though, if you'll take my advice?"

"Yes?"

"The first time you get out of your armor and show your...clothing to Kalia, do it privately."

"Why?"

"It's unseemly for one's leader to nosebleed in public."

Sapphiria had the good grace to blush.

"I'll keep that in mind." She checked the time. "You should go in the back. Warn the rest of the crew, it'll be time for the lunch stop soon."

"Oh great. More nutrigel. Delightful."

"With spices." She looked over her shoulder at Ramina's face, because she flatly didn't believe the sensor readouts of it, before hastily looking forward again. "I'll work out something better once I have the resources to spare, I promise."

"No, I..." The artificer sighed. "I don't mean to be ungrateful. Truly. You've saved us from starvation. Even given us abundance. But it's just that..."

"It's texture feels like gargling swamp water?" She suggested.

"...Yeah. Actually that is...disturbingly accurate."

"Well I do have more experience with it than you do."

"Which makes me wonder how you can tolerate this slime. No offense."

"None taken. And I've tried improvements on it. Only the spices work. I'll explain someday. But I do have some other options. I think. They'll just take a bit to implement."

"Why not have those to begin with?"

"Because they're more expensive, and take more of my time."

"Ah. Fair enough."

She'd have added 'and its not worth it for a single person', but she'd rather avoid lying if she could. It was true, to be fair, ration bars and hydroponics weren't a good solution for a single person, but it would also imply that was why she hadn't put them into production which wasn't the case.

The less lies she spoke, rather than let them infer falsehoods by misinterpreting what truths she told them, the better they would take it once she revealed who she truly was.

Or at least so she dearly hoped.

"Now, time to head to the back, little messenger."

"Sure, sure." The artificer took off her seat restraints, and grabbed the stanchions, navigating to the back of the vehicle. They'd all learned to do that very quickly. Not only because she'd drilled it into them during training, but also because otherwise the irregular impacts and rough terrain would almost certainly make you lose your footing.

Ramina opened the door, and shouted before it closed behind her.

"Chow time everyone!"

Sapphiria began to slow the snowpiercer as they came over the crest of the hill, into a remarkably bald hilltop. It'd be a good place to stop. If nothing else, anything coming at them would have to do so uphill, and well within their view.

...So long as they didn't have range options and she'd just made them sitting duck, but you couldn't have everything.

She shut down the engine, and stood up herself. Time to make herself look like a proper squishie and eat some nutrigel.

Yaaaaay.