Gunboat (A LitRPG Adventure), page 4
“Hmm, first off, we need to expand your control over the ship compartments between here and where your hardline connections are linked. As you expand your control, your vision over the ship will improve, and with that, your core’s power to build and make changes will also improve.”
“How do I extend my control?” Watkins asked. “That’s the problem I have, LANI. I know that it’s possible for me to expand my control. I just don’t know how to go about making it happen.”
“Your core is a rather unique and experimental design. You must exert and focus your processing power on establishing the connections you wish to have. In this case, permeating your will throughout the next compartment. Once you have done that, you can observe and interact with it the same way you are doing here. Take some time and try to concentrate on extending your will.”
“I’ll give it a go.” Watkins wasn’t sure how to start, so he tried to cut off all visual stimuli and focus on his other senses. It was eerily like closing his eyes to concentrate when he was still a flesh-and-blood human. He lost track of time as he tried to find the connections LANI was talking about. His mind drifted, but just as he was about to give up, he felt something.
There, in the movable wall panel the drones used to drop off resources. He could sense a connection there, and his core was the one controlling the panel’s opening. A power conduit linked the panel to Watkins, and he pushed against that connection, following where it was mounted inside the compartment wall.
The wall was a cold, dead alloy, but here and there, connections existed. Some were more old power conduits; others were devices that he didn’t quite understand yet. Still more things were embedded in the actual alloy that made up his ship, an entire network of sensors and other microscopic controls that allowed for communication, life support, power, inertial dampeners, and control of the network.
What had seemed like a cold, dead metal wall was actually part of him, and as Watkins pushed, he could feel the wall come to life. Most of the microscopic devices in the walls were inert, dead and damaged. Others responded to his call, and Watkins could feel his core power slowly permeating the wall, starting with the area around the drone hatch.
More than once, Watkins lost control of the process, forcing him to exert his will over the same section of wall several times. Despite some setbacks, he was making progress. The next compartment was much larger than the one he was housed in, but the further he extended his will, the faster the process seemed to go.
He felt something tickle the back of his mind, and Watkins lost all concentration. It was just as he was incorporating the floor into his control, and the area he had already secured began to recede. He felt another force at work, and at first, he thought it was some enemy, a competitor that wished to usurp control of his vessel.
As he prepared to fight back, Watkins realized that it wasn’t some unknown force trying to steal his ship from him. It was LANI, and instead of trying to gain control, she was trying to help him. Her processing power was added to his core, and with the extra assistance, he quickly regained the lost ground and began on the final section of the compartment, the ceiling.
Even with LANI’s assistance, Watkins’ energy faded as they finished the last corner of the ceiling. Exhausted, he felt his concentration break for good, and he could no longer force his will into the compartment. To his delight, his control over the compartment didn’t fade. It was like something clicked into place and that compartment was once more a part of him.
“That was exhausting. I’m afraid that I will need some time to recover,” LANI explained.
Watkins felt the same way, and an inspection of his core revealed the issue.
You have gained control of the fabrication compartment of your ship. This is the main production area for anything you possess the schematic for. The act of permeating your will into this compartment is complete, but it will take time to fully integrate it into your systems.
Until this compartment is fully integrated, you will be unable to expand your control over other compartments. Current integration is at 12%.
“LANI, I have a question I was hoping you could answer,” Watkins said. “These message prompts announcing things keep appearing. Where are they coming from?”
“They’re coming from your core. It’s the internal guidelines that dictate how you operate.” LANI paused for a moment as if contemplating the best way to respond. “Let me explain it this way. When you were alive, you had autonomous functions in your body, such as your heart beating or your food digesting. You didn’t need to concentrate on them to use them. The system prompts are a lot like that, a portion of your core that is always operating to guide and inform you of important data.”
He wasn’t sure he believed or trusted LANI one hundred percent yet, but the explanation was at least a logical one. Further questions could wait. He now had a new compartment he wanted to explore. With his control in place, Watkins finally had a view of what this new compartment held. Just like his core compartment, this one showed extensive damage, and he could feel that his ship’s keel had buckled at some point, warping the entire structure. An image of a car with frame damage popped into Watkins’ mind.
While it was reassuring to recover even a tiny fragment of an old memory of his humanity, the image of the car did little to improve the situation. Watkins shook it off and continued his examination. The compartment was rectangular, and on one of the long walls was a huge machine that resembled a giant refrigerator that had fallen on its side. It was the fabricator that he had used earlier to build his repair drones.
The other long wall held storage racks that probably once held spare parts and partially completed projects. Now most of the storage racks were empty, save for a few dust-covered and battered objects he couldn’t identify. The center of the compartment’s floor was creased, and there were even several cracks in it, with dark openings to whatever was beneath this compartment.
He could now feel the outline of the access hatch his drones had used to traverse compartments. There was also something new built around the drone access hatch. It was a hidden and much larger hatch. It had been designed to hide any unwanted access to his core room, and the metal of that entire wall was much denser than the rest of the compartment.
Just as he was about to order his drones inside to start cleaning up and salvaging what they could, Watkins spotted movement. He heard something clanging on metal, and another of the mutated rats poked its head out of the dark opening in the floor. The rat sniffed around, then began to climb its way into the compartment.
It turned and looked at the wall separating the fabrication compartment from his core. Somehow, the creature sensed that Watkins was hidden inside, and it wanted to get at him and devour his core. As the mutated rat stalked its way toward the drone access hatch, Watkins saw more movement from under the storage racks.
These things were after him again, and Watkins was worried that only two repair drones might not be enough protection.
Chapter 6
Rat War
“LANI, it looks like more of the rats are coming for us,” Watkins said.
LANI was still a bit out of it after helping him secure control of the compartment, but he could feel her shift her focus onto the mutant rat stalking its way toward the drone hatch.
“Wait, look at the others,” LANI said. “Those rats are not the same as the ones that attacked us.”
She was right. The movement that Watkins had spotted from under the storage racks wasn’t more of the mutated rats; these were much more normal-looking.
“Why are those not mutated?” he asked. “Wait, why are there even rats aboard the ship, mutant or not? What were they eating? We’ve been drifting out here for over a century.”
“It must be your core energy, Watkins. That’s the reason there is so much life aboard your ship. It’s probably also the reason it took so long for you to become conscious. These rats, mutants, and whatever else might be aboard are being sustained by your core energy.”
“But how did they get onboard in the first place? You can’t tell me that there are rats and other vermin on spaceships. They were never a problem on the warships I served on.”
“Not every ship is maintained to the same standards,” LANI said. “I don’t have the data available anymore, but I do remember that the Council contracted with third parties to bring supplies out to the station. Undoubtedly, some of those vessels carried vermin, and those vermin, without any automated maintenance systems remaining operable, must have infested the station and your attached vessel. Given an ample food supply—in this case, your core energy—they would multiply and thrive while aboard.” She cut off her explanation. “Oh my, look at that.”
Watkins, who had been focused on the mutated rat the whole time, watched the six other rats pounce on and begin to attack the mutated creature. They were all about the same size, but the mutated rat seemed to be stronger than the others. Not only was it stronger, but it also had more natural weapons to work with.
The mutated rat had a hard, chitinous outer layer that the other rats had trouble penetrating. They were still hurting the mutant, but the damage seemed negligible. In return, the mutant was easily able to clamp onto the rough, hairy bodies of the normal rats, each bite inflicting grievous wounds on its target.
It was hard to keep track of the fight as the rats swarmed over each other in a confusing ball of combat. One and then another of the normal rats fell to the mutant’s bite, their lifeless bodies flopping onto the buckled decking. As it killed off the third normal rat, two more charged out from under the shelving, reinforcing their kin.
“That mutant is a real monster, isn’t it?” Watkins commented as the thing made its fourth kill of the fight.
“Truly, but quantity counts for something,” LANI replied, watching as yet another pair of rats charged out to join the fight. The normal rats were finally starting to have an impact, and Watkins noticed that several had focused on the back left leg of the mutant.
After killing another normal rat, the mutant began to back away, heading toward the opening in the deck it had emerged from. The fight continued, but things slowed down a bit. Both sides were wary of each other, and only when they thought they had a good opening would one lunge forward to bite.
“I’m glad I have a pattern for those mutant rats. We can probably build some eventually,” Watkins said.
“Wait, why didn’t I see that when I examined your logs and database?” LANI said excitedly, going quiet as she sorted through the data they shared.
“I gave you permission. I’m not sure why you didn’t see it. I got something called a Mobile Offensive Battle System schematic when the drones reprocessed the ones they killed,” Watkins explained.
“Interesting, it looks like data on your schematics was locked out until we controlled this chamber,” LANI said frantically. “I can see it now that we have direct access to the fabricator. This is good news, but we need to hurry. Send your drones in to gather up the corpses. Make sure they’re specifically tasked with that, not gathering other salvage. Also set them to passive so they don’t stop to defend themselves.”
“Why? Those rats will tear them apart,” Watkins said, not wanting to send his only drones into certain death against so many angry opponents.
“Please, just do what I requested. The other rats are busy with each other. If our drones can gather up enough biomass, we can build our own mutant rats. Should you delay, one side will defeat the other and claim the remains as their prize. We need that biomass.”
Watkins was still not entirely certain that LANI was right, but he figured it wouldn’t hurt to compromise and send one drone, keeping the other in reserve. Giving his drone the command LANI had suggested, he sent it on its way. The access hatch for the drone slid open, and the unobstructed path to Watkins’ core drew the attention of the mutated rat, who then suffered for it when two of the normal rats shot in and landed solid bites..
Squealing in pain, the mutant retaliated, snapping at its foes but missing. The mutant’s wounds were building, and its chitinous outer layer was breached in several places from repeated bites. A nasty green-tinted blood leaked from the wounds, the scent of which seemed to entice the other rats as they sensed the weakness in their opponent.
Watkins turned his attention away from the rat brawl, watching his drone approach the nearest rat corpses. It opened the compartment on the back of its main body, stuffing the rat corpse inside. Only one of the large rats fit inside the storage compartment, but the drone was also able to haul a second rat, which it hooked with one of its front legs.
Overburdened, the drone began to slowly walk toward the far wall, the rats ignoring it for the time being. Another access panel opened on the far wall, right next to a human-sized hatch. The hatch resembled one that Watkins would expect to find on a submarine back home, but he figured in space, you had to have everything sealed off from potential leaks, just like you’d have to do under the ocean.
The drone disappeared through the hatch, ostensibly making its way to the reprocessor. Watkins was hoping the reprocessor was in the next forward compartment, which would be rather convenient since it was probably the target for his next expansion. So far, all the compartments were in a single line, and no passages broke off to the right or left. He couldn’t sense his hull yet, so there was still something between what he’d gained control over and the space his ship was drifting through.
With the first drone no worse for wear, Watkins went ahead and ordered the second one to join in on collecting the corpses. Its entry into the contested compartment didn’t seem to distract the mutated rat this time, who was still backing toward the opening in the deck it had entered from.
Like the previous drone, the second one stuffed a rat corpse into its small storage compartment and then dragged a second one along with it as it headed deeper into the ship. About that time, the first drone must have made it to the reprocessor, because Watkins’ biomass began to increase.
Available salvage: 4
Available biomass: 4
It looked like the rat corpses provided one biomass each. Checking into his MOBS menu, Watkins could see that it took five biomass to create one mutant rat. It seemed rather inefficient, and he asked LANI about it.
“It’s due to our reprocessor,” she explained. “The ship was installed with a basic, experimental system that we were testing, but eventually, we can upgrade ours to a more efficient model. At least for the time being, it’s all we have to work with.”
At the far wall, the first drone reentered the fabrication compartment and headed toward the closest rat body. One body from the start of the fight was further away from the brawl, so Watkins directed his drone toward that one rather than toward the fresh kill the mutant had just made.
“I think this is the last one that’s safe to grab,” Watkins told LANI. His other drone was just now dropping off its cargo, and the biomass total climbed up to six. He ordered the drone that had just unloaded to return to the core compartment, though he lifted the no-combat restriction. If the rats wanted to start something with his drone, it was going to defend itself.
“Yes, that’s a good call,” LANI said. “We can build one of your mutant rat MOBS now for some extra protection.”
Watkins opened his production tab and selected the only thing he had the supplies to build: a mutant rat. The fabrication machine began to hum, and several lights blinked along its length. It turned out the lights were a way to monitor the progress of the item being created. They moved from the far end of the machine and slowly progressed toward the end closest to Watkins’ core room.
While his first non-drone defender was being created, the rat war was wrapping up. The mutant had been badly injured but survived the ordeal and managed to retreat into the floor. A total of five normal rats were still in the compartment, though two of those were injured from the fight. They snatched up the remaining corpses and fled back under the shelving, ignoring Watkins’ drones as they returned to the core compartment.
“It seems the normal bilge rats are unconcerned about anything that isn’t biological in nature,” LANI said. “As long as our drones don’t attack them, they should leave us alone.”
“I’m going to have one of the drones start collecting salvage in there, but only in areas far away from the shelving so we don’t disturb the normal rats,” Watkins added, sending a drone in to begin work. His first MOBS unit was almost done as well, and with more salvage coming in, he felt like he was making progress.
Chapter 7
Extermination Services
“Here it comes. Should we name it?” Watkins asked as the mutant rat finished construction.
“I suppose you could if you wanted to, but these MOBS will likely have a high casualty rate, so I wouldn’t get too attached,” LANI said as a panel at the end of the fabrication machine opened and his shiny new mutant rat walked out.
You have created your first MOBS. As with your drones, you can individually command your MOBS or set parameters for them to operate under. The processing power of the hybrid biological mind utilized by these creations makes complicated commands impossible. If issued a command the unit doesn’t understand, the unit will simply default to guarding its current position or following its last valid orders.
That seemed simple enough. For now, Watkins ordered his mutant rat to return to the core room. The creature he’d just built moved oddly, lacking the fluid grace of a real mutant rat. It was a copy, and from its original description, it had been listed as level 0, which suggested he could improve the design over time.
As soon as the rat moved toward the drone hatch, it opened for the creature. Apparently, his MOBS could also activate and use the hatches just like his drones. A trio of normal rats stuck their noses out from under the storage racks as Watkins’ mutant walked past. The rats hissed at his MOBS but slunk back under the cover of the metal racks as the mutant entered the core room and the hatch closed behind it.
