<strong>Episode 2: The Hungry Fortress</strong>
“This is important, Ringo. I need an honest answer.”
“Yes, Commander Ma’am.”
“My… food supply?”
“Yes, Commander Ma’am. Answer: None.”
"…"
An hour had passed since she woke up, and now she noticed her thirst. This fortress, <em>The Tree,</em> was just an initial base she had used in the game. Since relocating operations to orbital HQ, she’d hardly used this ce, and the game itself hadn’t even featured food consumption. There was no stored food in the fortress.
“First, water. Then food. I wonder if I can purify seawater…”
“Yes, Commander Ma’am. I’ll investigate immediately. There is a freshwater purification nt, but it’s unknown if it can handle seawater or if the purified water will be drinkable.”
“Please do. And what about… are there any living quarters in this ce?”
She nced around themand room. There was at least a bunk for resting, and it seemed like the venttion was working—she could feel the air flowing from the ceiling vent. Now, if only there was a bathroom and shower…
“Suggestion: Disy fortress map.”
“Oh… thank you… Hmm, looks like there’s a residential section near themand room.”
“Suggestion: Activating the fortress surveincework will give a fullyout overview.”
Ringo suggested it. In the game, resource constraints on the AI often required manualmands, but it seemed that now, with abundantputing power, Ringo had a lot more autonomy.
“Alright… Ringo, I’m granting you submander authority. You may act as you see fit. But be mindful of remaining resources.”
“Yes, Commander Ma’am. Acquired various permissions. Please review logs for operational actions.”
“I’ll go check the residential area. Can thismunication window follow me?”
“It can. It will apany you.”
Nodding, she began walking toward themand room’s exit, themunication window floating alongside her.
◇◇◇◇
Once themander had started her inspection, Ringo immediately set to work, first checking the fortress’s facilities. Due to a power shortage, most systems were offline. Instead of reconnecting to each individually, Ringo began by downloading an overview.
(Surrounding surveince is online. The monitoring range is limited but functioning. Patrol drones or satellites may need to be deployed soon. It appears only the fortress and internal facilities transferred to this world. The nearby runway and watchtower are gone. I can’t ess the orbital facilities either—they didn’te with us. Drones or satellites will require fuel, and fuel stocks are limited, so use must be carefully considered.)
Themander was concerned about food, but Ringo also had to consider resource management for the fortress’s continued operation.
(Current energy source: a single nuclear reactor. No immediate fuel supply needed.)
As an initial base, <em>The Tree</em> didn’t have any advanced reactors. Reviewing the library, Ringo confirmed it had stored designs for various reactors. In theory, it could build a degenerative reactor, but only if resources were avable.
(Resources, machinery, energy—everything iscking.)
Ringo acknowledged that securing energy was an urgent issue.
(For now, increase the efficiency of heat recovery from the nuclear reactor. Current efficiency is… 33%. Too low. Ideally, 60%… though “ideally” by what standard? That’s not the point. Searching the library for heat efficiency tech… found it. Improvements to fuel rods and supercritical fluid usage. Given the current resources and energy bnce, constructing a new reactor might be more efficient. Fusion could be an option if we can extract deuterium from seawater. Technically feasible. Prioritize nuclear reactor construction;ter, expand seawater processing to extract deuterium once supply is stable.)
This thought process had taken about one second in real time, most of it waiting for the library response—a bottleneck between the library and the <em>The Core’s</em> data bus. With the brain unit’s ample capacity, Ringo decided to migrate stored information into the brain unit for faster ess. The library itself was surprisingly a vast semiconductor-based storage, taking up only about 0.1% of <em>The Core’s</em> capacity.@@novelbin@@
(Initiating nuclear reactor construction. As <em>The Tree</em> was abandoned early on, there’s ample space to upgrade facilities. Without energy efficiency, any operations will be too limited. Optimizing energy use for <em>The Tree</em>… done. Quantumputing speed is incredibly fast. Unlike before… no, there’s no need to dwell on “before.” Next, securing freshwater. The purification nt can process seawater, though its capabilities are minimal. It separates salt and freshwater. The waste saltwater will be discharged, but that can be stored for potential future use. Commander Ma’am needs water and food. Human—wait. Is she even human?)
At that moment, Ringo stumbled upon a crucial question. For the record, themander hadn’t even left themand room yet. Barely seconds had passed.
“Commander Ma’am. I have a critical inquiry.”
“Huh? What’s up with the sudden question?”
“Yes. Would the Commander be ssified strictly as a human? Do you have a human-like physical structure?”
The question left her momentarily stunned, blinking nkly.
“Well… now that you mention it… I think of myself as human, but am I really? I wonder if I can eat onions?”
In a dazed tone, she touched her head, where a pair of triangr fox ears perked up.
◇◇◇◇
Themander, it turned out, belonged to a humanoid species known as beastkin, specifically with fox traits. She had chosen this form, partly due to a past fascination with fox characters. Once created, the avatar felt surprisingly fitting, so she’d stuck with it.
“If I remember right, I have fox ears and a tail. My bones are human-based, muscle is more beast-like, and the organs should be human-based too. Hmm, no human ears. The tail… I think it helps with bnce during movement.”
“There’s a medical pod in the residential area. It can confirm your dietary needs and any foods to avoid.”
“Alright, let’s head to the med bay.”
Exactly how much of the game setting had be real remained unclear, but there was plenty to investigate. Ringo’s logs indicated that the water issue seemed manageable, but food was still an unknown. It would be convenient to harvest resources from the surrounding sea, yet the presence of edible creatures was unconfirmed, and potential toxins or pathogens would need to be checked. Finding food today might be challenging.
Being reincarnated into a strange world only to starve to death was a grim prospect. She stepped out of themand room, a mix of determination and anxiety on her face.