Grendal sat under the canopy of a birch tree, enjoying its shade as the system filled him in on its function.
He plucked a blade of grass, twiddling it between his thumbs. "So that's it, I can create an army?"
The orb flashed in response, "USER: ID 2244. It is not a army it is a clan. Once you set a base you will have to defend it while, using its units to gatherer resource which will allow you to grow."
Grendal flicked the blade of grass at it and absentmindedly picked up another. "Yeah, but I get an army from that."
He stood up, throwing the grass to the side and dusted of his brown trunks. "So let's begin. What do I have to do first," he said resting a hand on his hip.
"USER: ID 2244. First we must select a location for the HQ, the base of operations and temporary storage hub for collected resource." The orb said, floating at his side.
Grendal glanced at the orb, before surveying his surroundings. Around him was nothing but trees and bushes. No open space to put a HQ.
How big could it possibly be, and if it doesn't fit. The CI should say.
He walked over to the edge of the most open space he could find amongst the tree, and turned to the orb. "Can I place it right here?"
There was a good amount of spacing to the trees, more space than his tiny back garden—well what used to be his back garden. The bushes were sparse amoungs the trees and what wasn't could easily be flattened. A small squirrel looking creature poked its head out of one of the bushs, twitching its nose to the ground as the CI responded.
"USER: ID 2244. The space you have selected is sufficient. Please standby as the HQ is initiated." The CI orb said.
A white stream of light motes poured out of the top of the orb, passing through its rings then flowing and undulating towards its target. The ground. The stream then penatrated the dirt, drilling in deep.
Okay, that's not what I thought it would do.
The drilling continued for a few moments, disturbing the squirrel, causing it to shoot out of the bush and further into the forest. A moment later, the drilling stopped and a structure made of light began to grow out of the ground. The process lasted a few moments.
Once it stopped growing, the light then dimmed revealing a building, that looked like a pill box bunker. "Is that the HQ? I thought it would be different," Grendal said, stepping closer to the structure.
"USER: ID 2244. This is the Tier 0 HQ. It allows you to manage your base of operations—not currently established, and Train up basics units, such as the worker." The orb said bobbing at his side.
"Oh, so I can produce units now, nice." Walking forward, Grendal placed his hand on the handle of a red door sunken into the side of the pill box.
A warm feeling washed over his hand, and he pulled back, "USER: ID 2244. DNA sample has been taken please make your way inside."
The handle of the door sunken in and the door slid to the side, like something from a Sci-fi movie. Grendal chuckled, running his fingers through his hair.
Okay now we are talking, I've got a base camp in this apocalypse. And soon I'm going to have some workers.
Taking a final glance around him—the wolves howls now distant, Grendal smiled and strolled inside.
He entered a room and frowned as he looked around. In the center of the room was a small stage, with a seat in the middle—like something out of a space ship. It was the only thing in the room.
Aside from that, the room was rimmed with floor lights and had no windows.
"Okay, what do I do now? Should I sit in that seat over there?" He said, and walked towards the stage.
"USER: ID 2244. That is correct, take a seat so that the next phase of the initiation can begin."
"Okay," he said shrugging. The sooner he was in the seat, the sooner he could see what this golden finger had to offer.
I need to also, check the chats. I need to find Simon and Renal—if they are even here.
Grendal stepped up the two steps then strode over to the seat and sat down. His body sinking into the soft fabric as he let out a sigh—he'd been walking for a too long.
"I needed this," he said, as the orb—for the first time since his awakening, left his side and slotted into a space on the armrest.
So you can move, elsewhere. Good to know
While the CI itself wasn't a problem—as much as a harbinger of your impending death could be, it was nice to know they weren't joined at the hip.
Though, it was also his lifeline to the rest of the Realm, as it stated. "What's going on now," he said, as several screens popped up infront of him.
One of them was the chat log he'd been hoping to look at. And from the looks of it, it was still lively—which made sense, people didn't have much else to do apart from surviving.
User: ID 6734. ["Has, anyone manged to call the police. Or get in contact with people outside of this forest."]
User: ID 9293. ["I work for the Metropolitan City police—at least I did. But, I woke up here. I've manged to helpa few other people, and we are doing okay. If you need assistance, come find us. We're near a lake, it's got a strange towering oak tree by its shore, you'll know it when you see it."]
The orb flashed catching Grendals attention. "USER: ID 2244. The base has been integrated with the CI functions. It can now act as a CI to USER: ID 2244."
"That's good to know," Grendal said, glancing from the orb then back to the chat log and frowned at the screen.
User: ID 8464. [" Don't listen to that, pig. When I killed that goblin, I gained a monster core which I used to gain a level. According to my CI, I've now got access to skills. Join me, and I'll keep you safe. I'll teach you how to dominant this place."]
Grendel proped his arm up on the arm rest and rested his chin on the back of his hand. 8464, was nothing if not confident—which was warranted if he defeated a Goblin bare handed. But, he seemed like a trouble maker, hoping to carve out a piece of this land for himself.
The idea was amusing, it appeared Grendal wasn't the only one with some ambition right after landing in the apocalypse. He sighed and relaxed in his chair, glancing absentmindedly at the concrete floor of the bunker then to the lights ringing the room.
If faction were beginning to form, he couldn't be left behind—if it was even possible with his golden finger. People, were going to be necessary, at the very least he needed to find his friends.
Grendal, brought his attention back to the screen. "Show me the worker I can produce and what I need to produce them."
At his word, the Orb flashed, and a screen popped up infront of him, detailing what appeared to be a worker unit and its cost.
It was a white humanoid creature with a blank gray mask for a face. It's arms had a gold pattern coiling around them and up into its neck.
///: Tier 0 Plain husk worker | Cost: 20 Metal, 10 Flowrium.
Grendal pursued his lips. The creature or robot appeared simple—not like how he had imagined.
I might as well get it out and working, the quicker I do that, the quicker I can start setting up a proper base.
"CI, show me how many resources I have." Grendal said, taking a deep breath of the stale bunker air. He needed to focus, now. He might have to do maths.
As he stared at the wall, a screen popped up with his request.
///: Resources: 150 Metal, 150 Flowrium, 50 Purple Mana.
"Okay CI, how many can I spawn?"
"USER: ID 2244. You can spawn, seven with the current resources, though it is advised that you start of with only four. Other facilities cost resources."
"I'll take that into account,' Grendal said, adjusting himself in his seat. He wasn't an idiot, if he made a bunch of units, without considering future expansion. He'd be stuck with them forever, and would never be able to expand—it would be a waste of his golden finger.
"USER: ID 2244. It should also be noted that the current Tier 0 bunker has a unit cap of 10."
Grendal frowned as he rested his chin on the back of his hand. It made sense that there was a limit—if he could spawn an infinite army, he could just flood the land with worker units.
"Okay, begin formation of the five worker units and list the facilties that I currently have access too." The pill box bunker couldn't be the only building he had. Furthermore, from the long list of strategy games he played back home, it was a given that there would be a building to increase unit cap.