" Initiate the repair sequence and assess the damage." Ariella gave the command.
The craft began to hum slightly which she was mindful off whether it would attract the zombies or not.
It was a light experiment to determine at which frequency they operated in. She did see some activities but they would just circle around the craft before walking away.
It looked like with sound, these creatures need to see their target or perceive their heat signature to know they were attacking the living.
The RedWing-I was made out of advance material that would naturally stay cool, cool enough to make it invisible to any infrared or heat sensors.
It might be a first generation mining spacecraft but eith the advancement of technology they could fit it with sci-fi like things like metal compound that never exited on periodic table or advance medical facility that bordered on magic not to mention the fuel source, the miniature anti matter engine that gave the craft unlimited amount of energy with the right set of accompanying tools.
She first wanted to inspect the power source to see the real damage it had sustained. Small worker drones came out of their pods and started flying around scanning the insides of the ship.
These things didn't consume that much energy so she could use them temporarily but without a fuel source she would have to cut off their recharge supplies.
As an AI, she might have all the capabilities of operating the craft but she couldn't physically move around the ship. Once there was damage she needed to use outside help to get the data back to her core system.
There was a push for artificial intelligence to have their own working bodies but due to the ethical implications the plan was shoved by both the supreme AI and the ruling body governing beside it.
No one knew what would happen when a functioning sentient being was born with their own memories and ability to explore the world on their own two feet. Ariella thought it was a great idea as it would make her job easier but for now she could only make do with worker drones.
She began recieving several red warning from different sections of the ship. The hull on which the ship had landed had a thin crack which was a huge issue of left untreated.
It could contaminate the sterile environment inside the craft while of someone tried to attack them again with brute force, it could practically the crack bigger which would be a huge challenge to fix as most of the electrical ran through that section.
The good news was nothing was wrong with her organic brain system. The extra durability added to it perfectly absorb the shock of impact.
There were also issue from the different sections where she detached parts of the ship. These things didn't have the same protection which meant their terminals were badly damaged.
They would need to repair it before they could attach pieces of the ship back to the main hull.
When the drones reached the fuel source, the worst news came. Although the anti-matter was contained for now, it was working in twenty percent efficiency due to the security protocol hard coded into it when there was a sign of it's casing taking any external damage.
The fuel source was tiny about the same size as a car which was very small considering the actual size of the space craft.
But it was simultaneously the most tricky and expensive thing to repair.
Antimatter engines can be divided into three types of application: those that directly use the products of antimatter annihilation for propulsion, those that heat a working fluid or an intermediate material which is then used for propulsion, and those that heat a working fluid or an intermediate material to generate electricity for some form of electric spacecraft propulsion system.
The propulsion concepts that employ these mechanisms generally fall into four categories: solid core, gaseous core, plasma core, and beamed core configurations.
The humanity was basically manage to make two of these four types, Plasma and the beam core. Beam being the more advanced version but this craft employed the plasma core configuration which were harder to contain and manage which was why they were so heavily protected.
Now that something was broken, there might be leaking plasma which could practically lead to a city wide explosion.
Ariella knew the seriousness of the matter before even inspecting it which was why she wanted Theo to be unconscious before attempting anything dangerous. At least they would both vaporize without any pain.
Fortunately, only the outer casing was damage leading to the trigger of reduced plasma so that it didn't spill out.
The fix was also simple at least for her who could perceive countless scenarios in her head. The power was sufficient enough for her to run her simulation and come up with proper procedures to repair the engine but it will take her mind off the surrounding which was also a risk.
Still, she decided to take the chance and start repairing it by gathering extra materiaofrom the hanger. She also commanded remaining drones to repair the hull and do other minor adjustments so that they wouldn't face any issue.
It would take some time for them to get to full power as they would need some outside source of energy but she was confident if she worked hard enough she would be able to make the craft capable of flight in few days.
They would not be able to travel far without other modules but at least they could traverse the craft to land somewhere safe. Like at that tall building in the distance where they would be safe from any walking creatures and could get solar energy without being disturbed by the shadows.
As she was busy with her work working tirelessly throughout the night, trouble was brewing in the distance as the fight that Theo was in didn't go unnoticed by the native factions!