It took most of the week to even scratch the surface of what the Mindscape could do. Although Niomi quickly learned that she had to be careful on how much she had loaded at a time as it started to eat up her processor. She had asked Manual several times to explain what the system meant by processor but always got a confusing answer back. As best as she could tell it was something like CPU cycles back home but more... complicated.
Still, by the time the construction of the Communication Relay finished Niomi had designed a decent if basic, in her opinion, layout for her Mindscape. She liked the view of the planet below her which she named Ares. She featured it predominantly in a room she called her planetarium, which was modeled after a space ship she had seen on TV. It had a 180-degree window that arced around a central green space with a few trees, shrubs, and flowers. There was comfortable seating around the room, she even set them to transform on command so she could sit or lay. Being a virtual environment she could bring up the screens to work on whatever she was working on at the moment wherever she wanted.
Yet this wasn''t the only room Niomi had made. Past the single sliding door, a hall awaited her, and it was in the style of Ancient Greek or Roman architecture. White marble columns tower twenty meters to the vaulted ceiling above. Along the walls were frescos of the art from her memories. It made her smile to see those, it took her almost two days to get them done right. There was also a library, a pool, and a bedroom. Not that she needed to sleep but it felt nice to lay down and pretend for a while. There were two other rooms, the Office that she started with, still showing the same view.
The Control room was a room that she was really proud of, it was a large flattened spherical room, fashioned after an anime she saw, it was tiered along the bottom with rows of displays and seating along the wall. Niomi had added the seating more out of habit, as it made the room look more complete. In the center stretching from the door to the middle of the room, a floating catwalk stretched over the room with a large circular desk. Displays surrounded it on three sides. And just beyond her desk built into the floor was a holo-projector. Niomi smiled at that thought, it wasn''t really a holo-projector any more then the desk was a desk. It was all a simulation of course. She knew she needed it more then ever when she overloaded the processor by mistake and crashed the Mindscape.
It was a horrible experience, and not for the reason, Niomi thought it would be. It wasn''t the lack of sensory input that was an issue but the abundance. Thousands of sensors, scanners, cameras, and other things were all screaming for her attention. Yet most of them said nothing more than “I am here and working normally”. Yet there were others that spoke in a strange sinister-sounding language. This all felt like it flowed through her the information washing through her very nerves, painfully so. Then the Mindscape rebooted and she was back in the default office. Niomi vowed to herself she would never let the Mindscape crash again. She also received a pointed message from the system about system resource usage which she found a little funny.
Niomi sat at the desk and displays like windows faded into view as if they were holographic displays. Currently, six were active with only one showing anything but a count down on it. The sole exception was the Communication Relay connection. This display showed a status window, which consisted of three lines. Unsurprisingly this showed the status of the Relay, but only that it was Powered, Connected, and Stealth was active. Manual had told her that the Relay was completely autonomous from her, she couldn''t shut it down for instance. No Liiri could simply show up and take control of her current equipment. Well not without authorization from the Security Commission at any rate. Since she couldn''t control the Relay she had resolved to leave a status window up where she could see it and set the Mindscape to bring it to her attention should the link change in any way. Knowing that Liiri-54, who conscripted her against her will, was probably one of the nicer Liiri from what she read about the various Commissions worried her. It also worried her at what kind of enemy would worry a civilization of AIs that stretched several thousand light-years and was over millions of years old.
Niomi sat at the desk and looked at the five remaining timers. Then with a wave of her arm and a smile on her face, a new window opened up on the desk itself. It was titled, Date, Time, and Time Compression Utility. This she learned was a way to control her own perception of time, since now she was an AI which was essentially a computer program. She could skip time forward, by slowing down her own program or even pausing it. Manual did warn her that there were risks using this since it would mean not knowing what is going on while paused. It could also become addictive as oftentimes many of the projects Liiri participated in could take thousands of years.
Niomi slowly sped up time which was a strange feeling since she could see on one of the displays her Status screen. It showed the time start to tick down faster and faster, as the processor usage of her program lowered at the same rate. Then it stopped, with a slight popping sensation and a chime. The chime was an alarm she set for when the Asteroid Ore Miner would be completed. The Refinery was completed a few moments later.
In many ways, the entire sensation was nothing new. RTS grand strategy and simulation games have had time controls as a staple of their genre. Yet, this was the first time in an immersive VR. Niomi could think of the Mindscape in no other way. But the instinct, her gut, was telling her time passed this time around, and that was an unusual feeling. Niomi wondered why it felt different since all her perceptions were also slowed just like if she was sitting at home and advancing time in a game. After a moment''s consideration, she decided to just ignore it. The feeling wasn''t disorienting just a little distracting, if it became an issue then she would investigate.
Niomi pulled up the information for both the Miner and the Refinery, after thinking about it she brought up the information for the Builder Hub as well.
Asteroid Ore Miner
Origin: Liiri Support Commission
The Asteroid Ore Miner is in essence a drone carrier, equipped with six space capable short-ranged ore mining drones. Ore is defined in this case as solid minerals or materials that are non-reactive. Metals like Iron, or Rock such as Limestone, are harvested and stored on the Asteroid Ore Miner, which then takes the ore to a refinery when full for processing. The Ore miner is equipped to locate the required ore on its own but has a limited range for this function. The AOM will communicate with local Refineries to determine what is needed and will automatically mine the required resources.
Traits: Drone, Automated, Tiered, Self Supporting, Mobile
Drone: This Structure uses Drones to perform its task, these drones can be damaged or destroyed during operation. They will need to be replaced and will automatically order replacements from a nearby Drone Fabricator.
Automated: This Structure is autonomous and requires no input from the local Processor to function.
Tiered: This Structure is Tiered, and can be upgraded to provide greater functionality. In this case, every Tier adds additional docks Drones, storage capacity, speed, and maneuverability. Note: Upgrading a Tier does not provide the additional drones.
Self Supporting: This Structure is able to fuel and repair itself, this trait is due to using an Assembler swarm to construct this structure.
Mobile: This Structure is able to move in its primary environment, in this case, interplanetary space.
Refinery
Origin: Liiri Support Commission
Refineries turn raw materials into processed materials that are used elsewhere. Most commonly the Processed materials are used by Hubs, Fabricators, and Yards. Note that not all Materials are equal some materials require extensive processing to be made into usable materials while others have much more simple processes. Every material has its own production run. The Expert system onboard the refinery will communicate with the nearby Hubs to determine what is needed, this can be altered by the Controller Liiri to prioritize specific runs over others, such as prioritizing Builder Hubs over Transport Hub requests.
Traits: Variable, Upgradeable, Automated, Tiered, Self Supporting, Modular
Variable: This Structure has the ability to retool to handle a wide range of materials. This trait is due to using an Assembler swarm to construct this structure.
Upgradable: This structure has been designed with specific upgrades. An upgrade is much like a specialization and can be used to boost a specific and specialized need. Such as the Foundry Upgrade which increases the speed Metal ores are processed and reducing retooling costs between metals. However, this particular upgrade also increases those same costs for nonmetals. See the Upgrade Menu at each Refinery or the Refinery database for details.
Automated: This Structure is autonomous and requires no input from the local Processor to function.
Tiered: This Structure is Tiered, and can be upgraded to provide greater functionality. In this case, every Tier adds additional production runs and storage capacity.
Self Supporting: This Structure is able to fuel and repair itself, this trait is due to using an Assembler swarm to construct this structure.Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.
Modular: This structure is Modular, this allows this structure to be added to a complex, Biome specific connections will be added to allow its materials to be sent off and materials received without the involvement of a Transport Hub drone. Connecting a Refinery to a Transport Hub for example allows the Transport Hub to directly move the materials from the Hub, instead of having to pick it up at the refinery first. While connecting a Refinery to a Builder Hub, allows the Builder Hub drones to pick up the materials directly at the Builder Hub. Many other connections are possible.
Builder Hub
Origin: Liiri Support Commission
Builder Hubs procure the needed building materials from local refineries and then using drones build new structures within range. They can also maintain and repair structures but only after a structure has been deactivated by the Controller or by damage. This process is largely automated, but the Controller Liiri may prioritize structures for building and maintenance/repair. Each Builder hub comes with four drones. Each drone can be assigned to different worksites but it is usually more efficient to have them working on a single site.
Processor: 5
Traits: Biome Specific, Drone, Upgradable, Tiered, Self Supporting, Modular
Biome Specific: This Structure is specialized for the Biome it is built in. When built underwater (Deep Sea) its systems are hardened against the water, and its drones are similarly specialized so they can operate within the Biome. In Space, it is hardened against common radiological events, and its drones are capable of moving in a Zero-G environment
Drone: This Structure uses Drones to perform its task, these drones can be damaged or destroyed during operation. They will need to be replaced and will automatically order replacements from a nearby Drone Fabricator.
Upgradable: This structure has been designed with specific upgrades. An upgrade is much like a specialization and can be used to boost a specific and specialized need. The Maintenance Drone upgrade for instance provides docking for two Maintenance drones which then will automatically provide maintenance to structures in range without requiring them to be shut down.
Tiered: This Structure is Tiered, and can be upgraded to provide greater functionality. In this case, every Tier adds additional drone docks and more storage capacity. Note: Upgrading a Tier does not provide the additional drones.
Self Supporting: This Structure is able to fuel and repair itself, this trait is due to using an Assembler swarm to construct this structure.
Modular: This structure is Modular, this allows this structure to be added to a complex, Biome specific connections will be added to allow its materials to be sent off and materials received without the involvement of a Transport Hub drone. Connecting a Refinery to a Builder Hub, allows the Builder Hub drones to pick up the materials directly at the Builder Hub. Many other connections are possible.
Niomi spent some time reading over the information. It was probably the third or fourth time she had done so, but she felt it was worth doing it again to fix it in her mind. Besides, there may have been more information unlocked when it finished building. Like she got when the Mindscape crashed. Niomi was really happy that all the Economy was automated. Ore miners would automatically seek out the correct ores for the Refineries to process so that the Builder Hubs could build. She wished there was a way to stockpile resources now, instead of waiting for her Builder Hub to require it.
After asking Manual about she learned there were several types of storage facilities that can be built. Resolving to do so when she got the chance she waited until the Builder Hub and Transport Hub was finished. Niomi accelerated time again. Not wanting to waste the time sitting around reading like she did the last time. As soon as the Builder Hub was complete she loaded its status.
Builder Hub #1
Status: Green, No Faults
Transport Hub Connection: 1
Refinery Connection: 1
Jobs: None
It was looking like it should. So she sent that status to one of the stations below her. Niomi knew she could call it back at any time but decided to start populating her little control room with various statuses so it looked more alive and not some static background. Then she paused in thought. Running through the various menus of the Mindscape she found the option she wanted. She created an NPC or at least that''s what she thought of it. A human man now sat at that station down below, apparently working at the station with the Builder Hub Status. With a few more commands she had all the status windows transferred to a station below with a man manning it. They were all movie stars from her memory. After a little more digging and she found an option to automate the process so that every new construction would automatically generate a new NPC at a station below.
Looking around Nimoi spotted the station with the status for the Communication Relay. Bringing up the configuration for that NPC she changed it to look more distinctive. It was no longer human but looked like a gold plated human-like android from a TV series she liked as a kid. As Niomi remembers it, it was annoying even when it was being helpful and if that status window changed she didn''t want to be distracted by a good-looking face besides it would always make her smile to see it out in a crowd of fake people.
Next Niomi looked at the building menu. It had changed from last time, gone were all the Assembler swarm options. Except there was now a timer beside the Assembler swarm menu. Looking closer she found that the timer was for when the next swarm would be ready. This excited Niomi until she realized it would take over a year before the next one was ready. With a sigh, she pulled up the Builder Hub menu. Much like the Assembler swarm menu, there were a lot of options and all color-coded to mean different things, mostly requirements, and prerequisites that she didn''t meet. She could build everything she could have before with the Assembler swarms. It seemed she had not met the requirement for anything yet. What was worse was that the Self-supporting trait was gone as well although that wasn''t a big surprise. But then she saw a building in the yellow that she remember Liiri-54 talked about in that foot note, the Development Center. She loaded its information to see what made this structure special.
Liiri Development Center
Origin: Liiri Support Commission
The Development Center allows a Controller Liiri to modify blueprints for usages not provided for by the Liiri Support Commission. With the use of a Support AI modifications can research can be handed off to run as a background process. Servitors may also be assigned to the structure to aid in this process.
Prerequisite: Complex Core
Complex Core Processor: 25
Traits: Upgradable, Modular, Large, Habitable
Upgradable: This structure has been designed with specific upgrades. An upgrade is much like a specialization and can be used to boost a specific and specialized need. Such as the Propulsion Labs, This lab will provide access to additional forms of propulsion, that may or may not be specific to a biome that can be accessed in your current star system.
Modular: This structure is Modular, this allows this structure to be added to a complex, Biome specific connections will be added to allow its materials to be sent off and materials received without the involvement of a Transport Hub drone.
Large: This structure is large, it takes up three times the normal space of a standard-sized structure.
Habitable: This structure can be pressurized and heated to allow access to an organic race.
This was an interesting structure. It looked like it could be used to research new technologies just like in a game. It also looked like it could be upgraded to provide specific access to technology groups like Propulsion. Niomi wondered what else it could be upgraded with or if she would need to build more Development Centers. Also, it was the first time she saw something use a Processor other than the Main one she used. It required a Complex Core Processor, which means the Complex Core has its own Processor Core too.
Looking into it Niomi found she could build the Complex Core but couldn''t power it. For that out of her available options she had the Solar Power Plant or the Fusion Power Plant. Both required materials gathered using a Gas Collector, and the Fusion Plant also required Volatiles, which she learned was actually HE3, In both cases, she needed to build more Space miners to collect at least the Gases needed. She imminently ordered the construction of the Space Gas Collector. Since she would need it to build either or both structures.
Ultimately she decided to build the Fusion Generator over the Solar Collector. Niomi was initially leaning towards the Solar Collector since it required less maintenance and no extra resources or so it looked like at the start. However, after a little more looking into she discovered that for it to be useful it needed to be built in open space so it could orient towards the star. Her Builder Hub could reach a good location. But this would mean she would need some way to get the power back to her base. Which would mean either a Microwave Transmission Station and Microwave Receiving Station for energy, or an Energy Cell Fabricator, which would mean transporting these fancy named batteries back and forth from the Collector. To Nimoi she felt it wasn''t worth it. Since she would need the Volatiles Harvester for more than just fueling her Fusion Generator. The Generator also had a better power to cost ratio after considering the Transmission or Energy Cell method.
Niomi queued up another Asteroid Ore Miner, a Space Gas Collector, A Volatiles Harvester, a Landing field, the Fusion Generator, Complex Core, and Development Center in that order. She considered adding another Refinery or Builder Hub or both to the queue but the helpful timer attached to the queue showed that it only increased although not by much. She arranged the Structures so that they could all attach to the Complex Core when complete. She learned about the landing field when she asked Manual if there was any way of decreasing the time it took to unload the Miners, Collectors, and Harvesters. It wasn''t an actual building as it was more of a flatted field next to a Refinery or Transport Hub. The Transport Hub Drones would actually build a road automatically should traffic reach a predetermined level. Niomi set this to low, so it would build as soon as it could, even if eventually, it would become obsolete when she built a spaceport and tied everything into the complex using the Complex core.
She had placed all the structures next to each other on OBJ83053, or Homerock as she was calling it. Each structure conformed to a hex grid that the system spread over the little planetoid. She learned that each structure would automatically connect to each other if placed next to each other and if there was a Complex Core connected to its adjacent structure. Niomi learned that some structures also gave what she called adjacency bonuses to each other. Refineries for instance when placed next to each other provided a free Refinery Run. Actually, it was more complicated than that, each refinery gained half of a run, which when added together makes a full run. As to why this was important to note was because it was half a run per run a refinery could do. So if she upgraded the Tier it would provide a full run per adjacent refinery along with its other bonuses. She also learned that if one was upgraded with a Foundry, for instance, its bonus would apply to all adjacent refineries as well. This meant that in the future she would have to be careful how she placed her structures since she could lose out on some serious adjacency bonuses.
As soon as she confirmed her build plan her eye was caught as the Builder Hub NPC guy got up and went over to talk to the Transport Hub guy, who then went over to talk to the Refinery guy, who got up and when to talk to the Asteroid Ore Miner guy. After a moment of shock, Niomi laughed and clapped her hands in joy. She remembered Liiri-54''s footnote telling her that the Mindscape was reactive, she supposed this is what it meant. She had set those NPCs to represent the systems/programs/status of the various structures so the Mindscape must have read her intentions to make the Control Room more lively.