Episode 3: The Famished Commander
The medical pod’s diagnosis revealed no current health issues. Her internal organs functioned similarly to a human’s, and she could generally eat anything a human could without problems. No allergies were detected, and she was in perfect health.
“I’m saved by the stockpile of nutrients…”
She noticed a supply of nutrient drips inside the medical pod and began administering them. Since they had expiration dates and there were more than she expected, she decided to continue the drips for the time being. At least she could avoid starvation for now.
“Still, it doesn’t quite satisfy my hunger…”
Now that she was aware of it, she felt her stomach growling. She sighed and stood up from the medical pod. Incidentally, her tail didn’t get in the way when she lay down. Her skeletal structure seemed to have been cleverly adjusted. “Wastefully elaborate,” she thought.
“＜Ringo＞, any reports?”
“Yes, Ma’am. Response: Currently, internal Fortress facilities are being activated sequentially. Drones are surveying the Fortress surroundings; there is no land visible within the range of the Fortress’s zenith. Higher-altitude surveys will be conducted as soon as the High-Altitude Plane (Plane) is ready. In the rocky reef area around the Fortress, Seaweed and fish shadows have been detected, so we will proceed with collection and investigation. Work bots are being activated.”
“Thank you, ＜Ringo＞. No problem. Well then, I’ll continue looking around the residential area…”
“Yes, Ma’am. Please leave the operation of ＜The Tree＞ to me.”
“Good. I’m counting on you, ＜Ringo＞.”
Her immediate task was to assign work to ＜Ringo＞. She seemed to be in a severely unstable mental state. She vaguely imagined it was like amnesia in humans. Until now, ＜Ringo＞ had been a mere processing unit in the game, but now, having acquired a Brain Unit, she was capable of complex thought processes. The emotions she gained in the process seemed to be running wild. In the real world, she could expect care from specialists, but unfortunately, she was the only one here now. Therefore, she had to somehow take care of ＜Ringo＞.
(If possible, I’d like someone to take care of me too…)
But she couldn’t say that. If ＜Ringo＞’s abilities went out of control, it would be a disaster, and conversely, if she became mentally withdrawn, it would be life-threatening. She didn’t have the confidence to survive on her own in this empty place.
(If I had known this would happen, I would have played some survival games…)
She regretted only playing real-time strategy games, but she couldn’t have foreseen such a situation, so it couldn’t be helped. ＜Ringo＞ had mentioned that various information was stored in the library, so she could only hope that survival knowledge could be searched from there.
She walked down a corridor illuminated by daylight-white lighting. The corridor was clean, and not a speck of dust could be seen.
(It’s as clean as if it were just built… No. In fact, that’s probably the case. I don’t understand the logic at all, but ＜The Tree＞, ＜Ringo＞, and probably me too, just appeared here. That means this place is definitely brand new.)
As she came to this realization, she felt a terror as if the ground beneath her feet was collapsing. The illusion that everything around her, including herself, would disappear like a mirage. If it suddenly appeared, there was a good chance it could suddenly disappear.
(…. No. If I give up here, what will happen to ＜Ringo＞…? I have to be strong…!)
She shook her head vigorously and psyched herself up. Don’t think about what you don’t know. Do what you can now. First, secure a place to sleep tonight. She might be able to live in the Command Room, but it didn’t feel very relaxing. She should separate her workplace from her room. Immediately, she opened the door to one of the rooms in the residential area closest to the Command Room.
With a click, the lock was released, and the door slid open horizontally.
“… … Empty, huh.”
She stepped into the room, but her shoulders slumped in disappointment.
She had hoped for something, but unfortunately, it was betrayed.
Inside the room, there was nothing but a closet and a wall-mounted table that seemed to be fixtures. There wasn’t even a bed. Judging by the size, it was probably a single room, but she couldn’t possibly sleep here. The air conditioning was working, so she wouldn’t get sick, but it would be too hard to sleep in a room with no bed, no sheets, and nothing at all.
“At this rate, the other rooms are suspicious too…”
She opened the doors she could see, but they were all the same. Nothing but the built-in furniture. Of course, the closets were all empty too. There was also a room that seemed to be a dining room, but there was nothing but a table. She thought it was a bit much that there weren’t even any chairs, but perhaps they weren’t considered fixtures. Somehow, she felt that no movable furniture was provided.
“Is there a kitchen?”
A map was displayed in a window that responded to her voice and followed her. Apparently, it was on another floor. Since she was here, she decided to take the Elevator.
When she reached the Elevator hall, the doors were already open. ＜Ringo＞ must have moved it out of consideration for her. It seemed she had really grasped the internal Fortress facilities.
“To the 16th floor.”
“Moving to the 16th floor. The doors are closing.”
As soon as she entered the voice command, the movement started. Probably, a simple AI dedicated to the Elevator was prepared. She didn’t think the Overseer AI would directly operate such fine details. Resource-wise, there wouldn’t be a problem, but…
The Elevator moved silently and arrived at the destination floor. Each floor had the same structure, and she couldn’t tell the difference except for the large “16” display. She walked down the corridor for a while and reached the kitchen.
(I expected it, but… there’s really nothing here…)
In the kitchen, where cooking tables, sinks, heating tables, and large Refrigerators were lined up, there wasn’t a single cooking utensil. She couldn’t cook anything even if she got ingredients… but it seemed that automatic cooking equipment was firmly installed.
(For now, if I can get some ingredients, I can probably heat them up…)
However, it was a mystery whether she could accurately cook unknown ingredients. It would be nice if she could find familiar ingredients.
She wandered around the same floor for a while, but didn’t find anything particularly useful. There were just many empty rooms. Feeling a slight chill, she decided to return to the Command Room. She headed to the Elevator hall, got into the waiting Elevator, went down to the floor where the Command Room was, and then, remembering something, headed to the restroom. She also needed to find a shower room.
(…. Damn. There’s no toilet paper after all…!)
She thought it was a pretty important matter, but as expected, she was disappointed that there were no consumables. It seemed to have a bidet function, so she would be able to avoid the worst-case scenario. In the current situation where there was no food, it was a relief that she wouldn’t have to use it as often.
(Can I manufacture these consumables…? It would be nice to have a universal printer, but I need a material cartridge. There’s probably no stock of material cartridges, and if I have to manufacture them from scratch… it’s going to be daunting…)
The shower room also seemed to be usable, but of course, there were no soaps or towels. Thinking about it, it seemed like a miracle that there was a bed in the Command Room. For the time being, she would have to reuse that towel blanket.
(Come to think of it, if there are hostile civilizations around here where I was transferred, I’m screwed… I might need to send out a reconnaissance Drone or a High-Altitude Plane (Plane). I need to have a strategy meeting later.)
For now, she decided to return to the Command Room to share information with ＜Ringo＞. If she thought about it carefully, she could talk to ＜Ringo＞ on the spot, but she hadn’t shaken off the feeling from the game era and was aiming for the integrated console for giving instructions.