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Nellie and the Nanites - Bk5 - Ch.8
🕑 Added 2024-11-14 09:05:00 +0000 UTCChapter Eight
A Difficult Start
Cheape looked through the options and carefully made selections that looked the most useful and adaptable.
Her staff had arrived with some supplies to get her started, but it was up to Cheape to set things up. She was in charge, after all. The problem was that she had never actually used the prefab cubes before. Those with nanite infusions could connect to them directly, apparently, but Cheape had so far refused to go through the process. There was just something about having an override in her brain that made her uncomfortable.
It was widely known that, while it existed, the Queen would never use it unless things were beyond dire. It was considered a test of faith. Not that Cheape didn’t have faith in the Queens, exactly. It was more that she didn’t have that level of faith in people. Any people.
Luckily, her Modular Boost Suit was designed to interface with them. The walkers had brought them over to an empty space beside the now cracked and ruined landing pad for her, and now Cheape was looking at the various preplanned and customizable building types they came preinstalled with.
Thunder rolled in the distance, making it clear she needed to hurry up and get these going so she could get her people somewhere to stay until they were done.
She finalized the first selection, a set of four apartments, one on top of the other, with a covered staircase running up the side of the building to allow access. For some reason, it was surrounded by a covered veranda on the ground floor, but she couldn’t figure out how to undo the choice.
The structure would cost ten pre-fab cubes, almost a quarter of what she had, but it was a start. Next, she used six of the cubes to build a proper landing pad with two large bays. Five more went to create a control tower. It seemed a lot for quite a small building, but Cheape guessed the designers knew what they were doing better than she did.
It ended up costing six because the system added that damn veranda again.
Where had she chosen that, again?
Another roll of thunder made Cheape sigh and move onto the last building.
It would be a combined production, planning, and storage place. On a whim, more than anything else, Cheape chose something that looked a bit barn-like. It was four stories tall, with a sloped roof that flattened at the top. The bottom two floors were one massive storage area, with the third being an open area ready for machinery. The top floor was the same, but with a third of it sectioned off as offices and a meeting room.
Finally, there was a staircase up to the flat section of the roof. A small fence surrounded the area, letting people use it as a lookout point, she supposed.
That should have left her with six cubes left over, but she noticed the ‘zero remaining cubes’ message just as she confirmed the choice. Looking again, she saw the damn veranda had been added to the barn as well. It went all the way around the bottom floor.
It was only as she heard the first ‘clink’ from the prefab cubes that she saw an option ticked at the top right of the interface: Unify Design Aesthetics.
Several icons appeared in her vision, showing where each set of cubes should be placed. It suggested a much more involved process than she had assumed. Cheape had kind of expected everything to just kind of… work. That was how things seemed to go in the Imperium.
Or maybe that was just for people with nanites.
“Walkers?” Cheape called.
“Yes, Mistress?” The nearest one answered immediately.
“We need to move some of these cubes,” Cheape started to figure out how to explain it.
“We shall take care of it, Mistress,” the Walker said before they all started moving immediately.
“I need to tell you where to put—” Cheape cut off as the first cubes were delivered to precisely the right place. “You can see where they go?”
“Yes, Mistress!”
Not one to argue with a good thing, Cheape got to work moving cubes herself. The Boost Suit made shifting the heavy cubes easy enough, and she could carry several on her back and shoulders without much trouble. It made her feet sink into the muddy ground, of course, but it wasn’t too big a deal.
TRV-4 also helped out, being strong enough to carry two cubes at a time if she told him where to put them.
Marie and Vauban did what they could by carrying one between them.
As soon as the pieces were in place, they began to shift and unfold, expanding and clicking together like magic.
Cheape watched on in wonder as buildings rose out of the pile of cubes, not quite prepared for how fast the things were.
Before the first drops of rain could fall, the last covered section of the veranda on the housing block snapped into place.
“We brought some food with us,” Marie said, standing at an awkward attempt at parade rest in front of Cheape. “Perhaps we can have a meal before we all begin? Vauban and I were not much use at moving cubes, and would like to contribute.”
“That sounds great,” Cheape said gratefully. “Any chance you brought some HyperDrive?”
Cheape noticed that the table set out on the veranda was set for not just her, TRV-4, Marie, and Vauban. Four more places had been set as well.
Vauban returned from the kitchen in the ground-floor apartment carrying four large salads sprinkled with copper and iron flakes.
“Are those metals?” Cheape asked, a little uncertain of if it was safe to eat actual metal. Perhaps the pair were nanited after all, and it just hadn’t shown?
“They are,” Vauban smiled. “Marie found out that the Walkers eat only vegetables and metals. This is her version of a salad with the metals used as a seasoning.”
He placed the large bowls down in front of a seemingly random selection of seats.
“I was told you would find this a welcome beverage,” TRV-4 said, sitting at the table and handing her a steaming cup of HyperDrive. “A fascinating combination of stimulants, sugars, fats, and some kind of bean.”
“Thanks, Tee,” Cheape gratefully accepted the warm cup.
Cheape had been the one to show TRV-4 around when he arrived at the station a week ago or so. She had been a little nervous at the time, as he was the first silicate intelligence she had met. He turned out to be infectiously joyful and endlessly interested in everything around him. He was like a walking infusion of joy, at least for Cheape. Leah apparently found him irritating, but Leah was a little terrifying, so Cheape wasn’t surprised.
A few moments later, they started to eat, with Marie providing stew and fragrant flatbread for everyone except the Walkers—who had the salad—and TRV-4, who did not eat.
Cheape spent the meal trying to think of what approach was the best to take—her time in the Imperial Line hadn’t included any actual command experience, although she had been second to a rather useless captain. Not that any of that gave her a clue to what a person did to elevate an entire planet.
“I was thinking we could run cables from the shuttle to power the buildings,” Vauban said as they ate. “It should provide enough for the tower and apartments, at least.”
“That sounds like a great idea, thank you,” Cheape said, pleasantly surprised. “Any other suggestions?”
“I have some experience with farms and their produce,” Marie offered. “I could start to look at what they grow here and make plans for things like balanced meals and any vitamins or minerals the people might be lacking.”
“They certainly seem to need the help,” Cheape nodded as she sipped at her HyperDrive. “I warn you, their stores seem to be compromised.”
“If you desire it, I could look at the surrounding area and locate any nearby mineral deposits that could be of use?” TRV-4 offered. “My senses are very attuned to that kind of thing so that I might better survive in unknown conditions.”
“I would want to ask if they have any dangerous predators around here first,” Cheape said quickly.
“They don’t,” Vauban said with certainty.
“Why do you say that?” Cheape asked.
Vauban gestures around them. “No walls and no weapons that they showed.”
Cheape really should have figured that out on her own, and she hid her blush behind her cup.
“In that case, I should start surveying the town and seeing what we can do to improve matters,” Cheape said, mostly to cover up her own lack of ideas. Hopefully, a careful look around would show something that obviously needed fixing.
“We will accompany you, Mistress,” one of the Walkers said, " in case there is work to be done.” It clicked its mandibles sharply to emphasize the point. The others returned the sharp click.
“Then we have a plan,” Cheape nodded. “I suggest we get some sleep and start fresh in the morning.”
“Shall we mount a guard, Mistress?” the walkers asked.
“Yes, thank you,” Cheape already knew the Walkers didn’t sleep more than once a week, so they would be keeping an eye on things either way.
/===<<<>>>===\
As Cheape was escorted around the town the following day, she again felt overwhelmed. She had hoped to find something that obviously needed fixing or improving, but instead, she had found that everything needed fixing or improving.
“Mister President,” Cheape sighed. “This town is in a terrible state.”
“Call me Marls, please.” the man said, “but you’re right. We just never saw the point in making much of it.”
Cheape’s expression must have shown what she thought because he went on hurriedly.
“Don’t get me wrong, Emissary. We are a hard-working people. We just…” He waved vaguely. “Anything we built would just be taken, and there is only so much you can do with your hands. That which wasn’t taken wore out, and we just never bothered to replace it. Why work to give someone else the use of the thing?” He looked over the area around them and slumped a little. “It’s not the life we wanted, you understand. It’s just the life we got.”
“I see,” Cheape nodded, but she didn’t. Not really. Could a whole planet of people be suffering from depression? Her own people had next to nothing, but what they did have, they cleaned and polished until it shone. She could still remember being scalded for tracking mud into the house that most people would have called a shack. It was a point of pride for her mother.
Pride.
Cheape stopped for a moment, getting a puzzled look from Marls.
Pride was what these people needed. They needed to make this place something they could be proud of. It wouldn’t be enough for her and the others to simply fix it for them. They needed to be involved.
She remembered the way no one had even glanced at her new compound. It was damn impressive, even to someone used to space travel, but the locals didn’t even look at it because it was not theirs.
Finally, Cheape began to get a faint idea of what she should do.
“Did you say there were worn-out machines and such around somewhere?” Cheape asked with a smile.
Walkers were a lot stronger than they appeared. It was something that Cheape was used to, but the locals were decidedly surprised to see the squat humanoids carrying large, rusted machines between them as she clomped through the muddy streets in her suit, loaded to capacity with broken machinery.
Most of it was probably unrecoverable, but some would be. It almost seemed fitting, considering the Imperium had apparently started out from a scrapyard.
Several of the locals rushed to help out, joining her procession with several of the smaller chunks.
More still were pushing wheelbarrows filled with produce from the fields toward the building Cheape had decided to call the Workshop.
There were a lot of questions being asked, and Cheape didn’t want anyone to get the wrong idea, so she told everyone they were welcome to come along and help out.
“What are we doing with all this, Miss?” A young man asked.
“We are going to repair the machines as much as we can. Or use the parts to make new ones. Then, we are all going to start working to fix this place up.” Cheape smiled, although the helmet hid it from the people around her.
“You aren’t taking all this for your people?” An older woman asked, hesitant as if she expected Cheape to shut her down.
“You are all our people now.” Cheape chuckled. “All of this is going to be used right here.”
That got a lot of mutters, but even more people started to help out.
Dropping everything off at the Workshop turned into an impromptu town meeting, with everyone seeming very surprised and pleased they were not only allowed to ask questions but got answers to those questions.
Most of it was obvious stuff. Were people going to be forced to work for the Imperium? Was the Capital still going to be in their town? Did they have to do this or give up that?
It ended up with Cheape making a speech. It was very informal, with her simply raising herself above the crowds by extending the legs of the suit.
“Ladies and Gentlemen! Ladies and Gentlemen! I know there is a lot you want to know, and there is plenty of time to answer all these questions. The Imperium is not going anywhere, and neither are you. The simple fact remains that this town needs a lot of work. President Marls has explained to me that you never worked on it because someone would come along and take away your hard work. Well, I have good news. No one will ever come and take what you have again. Not while the Imperium still stands.”
A few people clapped at that, the sound spread, and soon people were cheering.
“As citizens of the Imperium, you are safe to improve your lives and those of your children. We will help, of course. But we all know the true value of something comes from doing it with your own hands, your own work.”
Even more cheering, and it was definitely louder now.
“I came from a world much like this one. I understand your struggles more than I would like to if I am honest.” She let the laughter pass. “So trust me on this. Together, we can make this world a beacon to the galaxy. A testament to the work and will of its people.”
After that, she thanked everyone for coming out and asked them to go back to their homes and start getting ready to work together and make their town somewhere to be proud of.
She saw Marls handing something to a skinny young man who ran off as she lowered the suit back to its standard height.
“Is everything alright, Marls?” Cheape asked.
“Fine! Fine! I just sent a copy of what you said to the other towns nearby. No reason they can’t start working on their own places, begging your pardon, of course.”
“That sounds like an excellent idea,” Cheape smiled.
By the time night fell over the town, much had changed in a short time. People had begun to do what they could. Parties had gone out to start cutting fresh thatch while others were clearing the streets of detritus. Cheape had seen people scrubbing the floors and walls of their houses, and others were out in their fields, checking growth and weeding.
None of it was major, but the people looked energized—better yet, they looked hopeful.
Everyone met up again for dinner, which Cheape rather liked. It reminded her of a home she had long written off but suddenly seemed to matter a lot more.
“I see the townsfolk are feeling much more chipper today,” TRV-4 said, handing her a cup of HyperDrive. “I trust things went well?”
“They seem to be,” Cheape nodded. “But there is a lot to do. I can just hope their enthusiasm lasts.”
“It won’t,” Marie said apologetically. “It can’t.”
“Why not?” Cheape asked.
“To start with, they are missing a lot of vitamins in their diet, and worse, I haven’t found anywhere near enough sources of protein.” She looked over her shoulder at the town. “They will be exhausted in less than three days of hard work.”
Cheape pulled out a pad and noted that down.
“Can you get me a report on what they are missing?” Cheape asked. “And would a day off every two days help them recover in the meantime?”
“That will help,” Marie nodded. “But they really need more protein if we want them to actually build up any stamina.”
Cheape made another note.
“I have happier news,” TRV-4 said with a smile. “There is a mineral-rich area only a couple of miles out of town.”
“On a similar positive note, a good number of the broken machines can be fixed or salvaged for parts,” Vauban offered. “So we should have some basic machinery in a day or two.”
“We can clean the machines overnight,” one walker said.
“And start clearing the collapsed buildings tomorrow,” another offered.
“If it would please the Mistress?” a third added.
“That would be great, thank you,” Cheape said, trying very hard to ignore the Mistress thing.
It was a start—a decent start—but the simple fact remained: They needed more supplies and gear to do anything real on this planet—a proper powerplant, for a start, and some way to process materials into usable items.
There was no use putting it off. Cheape would have to contact the Queens and ask for some more equipment.
