I put a healing field into place around Hot Stuff. Here in the testing environment I could repair damage to my subjects far more quickly than would happen outside.
I made her a plate of cookies and delayed her testing for half an hour. I could be nice when subjects proved helpful.
"Stop whimpering and enjoy the cookies," I said.
"I'm pretty sure any day that winds up in me being double-penetrated and covered in strange fluids should earn me more than a plate of damned cookies," Hot Stuff said.
That was a reasonable point. I could be generous. I added a plate of donuts and increased the break to forty-five minutes.
I'd have to gather the goop again later and move it back into the incinerator until ready to strike. I'd have to prepare a portable burner as well, so they could be kept liquefied as we travelled.
It wouldn't do to have them come back to life on the road, especially if only Anna was there.
The party of Scavengers were down to three now. They wouldn't last long. When they'd tried to sleep last night, I'd kept them awake with a series of growls and screams in the distance.
They were beyond jumpy at this point, absolutely terrified. With this high state of excitement, they were scared to stay anywhere for too long. Keeping them moving made it more likely for them to find themselves in one of my traps.
Perhaps I should take a cue from my experiences with Hot Stuff?
I triggered production on that level and made a plate of a few cookies for the survivors. Even in the darkness the scent would draw them. Not far away I placed another. A third I put in a trap I liked to call my "Box of buzz saws." A wall would come down and deliver cutting sawblades from every angle. I hoped this worked, I'd been wanting to try it out.
The dead Scavengers I had already recycled. My biomass supplies were up nicely, and while their equipment didn't add much to our stores the melee weapons were handy. It might also prove useful for my people to be able to dress themselves as Scavengers. Nobody seemed to pay them any attention and being able to escape notice could have many advantages.
25
My box of buzz saws wound up performing better than I hoped. It was a work of genius and I needed to figure out more "surround people on all sides" traps. They were incredibly gratifying.
With the Scavengers out of the way I opened the upper levels again and the Mechanites could rebuild the vehicle.
I cycled some of the parts in and out of Hot Stuff's tests so they would be authentically singed. The vehicle looked as if it had been through a fierce battle.
Inside the back of the van was a rather convoluted mechanism. Four tight, separate cells were made for each of the Righteous. Each day, when they came back to life, they would perfectly fit inside with no wiggle room, and a mechanical timer released a razor-sharp blade at neck level.
A hand-crank pump then transferred the goop to four sprinklers aimed to spray the interior of the van around the chambers. These were activated by a pressure sensitive release on the floor. A moment later, an explosive charge would be triggered that should kill anyone and everything within. Especially any Slidekickers who had teleported into the truck to steal the prisoners.
All Anna should have to do from the outside is turn a hand crank for about twenty minutes each day to keep the system primed. I could have done much more if electronics worked, but so far from my systems we had to do everything without them. I transferred the Righteous in liquid form to the sprinklers and we tested the system every day for a week ahead of time.
It was functional, if inelegant.
Completing all this also gave me time to finish my latest research upgrades, which opened some all-new possibilities.
I was going to make some creations.
Enough time had passed that I had 0.8 core points. Another week and that might be enough for another full facility upgrade, if I understood correctly how that worked. Although it was tempting to wait for that, I felt in the short term I'd be better served putting those to use.
I first wanted to build myself a worker.
Biological Constructs
You have unlocked the following patterns for biological constructs.
Worker Options:
Human - Cost 0.4
Mole - Cost 0.2
I could create my own humans. That was an interesting revelation. They cost twice as much as the moles, but then opposable thumbs were useful. Still, if the moles were an option, they must be of some utility and I already had plenty of humans.
I selected the mole and the sequencer went to work. The mole, when it was finished, weighed around eighteen kilograms and had especially well-developed paws that seemed suitable for tool use. I also found that I could interface directly with its mind and issue it instructions. That was convenient. If only the humans were so obedient. I sent the new worker off to join in the cleaning out of the lower levels and informed the humans so they wouldn't panic.
It was time to invest in a defender. I expected to spend the majority of my points on this one.
Biological Constructs
You have unlocked the following patterns for biological constructs.
Warrior Options
Human - Cost 0.4
Mole - Cost 0.2
Here again I had the option for a human. That was tempting, especially with all the armor and weapons we had stored, but I had something else in mind.
I selected the mole, but this time instead of going straight through to production I chose more features.
Mole
Statistics
Values out of 10
5=Average
Allure: 3
Endurance:3
Strength: 5
Agility: 6
Intellect: 2
Upgrades can be purchased at 0.1 per point
You can also apply the following templates
Fire Matrix
Temperature Resistance
I had to wonder what certain statistics were based on. Allure to whom? I was sure my mole would be at least somewhat appealing to other moles even without many points invested.
Anna had a perplexingly high allure, which anyone who knew her must agree was totally undeserved. Upgrades here were 0.1 per point, while with Anna they had been twice that. Either the moles were overall less expensive or this one was cheaper as my construct.
Regardless, it gave me a little more room to work. I wanted to apply the Fire Matrix to the warrior mole. Hot Stuff had proved repeatedly just how destructive she was. It was that sort of destruction I wanted on my side.
Based on the mole's stats, that left me a few other options. I could try increasing the intelligence. That would probably give it more self-control without me having to micro-manage its life, but with a neural interface that wasn't too taxing on me. I was better at multitasking than humans.
Strength seemed useless, I wasn't out to do damage with its bite or its claws, but rather with the heat that would be surrounding it. Allure had its amusing possibilities, I could picture joyful humans reaching down to grab the adorable mole and hug it to their breasts before being incinerated. Unfortunately, that cost more points than I was willing to spend.
Endurance would certainly be useful, but again, I wasn't hoping to get into any sort of protracted battle. Instead I sank two points into agility. This would let the mole move more quickly to close with my foes. To this I did add the Fire Matrix.