Research Menu
Mutated Moles
Requirement: 3 Mutated Mole bodies
Time: 18 hours
Mutated Moles have been warped by an unknown force that has given them greater strength, ferocity, and endurance than their standard counterparts.
Do you wish to Research? Y/N
Once more the answer to that was an emphatic yes. I really had no reason to say no. While I was limited in research slots, right now I wasn't hitting those limits.
That done, I investigated another build.
Basic Infirmary
A room with two bunks and an autodoc. Halves healing time of all wounds and can stabilize critically injured.
Requires 50 resources to construct and 5 power
You have no building resources but have 116 rubble which can be converted at a 1:08 ratio.
Do you wish to begin this project?
The human kept getting injured. Her burns seemed to be getting worse and while she was covering it well, there seemed to be a weakness in her limbs after the recent bite from the mole. I hated to expend the resources, but so far she was proving herself to be of some minimal value.
I added this to the queue.
It would have to wait though. Building the traps took priority. Fortunately, we hadn't come immediately under attack and I had time to create several more.
I rigged most of Hydroponics with pit traps that would drop an individual into a tank of water below. I made certain those were sealed chambers and reinforced them to take considerable pressure. I hoped that even if the water turned to steam, the pressure created and the lack of breathable air would have a devastating effect.
I wasn't leaving it to that alone this time. I arranged several sections of the roof in the Security wing in a way so I could trigger a small-scale collapse.
The passages were the narrowest there and I reasoned that even my upcoming guests burned hot enough to melt stone, bathing in it would still be another matter.
I didn't have the resources to place any more traps. These had used what supply of rubble I had. While I could gather some more by clearing further floors, I was becoming increasingly aware this was a limited resource to be preserved.
Several of the research projects were completed.
Research Menu
Embers
Embers are the lowest order of those who were empowered by a Power core to possess flame abilities. While they appear human, their physiology has been altered considerably by a crystalline virus. They are far more resistant to heat than the average human, although can generate only minor heat themselves.
You have unlocked the Fire Matrix.
By emulating the crystalline virus found within the bodies of Embers you can add this modification to creations if you possess the requisite modification talents.
That was both good and further enraging, because it didn't take me much testing to find out that I lacked those talents. Another research project had gone nowhere.
Research Menu
Mutated Moles
Mutated Moles have traces of an unusual crystalline substance bonded to their muscle fibers. This substance is particularly present in their mouths and bladders suggesting it came from their water supply.
You have unlocked the Giant Mole.
With your study of the physiology and genetic structure of the Mutated Moles you are now able to grow your own variant in a genetics lab.
Yet another building I didn't have. It was interesting what they said about the water, however. I wondered if Anna would become massive from drinking.
I should probably keep an eye on her, those barbs regarding her mass would gain particular bite, if she began to transform into a giant.
With the traps under construction I turned my attention back to the other structures. I focused on the Infirmary first. I finished it just as Anna was turning a rather unhealthy shade of green. Soon she was stretched out on a medical table while the autodoc tended to her.
Although I wasn't a doctor I could access its system.
Recent burns over thirty percent of her body.
Multiple gunshot wounds, one to the arm and another to a shoulder and her calve.
An infected bite from a mutated mole.
Severe malnutrition and moderate radiation poisoning.
It was surprising that Anna was still functional given all the damage she had endured. It she needed some better armor—or to learn how to dodge properly, I'd have to consider proper solutions eventually.
I ordered the autodoc to keep her sedated and restored to full health. If I knew her, she would want to be a part of the fight coming up. I sealed the Infirmary and placed rubble outside the door, just to be certain she couldn't get out. Things would be complicated enough without her interfering.
Just in time. Only a few hours later several new figures arrived at the entrance to the base.
The leader must be Hot Stuff herself. Unlike the others, who at least wore some pretense of clothing, she didn't. It didn't take me long to figure out why. At the temperatures she was running any standard cloth would quickly burst into flame.
Fire crawled along her flesh in a constant flickering stream. It was like living snakes writhing against her, the air around her a constant haze.
Accompanying her were three others running hot, although far colder than she. I recognized one of the Flames, William, as the one that had come the first time.
They couldn't be very smart. If what Anna said was true, they'd have tried to sleep with their boss in order to become Flames. Unless she had some ability to cool off to a far lower temperature, such an effort would be both agonizing and thoroughly fatal.
That was good, I preferred them to be dumb.
9
"Looks abandoned," Hot Stuff said, as she made her way through the main entrance and looked about. "You sure you got the right hole in the ground?"
"I'm sure," said William, gesturing. "We need to go down a few levels to where the ambush happened. There is someone watching us."
Good, I very much hoped that they did make it back down to the Hydroponics level again.
As they advanced I let them pass, then quietly sealed doors and activated traps behind them. I didn't want anyone getting away this time.
"That true? We're being watched?" Hot Stuff asked, as she gave a leisurely stretch. I think that she expected me to be impressed by the sight.
I said over the speakers, "Welcome to the Laboratory. I see you've brought your toys for me to play with. I've got some for you too."
Hot Stuff didn't look particularly intimidated, she looked pleased.
"Oh, it has been too long since I really got to burn. I don't know who you are or what you did with my people, but baby, we're gonna sizzle together."
"I sense a contradiction. You can't burn properly when all you do is put out. Come find me," I said.
Taunts were all well and good. I wanted her reckless, I wanted them all reckless.
William raised a hand when they got near the entrance to Hydroponics. "It was in here we got taken."
"Then stay here. I'll check it out," Hot Stuff said, and she made her way in alone.
I had to decide how I wanted to play this. I could spring the trap on her now—without a doubt she was the biggest prize of the bunch and I really wanted to put her in a testing maze. But if she was neutralized, those with her would probably flee. They were lesser prizes, but I wanted them too.
Hot Stuff prowled the room looking into corners, her thermal readings increasing more. The floor began to smolder and smoke beneath her feet.