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  Slater detected fear in the parasite as it described what would happen if they lost their only construction bot. “Let’s go with the nanobots and not the potentially dying-a-slow-and-horrible-death choice,” he said, also terrified of the thought of drifting through space while slowly waiting for his systems to deteriorate.

  “Good call, Captain. Try to focus on the nanobot permeation section of your display,” Pixi advised.

  Slater did so and saw new options open up.

  Nanobot Permeation: 5%

  Increase Permeation: 1 salvage = 1%

  Permeation level needed to extend your derelict into the next compartment: 10%.

  Captain Slater slid over five units of the salvage into nanobot production. As he did, he could feel the nanobots begin to expand into the next compartment. It was like a soft breeze blowing across him.

  Nanobot Permeation: 10%

  Salvage: 2

  “Now that the nanobots have done their work, try and move your viewpoint to the other chamber. You can sense everything under your control through the nanobots, but former humanoids often need to think about it in terms of their old body. Try and ‘walk’ to the next room,” Pixi advised.

  Slater did as instructed, his point of view lurching forward with each “step” he made. Eventually, he walked through the closed hatch that led into the next chamber, which was not what he expected. This should have been a side passage that led off the reactor room. Come to think of it, he realized that the reactor room was now smaller than it should have been. This new room appeared to have part of the engineering bay and half of the mess hall crammed together.

  “Pixi, what’s going on with the ship’s layout? Nothing is where I remember it being,” Slater asked.

  “Yeah, forgot to tell you, when we transformed into a derelict, the ship’s structure was reordered and simplified. For now, I estimate there are only four or five compartments in total on the ship. The layout can be changed later when we have more resources and level ourselves up. I’ll get into more detail on that later. For now, get that drone working on collecting all this sweet, sweet salvage.”

  Slater had a lot of questions for Pixi but understood the need to take his newfound existence one small step at a time. He ordered the drone to begin gathering again, finding that his mind was able to do it with much less effort this time. The drone scuttled from its home in the reactor core room and hustled toward the other compartment. Slater was just about to ask Pixi how to get it into the new compartment when he saw a small panel, just barely big enough for the drone, open between the two compartments.

  “You noticed that, eh? Our little worker bees are let in or out of the compartment by the nanobots. They can create a small passage for the drone, then close it up again so nothing nasty makes it through. Thankfully, this hodgepodge room has a lot of salvage in it. How about creating more drones to speed up the process? Use your interface to fiddle with the little critters,” Pixi said as a new menu opened for the captain.

  Construction Options:

  Structure: Locked

  Biomass Processor: Locked

  Construction Drone: Level 1

  Slater tried to select structure and biomass processor—whatever that was—and found that he was indeed locked out of whatever those two things were. The construction drone menu opened to display more information and options for him to consider.

  Construction Drone Main Menu:

  Construction Drone, Level 1. Capable of resource-gathering, construction, and repair functions for the derelict. The level 1 drones are capable of simple repairs and printing of low-level MOBS.

  Cost: 10 salvage. Requires 1 core power.

  Upgrades Available: Defensive mode. This upgrade will enable the drone to use its various tools to defend itself. Cost: 10 salvage. *Note: This mode is an inefficient use of resources. Level 1 MOBS of any type are more effective in combat than a drone.

  “I don’t have enough resources yet to build another drone. We’ll have to wait a bit, Pixi. It seems like waiting is a big part of my new existence,” Slater said.

  “Don’t worry, boss. You can queue up the build order and have it automatically happen once the resources and power levels become available. Why don’t you set up a couple of drones in the queue? I wouldn’t go with more than three in total. The drones take one core power each and we’ll need every bit of power for our MOBS and defenses once we get to that point. I guess I haven’t explained what core power is yet, have I? Well, core power is the measure of your processing power and energy that your core generates. It’s needed to operate the drones and all the other systems and MOBS on your derelict. The available core power you see on your information display reflects what is left over after the derelict powers its normal functions. We can get into further details later when your core is ready to expand.”

  “That sounds good, Pixi, but I think we’ll go with four. I want to get this room cleared and gain complete control of my vessel. I’m assuming we can just scrap some of the drones if we need to free up some core power later on?” Slater asked.

  “Not a bad strategy, and it will speed things up. I can tell you’re flowing nicely into the role of a derelict. As we grow, you’ll feel more at ease with what you are, and your desires will begin to reflect those of our kind,” Pixi said.

  Slater nodded in agreement but something in him paused at Pixi’s statement. Did he want to be one of “his” kind, or did he still consider himself a human? He would have to think more on this later.

  Time passed, and the drone eventually harvested enough materials from the room to build a second unit. His existing drone printed up its companion and the pair went about their work, first gleaning any items lying on the floor, then cutting the furniture and equipment in the room into pieces small enough to process in their little bodies. Every time there was enough salvage amassed, one of the drones would stop gathering and begin building another of its kind. There were soon four of the drones scurrying about, rapidly stockpiling salvage.

  Biomass: 1

  “Where did that come from, Pixi? How do I use biomass?” Slater asked as the interface notified him of the new resource his drones had discovered.

  “That’s good news. Looks like some of the foodstuffs that were in the half of the room that came from the kitchen are still there. We can convert any biological material into biomass and use that to create MOBS to fight for us. We’ll have to see about unlocking some plans for MOBS as we move through and reclaim the ship,” Pixi said.

  Slater was just about to ask what MOBS were when a red warning prompt appeared in his field of view.

  Warning: Hostile organisms detected!

  “What’s going on, Pixi?” Captain Slater asked.

  “Something must have been caught up in the explosion and placed in stasis in this room. Keep your eyes peeled and get ready to order the drones away if something shows up,” Pixi advised.

  Slater shifted his point of view all around the room, looking for the threat. For several minutes, nothing happened, and the drones continued with their work.

  “How did we get that warning, Pixi?”

  “That’s from the nanobots. They also function as our sensor network. As we control more of the ship, they will increase their ability to detect threats on the ship and in the space around us. For now, they’re only able to tell you there is something bad . . . not what it is or exactly where it is. Looks like we’ve stockpiled seventy-two salvage. Perhaps the defensive upgrade will be worth it since we don’t have any templates for other MOBS?” Pixi asked.

  Slater hit upgrade and watched as the drones stopped what they were doing and began to glow a bit as the nanobots set about upgrading them.

  “Shouldn’t take long. The upgrade is mostly software and AI tuning. The only physical change the drones need is for their tools to be hardened for combat use,” Pixi said.

  As they were watching the upgrade in progress, several forms shot out from under what looked like part of the mess hall bever
age dispenser. When Slater concentrated on the creatures, information began to populate his interface.

  Bilge Rat, Level 0. These vermin are commonly found on most space-going vessels. They lurk in the shadows, waiting to steal a tasty tidbit or two of anything edible that they can find. Durable survivors, they defend themselves with their chisel-like teeth, which have been known to shear through metal if given enough time.

  A half dozen of the rats split up and began chewing on the two closest drones. The rats were bigger than the creatures he knew from Earth, each the size of a small dog.

  “The drones aren’t food. Why are they attacking them?” Slater asked.

  “It’s because of the signal we give off as a derelict core. Unintelligent things are driven to anger or overwhelmed with hunger for a derelict’s core. They will attack anything giving off or connected to your signal. Unfortunately, our drones are linked to the core, and that connection is the cause of the rats’ rage. The only thing that stops their rage is consuming some of our power. Bilge rats are relatively weak but will eventually chew their way in here and chip away at the core until we’re gone. Enough talking. Do something, Slater!” Pixi howled. The entity seemed panicked by the rats, losing his cool after giving Slater the information he needed.

  There wasn’t much he could do until the drones finished their upgrade. The rats were indeed able to chew their way through the housing and mechanical innards of his drones, their chisel-like teeth shearing the metal with little effort. Looking back at his systems menu, Slater could see there were twenty-two more seconds until the upgrade was complete. He wouldn’t be able to build any replacement drones if they were all destroyed here; he needed at least one survivor if he wanted to live.

  Slater and Pixi watched as the rats chewed up three of the four drones before the last completed its upgrade and snapped into action. The drone was ordered back into the reactor core room, barely outrunning the rats as the access hatch closed in their face. With a total of sixty-two salvage in storage from all their gathering efforts, Slater ordered the last drone to begin building as many of its brethren as it could. The process took a good thirty minutes for all of the drones to be completed.

  While the drone army was being produced, the rats began to sniff at the wall separating the compartments. They tried to chew on the walls for a bit and found the nanobot-hardened metal was too tough for them, so they shifted their focus to the hatch. It looked like the creepy space rodents were having a hard time of it at first but were eventually able to shave off a thin sliver of metal from the hatch with every few bites. It would take a long time, but they would get through the barrier at some point.

  “Why are they able to chew on the hatch but not the walls?” Slater asked.

  “The walls are considered part of the ship’s structure and made of the same dense material as the hull. A derelict core is not able to use the same material on the hatches between compartments. It’s a rule required by the council and one we have to follow,” Pixi said.

  “After we take care of the rats, we’re going to talk about these so-called rules and why I have to follow them, not to mention what this mysterious council is all about,” Slater snarled. He didn’t like being left in the dark, and something about his companion made him think that, despite how helpful he had been, Pixi wasn’t giving him the whole story.

  “Fine, fine, just for now believe me when I say that if you seal yourself off completely with the nanobot-reinforced metal . . . we’re doomed. Trust me on this one. Both our lives depend on it.”

  None of this was making any sense, but for now, Slater had to focus on eliminating the threat of the rats. His army of construction drones was completed and ready to be unleashed on the rodent horde. The sixty-two units of salvage he had stored up let him create a half dozen new drones, giving him seven in total.

  Slater ordered the drones through their small hatch and into the compartment with the rats. All seven made it through the small passages the nanobots had opened between the compartments, the passages sealing behind the drones once they were through. Thankfully, the small access hatches were made of his nanobot-infused hull material and would be impossible for something like the bilge rats to burrow their way through.

  Slater found that he couldn’t control the drones directly in battle, but their newly upgraded defense programming proved up to the task. Four of the drones spread out on the floor and charged the rats, cutting devices whirling at their foes. The rats responded to the threat, brandishing their fangs and countercharging the spiderlike robotic drones. The rats were so focused on the four drones charging them that they didn’t notice the three drones that had scrambled onto the ceiling above them. Just before the two sides came to grips, the three drones on the ceiling dropped.

  Two of the dropping drones landed on rats, their legs wrapping around the two-foot-long rodents, holding them in place as the various tools began to cut messily into the rats’ flesh. One of the drones clanged to the metal floor, breaking one of its legs and allowing its target to get the upper hand. The rat’s teeth sheared through the little drone, damaging some vital component and taking it out of the fight.

  The battle was short and vicious. A wave of relief came over Slater as he watched the last rat drop to the deck in a mess of gore. Three of his drones had been completely destroyed by the bilge rats, while the four still-functioning drones all had various degrees of damage. Housings were pierced by the sharp bilge rat teeth, and various legs or tools had been chewed off and destroyed. Slater ordered his bots to repair their battle damage before they returned to salvaging the rest of the room. They started with the rat bodies and the remains of their drone comrades, then moved on to clear the rest of the compartment.

  MOBS Pattern Acquired: Bilge Rat

  “Great job, boss. We know how to make our own rats. This is our first mobile offensive battle system, what we all refer to as ‘MOBS.’ You’re going to love the modification options for these little beauties. Eventually, we can make all sorts of different variants to battle our foes. There’s this one strategy we can employ where . . .” Pixi began to ramble on about MOBS, but Slater was having none of it.

  “Stop. Don’t try to sidetrack me. Tell me about this council and the rules you were talking about. Spill it, Pixi,” Slater demanded of the parasite.

  “Fine, fine. Don’t get your reactor in a twist. Here’s the deal. You and I are a very rare thing. Just the right combination of leadership, reactor type, and super-awesome parasite are needed to create a derelict. Most Pixis will spend their lives siphoning off reactor energy and be happy about it. Some—like yours truly—aspire to bigger and better things. Becoming a derelict will eventually allow us both to amass immense power. It may not seem like it now, but high-level derelicts are some of the most powerful beings in the universe. We can create immense amounts of wealth with a thought and manufacture weapons faster than any normal factory. Even the most advanced civilizations have nothing like our nanobots.

  “To counter the potential power we can wield, the major governments of the galaxy banded together—no small feat, let me tell you—and created the Council of Registered Derelicts. The derelicts were initially attacked and destroyed on sight until an agreement was reached. We agree to remain neutral in all conflicts and adhere to the rules. If we do this, the council doesn’t send a kill team our way. Trust me when I say we do not want a kill team sent after us,” Pixi explained.

  “So what rules do I need to worry about?” Slater asked.

  “I’ll take care of the details, boss. Just be aware that the reactor core signal we give off announces us and our power to the universe around us. Typically, only ships in the solar system we are in can pick it up, but as we grow in power, so will our signal strength. If another intelligent group wants to try, they are allowed to dock with our vessel. They can send a party into the derelict to explore, look for adventure, and hopefully gain some loot. Typically, we’ll set up challenges, traps, and MOBS to defend against the incursion.
The adventurers will fight their way to the end of the derelict, usually facing a final challenge, and then return to their ship with the rewards we have given them. The rewards we give reflect the difficulty of the challenges we create.

  “What do we get out of the arrangement, you ask? Well, the whole time they’re on board our derelict, exploring and adventuring, we’re siphoning power and materials from their vessel. What we give out in rewards is always less than what we’ve taken in, but that’s the secret of our kind. The suckers that dock with us have no idea we can leech off their vessel while they’re attached. Derelicts make sure to never take more than a tiny fraction of the attached ship’s mass. You can imagine that one-thousandth of a percent of the mass of a large ship is still quite a bit of material. During this time, yours truly will also be perusing their databases. Nothing intrusive, mind you, just looking at spare data that might be floating around. When we’ve acquired enough data and raw materials, we can expand our core and eventually grow the derelict larger, which in turn attracts more adventurers . . . You get the gist. Any questions?” Pixi asked.

  “I think I get it, but I’m still not sure it all makes sense.”

  “Don’t worry, boss. The whole picture will come together in time. There is one thing I need to warn you about, though. This is the dark side of being a derelict core. Remember when I said that adventurers usually leave after the final challenge? Yeah, well, sometimes they don’t. Sometimes they try and get in here to our core. They’ll try to kill us, damaging the core until it’s lights out. Why do they do this? They do it to steal our heart. The heart of a derelict core is one of the most durable and rare items in the galaxy. Even after we’re dead, we can give off enough energy to run a city for decades,” Pixi warned in an uncharacteristically somber tone.