He stood in front of it, thinking, rethinking, and overthinking about this marvel of a machine: the Fabricator.
This machine is the ultimate crafting tool, capable of 3D printing, molding, sintering, carving, and welding within a large, sealed environment. It is controlled externally via a terminal and haptic controllers, and possesses a wide array of blueprints and scanners capable of numerous functions.
"It took a while to put this thing together, but it is ready for your capable hands, Commander," Wrench said with a bit of pride, yet still somewhat protective of the machine.
"Kissing ass this early in the morning won't do you any favors," Adam replied, thoroughly checking the feedback of the various robotic arms inside the Fabricator's sealed chamber. He ensured the controller's feedback to the machine was accurately calibrated. "This firmware interaction with the Sacred Code is smooth, and there are no issues translating commands. I think the haptic feedback is a bit slow with arms 3 and 7, though."
"Because the loads on these arms are a bit heavier," Wrench explained, offering a solution. "We can always replace the pistons with more suitable ones later on, but the issue I am more worried about is the energy consumption."
"It is not really subtle, yeah." Adam nodded, looking at the data provided on the terminal. The last trial run on the Fabricator had consumed significantly more power than desired. "Anyway, with the machine in place, we can start working on the engine."
"I'll follow your lead, sir." Wrench said, taking a step back.
"Don't bullshit me!" Adam lashed out right away. "I follow blueprints on the terminal like a dumb ape. This is an engine; you are a mechanic. Work your magic and explain the theory for me as you go."
Seeing as Adam wasn't willing to get his hands dirty just yet, Wrench stepped up beside the Commander, who usually had an idea of what was going on.
"How much do you know about engines, Sir?" he asked.
"Electromagnetic and internal combustion engines, mostly," Adam replied.
"Oh, those unholy fossil fuel things are dreadful. I had the displeasure of dismantling many of them back in the war against the V8 Cult."
"Have you been on that campaign?" Adam asked with wide eyes.
"Nasty Fossil Barbarians gave us a hard time," Wrench complained before turning to Adam awkwardly. "No offense, sir."
"None taken!" Adam brushed it off.
"Anyway, a Blazer Engine is much simpler, much cleaner, quiet, efficient, and doesn't kill verdant worlds such as this one," Wrench explained as he started pointing to and naming the parts on the screen. "Simply, we have a big Blazer drum in the engine core, surrounded by emitting mechanisms. On the other end, we have these six rings called the Field Cage, and lastly, the axle that gets affected by the Blazer pulses through these simple mechanical parts, giving power and torque to the outside contraptions. Of course, you will come in when installing the computer that will connect all these machines together, which is usually the job of a Script Monk."
"How so simple!" Adam commented, wearing a sarcastic smile, as he knew he would be the one calibrating the engine's computer eventually.
"See? I told you… Oh!" Wrench noticed that Adam wasn't satisfied with the explanation and looked awkwardly between Adam and the parts still under construction inside the Fabricator.
After that, the explanation intensified in complexity, touching every detail, pulling schematics, and explaining advanced theories.
Adam had always imagined Blazer engines like rockets, all recoil and exhaust. Wrench shut that idea down fast. Recoil mattered in the air, not on the ground. Here, the force never left the engine. It pushed inward, against the frame, until the axle had no choice but to turn. Adam remained perplexed because his understanding of Blazer engines was clouded by numerous misconceptions, largely influenced by their portrayal in Wartopia's media and comics, where they were often depicted as emitting red flames from their exhaust systems.
"I still don't get it." Adam massaged his temples. "The purpose of this engine is to rotate an axle or a crankshaft, right?"
"Yes."
"Then why not use direct blasts?"
Wrench raised his hand and started counting the reasons: "Field constancy, energy economy, and internal parts integrity. One big advantage is that, unlike Blazer-arms, Blazer engines don't need focus optics to create blasting bolts; the Engine Drum itself emits a steady flow of energy pulses in all directions."
"And the Cage, those six rings surrounding the Engine, biases the surrounding field, forcing the internal pressure to resolve against the axle's magnetic rotor, that rotor assembly bonded to the axle housing, right?"
"Exactly. Constant energy pulses shaped by a magnetic field to create power," Wrench confirmed, seeing that Adam had finally understood everything, "Cooling sat above the drum—liquid for light frames, cryo for heavy-duty builds. The casing mattered just as much, keeping stray pulses from chewing through the block. All these systems need their own sensors and programming magic that you script people perform."
Adam's head would have spun if he had to design a full program to integrate all those systems. Luckily for him, he only needed to install a computer in the vehicle, using his spare computer parts, and connect his Command Terminal to it in order for the Sacred Code to invade it and lay down its framework. Adam's role would then be to calibrate the engine functions, perform some tests, and debug code errors.
After two hours of constant work, most of the engine's parts were out of the Fabricator, ready for assembly. Usually, the Fabricator itself can assemble its own products, but it turned out that a Workbench can do the same job with arms specialized for assembly and disassembly. The Fabricator was better at overall printing, so it was better to stick to that.
Adam went to check on Elena in the Command Center's garage afterwards to find her working with Captain Creed, who was personally lifting up a heavy frame that weighed around half a ton alone, installing tank wheels and driving sprockets beneath it, to be laid on the upper crawler frame that was suspended by the garage's crane.
The larger parts of the Crawler's body had long since been printed as individual pieces by the Refinery Rig in the past few days, then worked on by Elena and Adam. With Captain Creed around for this part of the process, assembly was going faster than Adam anticipated, and many of the mechanical parts were being installed by Elena.
In a tone shift, Megan strode into the Command Center, officially looking for Adam with a status report from Hammerhead, who was taking the lead on construction protocol. According to the Titanites, the ground was too rocky to dig a foundation without a Crawler that could extract boulders from the ground. Sadly, the one being constructed was for 3D-printing buildings, and unlike how a Crawler would change its form in the RTS to fit whatever command the player gave, Adam knew that he needed at least three different types of Crawlers just to get things done around the base.
Alternatively, they would look around for an excavator or a digger, but it would take a ton of resources to bring it to Springhead due to its sheer size and awful speed.
"Or we can just tow heavy boulders out," Megan suggested a simple idea. "Dig holes through the boulders with Blazers, pass a chain through, and make this Crawler tow them out of the holes. We can also cut them with Blazer later and move them uphill to the Refinery to break apart and make cement."
Adam and Elena looked at each other and nodded, seeing the sense in Megan's words. While a bit risky, perfection was a luxury they couldn't easily afford, so using any tool to get the deeds done was top priority.
This, however, increased the urgency of finishing the Crawler, and some hands, like Jazz and Officer Reeves, who could work as mechanics, were called back to the garage.
By sundown, the engine was completed, and the chassis was put together, heavily bolted. Adam climbed into the vehicle, which was getting its large robotic arm installed while Captain Creed was assembling the concrete mixer compartment. Adam took measurements for the computer he wanted to install inside the vehicle, which led him to opt for installing a small laptop instead of a terminal.
Then came the part where he had to wire everything together, almost losing fingers on so many occasions, especially while everyone else was installing the concrete mixer.
As the sole techie, it started to become too overwhelming that he was doing so many tasks all by himself while everyone else was reluctant to touch any terminal without praying to Sol Imperius and the Sacred Code for a couple of minutes. The fact that he needed a Script Monk with him had reached the point of top priority, as he could no longer keep doing all this alone.
After connecting the Sacred Code from the Command Terminal and importing all the data needed for a Crawler, Adam did his calibration to the now-installed engine from inside the vehicle's cockpit while Elena was cramped in with him, upside down, as she was connecting the control levers to the engine, making sure that the Field Cage would work to full capacity, since it was sort of the vehicle's transmission system.
With a hasty makeshift seat in the center of the cockpit, the two of them watched the others' expressions as Wrench disconnected the vehicle from the Command Terminal.
The Crawler's terminal assumed power and rebooted. A full minute passed, making all the mechanics stand still with anticipation, until the green Sacred Code script started appearing all over the terminal.
"Engine Blazer Drum at 89% capacity. Activation systems are… stable~ish." Adam checked as he bit his lower lip, his eyes glued to the screen. "I don't want to jinx it; I'm too nervous, and I think it would be safer if we…"
"You've got to believe, Sir." Elena looked at the screen with him. "Pray for the Sacred Code; Sol Protects!"
"But…" Adam wanted to argue, but he held his tongue.
"Humor me this one time, sir." Elena said politely and offered a hand to pray together with Adam.
Everyone else in the garage was witnessing this, but Adam felt awkward to refuse.
He accepted Elena's hand and put his other hand on the dashboard of the Crawler's cockpit.
"I haven't prayed in a long time; it feels strange now," he said and stood silent for a bit.
He looked aside and saw Captain Creed put his hand on the vehicle from outside, closing his eyes and silently moving his lips. The other Men-at-Arms also did the same, all praying for the Sacred Code, for Sol Imperius, and for this Crawler to be a success.
As soon as he made up his mind to join the prayer, everyone else quietened to listen to him.
"Sol Imperius, Child of our Star, Heir of Light, Father of Lucifer Firstlight, Helios the beloved, and mighty Orelion…"
Adam began with an official Scriptorium prayer, but feeling even more awkward reciting something so cringy, he decided to alter it.
"My name is Adam, a big fan of your Solarium. I've been playing with them for over ten years, and believe it or not, I managed to be lucky enough to get some of your soldiers and angels to fight with me. Thank you for lending them, and hopefully you keep sending more my way…"
He said, and a smile formed on his face.
"Your soldiers and I have built and survived together, and your blessing is a great deal for them, so please, work your will through your Sacred Code, manifest some miracle through this Crawler we built, and give it the power to build high walls and lofty halls."
The prayer became easier as he kept muttering. A feeling snuck into his heart; something strong echoed through him, an emotion, a resonance, a belief that made the prayer kept going:
"I know that you don't like being a God, but the fan theories are still wild about that Godhood thing, last I checked. And if a God doesn't want to be called God, then he can ungod himself, right? Like, yeah, you are not, but you mean a lot now. I find myself thinking of your name almost every night, and it is strange, but it is comforting. I hope you are real enough to lend a hand for my friends and me. You mean a lot to them… and to me, apparently."
The words may have rolled easily on his tongue, but the sensation swelling in his heart was coming from its deepest and weakest point.
He wanted to control it before it would bring tears to his eyes, but then all he saw was light.
Light glowed, golden, holy, pure, then it faded away.
Not only he, but almost everyone saw it: the Men-at-Arms, some recruits, as well as Megan and Kave.
Adam's hands shook for a minute, and he looked at the readings on his terminal, the sensors, the measurements, the feedback.
All was perfect!
Better than he could even have done it.
"It's…" Adam couldn't understand for a second.
"A miracle!" Elena cried, covering her mouth as she looked at him.
Her hands moved towards the activation button and hit it. The engine didn't roar like an ICE, but it came to life; a tension started running through the Crawler, a faint hum of power, a slight sensation of vibration from the engine beneath the cockpit.
She put her hands on the control stick, the many-buttoned joystick-like controller called the Cyclic, and the machine drove forward with Adam and Elena inside.
Everyone moved aside as the big hunk of metal crossed the threshold and drove down to the street before Elena stopped it with a wide smile.
"See?" She looked at Adam, an innocent smile on her usually sadistic and murderous face. "You believed in him too, even though you say you don't; deep down, you know."
Adam gulped and walked down, after nodding, the Wartopians congratulating him for the successful prayer and sermon, but he was dazed.
"Adam! That was…"
Kave and Megan caught him from both sides and stepped away with him.
"How the hell was that…"
"Sol Imperius-Sama! Masaka…"
Megan and Kave couldn't wrap their heads around what they saw, but Adam denied it.
"You misunderstood it!" He said, shaking his head. "They misunderstood, too."
He appeared calmer now, but something was clearly occupying his mind.
"What do you mean?" Megan asked.
"It's simple, guys." He let out a tired sigh. "We built a lifelike, top-quality replica of a Construction Crawler." He said and looked at them as if it were the most obvious thing. "It's a Puppet! The Puppeteer Rune did it."
"Oh!" Kave realized, holding his forehead.
"Fuck! That makes sense." Megan let out a sigh of relief, but she still looked around with worry. "This is rather weird, though."
"It is." Adam agreed. "Unlike small miniatures, the initial Crawler we built was far more sophisticated. It didn't even draw that much Mental Energy to become a puppet; it was already almost in a perfect state. But I felt a connection, though. Something… so deep."
Seeing how shaken he was despite standing still without his usual post-summoning exhaustion, Megan touched his face and asked:
"Your Rune?"
He nodded: "Yes, it is that. The Rune inside… something is wrong. I can feel it now more than before, as if it grew closer to my heart. Like, literally there. It feels alive, like Kaimu said; it has its own feelings, it wants something."
Megan and Kave looked at him with worry.
He was shaken, sweating, and clearly feeling something that couldn't be explained, but after an hour, as the sun disappeared from the sky, Adam calmed down, and the feeling went away.
Whatever it was, it kept him up all night.
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