As dawn broke, and everyone started to stir, Adrian addressed the group as they sat in the cafeteria, "I am looking for some specific skills from the group we have here that will help improve all of our chances of survival. I am looking for anyone with medical skills, abilities with farming and/or gardening; as well as anyone with a military background or engineering skills of any kind. We need to utilize your ability for all our survival. Everyone else, please either join Cedric in a scavenging party, or stay back to help with setting up the base. We plan on clearing out this place as well as the buildings immediately around us." There was a murmur from the crowd as they discussed what they planned to do amongst themselves.
Hands started to go up, "I was an engineer," said one survivor, "Me too", said another. "I was a sergeant before I retired." One by one several people stood up explaining their jobs and skills they had that could be useful. Adrian smiled broadly as his prompt popped up in front of his eyes:
Makeshift Clinic (Nursing)Base Clinic (Unlocked at 10,000 nanobots):
Wards laced with healing mist. Followers heal 10% faster. Minor infections purged automatically.
Upgrades: (Locked)
Infusion Beds (25,000 nanobots): Beds emit nanite fields that accelerate tissue knitting. Followers heal 25% faster and stabilize from critical injuries.
Nanite Surgeons (75,000 nanobots): Semi-autonomous swarms can perform crude surgeries, removing bullets/shrapnel with 80% survival rate.
Regeneration Pods (200,000 nanobots): Enclosed chambers flood hosts with nanobots. Major wounds regenerate overnight. Risk of side-effects (organ misgrowth, nanite addiction).
Immortality Protocol (500,000 nanobots): Fallen followers can be revived within 1 hour of death, but return dependent on nanite assimilation. They may not remain entirely human.
Workshop (Engineer)Base Workshop (Unlocked at 15,000 nanobots):
Repairs weapons and tools 20% faster, prevents decay.
Upgrades: (Locked)
Adaptive Tools (30,000 nanobots): Nanobots reshape tools for any task (e.g., wrench → scalpel). Followers gain +25% efficiency in repairs.
Living Armor (90,000 nanobots): Nanobots embed in armor plating. Gear becomes self-repairing, regenerating minor damage daily.
Hybrid Forge (250,000 nanobots): Weapons/armor can be fused with nanobots, granting adaptive effects (heat blades, shock rounds, shifting armor density).
Nanoforge Core (400,000 nanobots): Workshop becomes a sentient factory. Can craft entirely new technology blueprints never seen before. Requires a dedicated engineer bonded to the system.
Garden Plot (Gardener)Base Garden (Unlocked at 12,000 nanobots):
Nanobots enrich soil. Crops grow 30% faster, immune to blight.
Upgrades: (Locked)
Growth Accelerators (40,000 nanobots): Plants mature in days instead of weeks. Yields doubled.
Nanosplice Agriculture (100,000 nanobots): Crops are fused with nanites — fruits heal minor wounds or provide temporary stat buffs.
Living Vines (250,000 nanobots): Perimeter vines become semi-sentient, ensnaring intruders or shielding crops.
Nanite Orchards (450,000 nanobots): Plants produce nanobot-rich fruits that replenish the base's stores and allow followers to upgrade themselves biologically.
Watch Post (Military)Base Watch Post (Unlocked at 20,000 nanobots):
Enhances patrol efficiency. Followers spot threats 30% faster.
Upgrades: (Locked)
Sentinel Net (60,000 nanobots): Nanobots embedded in the watchtowers heighten guard reflexes, lowering fatigue and increasing reaction speed.
Silent Relay (120,000 nanobots): Nanite comms allow silent coordination over miles. Followers gain +20% combat efficiency.
Combat Swarm (300,000 nanobots): On alert, the post deploys nanite constructs (turrets, drones, sentry clouds). Can autonomously fight intruders.
Hive Command Node (500,000 nanobots): Followers linked through the node become a shared swarmmind, executing perfect squad maneuvers at inhuman speed. Risks individuality bleed.
The possible improvements were mind blowing, the continued upgrades would take the rescues from surviving to thriving. But how would he get so many nanobots for them? Adrian was going to need to severely step up his game for the upgrades he now had available.
He let the followers mingle amongst themselves to help divide everyone into teams that best fit their skills and capabilities, down to the youngest children. They came together in their time of need with hope that not all was lost. Adrian stepped away to a quiet corner in the basement area and checked his current nanobot count for a few upgrades:
Free nanobots available: 147,730
"Initiate Senses upgrade." As they completed his command his sight went pure white, a buzz attacked his ears and his skin crawled with the feeling of nanobots surging through his system to make the upgrades. He writhed blindly bearing the pain in silence so as to not freak out his new people. After a few minutes everything came back and the once dark basement became visible, as good as daylight itself. The night vision made even the darkest corners come out of hiding. He could hear every movement of the other people, down to their breaths if he focused hard enough. He could also feel the air in a new way. Wind, temperature and pressure changes were detectable down to the slightest difference. The whole world seemed more alive to him now.
Senses Upgrade Complete: Your sensory perception has been Heightened by 20%, including low-light vision and auditory range.
Free nanobots available: 132,730
As he was marveling at the new world he had access to, he immediately did the next upgrade. "Initiate Replication Upgrade." The feeling inside his body was complicated. It was like part of his core that focused on replication grew. There was a pressure throughout his body. The nanocore wasn't just a ball of nanobots inside his body, it was a designated permanent swarm that had gained sentience of sorts. So changes like this weren't painful like the others had been. It was an increase to the swarms' capabilities, the swarms' focus. As the pressure subsided a notification popped up.
Replication Upgrade Complete: Nanocore now generates 10,000 free nanobots per day with sufficient organic and metallic materials. Warning: Uncontrolled replication may lead to system instability. Free nanobot capability at 200,000.
Free nanobots available: 82,730
His free nanobot count has dropped significantly but the upgrades were always worth it. With a base increase the additional bonus from his free nanobots was able to be compounded, compressing his capabilities while offering ever greater heights. He was below the amount he needed for the next nanocore level, it would have to wait. The next things needed were for the Bastion System. He needed to get that going.
After a few minutes taken to catch his breath from the upgrades he headed upstairs to see that the group had already split into focus teams. Cedric was out and about with a few people looking for supplies as he has done before, this time with a much larger team. Adrian went to the first team, medical, to see where they wanted to set up the med-station. In the building next to them was a relatively clean space, that would work, at least for now. Sarah was the most experienced medical specialist, being a head nurse before things fell apart. There were two other women and a man there cleaning out a space for this project.
The available medical supplies were all collected and brought over to the new med-station to be sorted and organized. Adrian announced, "Great start everyone, I have a quick upgrade to initiate, this will help us greatly moving forward." and he walked to a nearby counter and said, "Bastion System: Initiate Base Clinic upgrade." he put his hand out and a swarm of nanobots flowed from his hand onto his finger tips and built a specialized piece of equipment, that could create a cloud of nanobots to assist with healing people. The followers' eyes widened as they watched this technology appear from seemingly nowhere.
Free nanobots available: 72,730
It wasn't very flashy, just a place to house the nanobots until they were needed. These were permanent specialized nanobots whose job was healing. He had Sarah sit in a chair, handed her the box and started the process. With a hiss a small swarm of nanobots flew out of the box and settled into Sarah's body. She gasped at the icy chill she felt as the nanobots went throughout her body looking for issues. Being not very injured they focused on a few scratches and bruises she had received before rescue.
Bigger ones visibly healed, while the small ones disappeared not even leaving a scar. After a bit the bots removed themselves from her body and back into the receptacle. Sarah, with shaky hands and wide eyed, handed the box back to Adrian who had a huge smile on his face. "How do you feel?" Sarah said, "That was amazing." The other followers were dumbstruck, Adrian set the box down on the counter, saying "Feel free to test it more, but it should go a long way to being able to keep more of us alive." He waved to them over his shoulder as he headed out of the med-station and over to the mechanical engineers.
He found a few people working together to gather the tools to see what they had access to. The person that the group had agreed to make the lead of their team saw Adrian and strode over with his hand out. "Caleb Vance, thanks again for the rescue. It was looking pretty bleak for everyone that was there." Adrian shook Caleb's hand, careful not to use too firm of a handshake. "It's no problem really, we need everyone that we can save." Adrian's tone somewhat somber. He tried to lighten it up, "So how's it coming along?" "Well we are finding tools around this place but not exactly everything you need to rebuild a civilization." Adrian nodded, "I understand, we need one of your team to start working on making a map of sorts, then the scavenging team can locate and mark off buildings that have tools in general, or specific ones you may need."
Caleb's eyes lit up, "Yes that would help immensely, we can mark it with other items located as well. I will get someone right on that." Now that that task was delegated Adrian said, "In the meantime I have something that can help with your projects. "He pointed to a nearby workbench and a stream of nanobots flowed out from his finger and slowly constructed a small box like before. These ones specialized in maintaining and repairing tools, parts and equipment. Able to remove rust and replace material where needed.
Free nanobots available: 57,730
Adrian grabbed a tool in miserable shape and put it next to the box. With the push of a button, the swarm came out, identifying the tool and starting to make repairs. The rust crumpled as pits were filled below the scaling, making it shine again like it was almost new. When the nanobots were finished they returned to the small box ready for its next use. Caleb was floored, he didn't think he would see anything like that in his lifetime, especially not after the fall. He picked up the tool, rotating it like he was seeing one for the first time.
Adrian snapped Caleb out of his daze, "You alright?" he could only nod. "Good, then make a list of materials for the scavenging crew to use to build watch towers on the four corners of the walls. They will be needed for the guards. Also, have them procure some generators and whatever gas they can find. We will need it for lights, cooking and other essentials." Cedric's face became resolute, with a curt nod he said, "You got it boss." Adrian patted his shoulder, causing him to stumble a little and rub his shoulder in pain. Adrian chuckled and made his way over to the front door of the compound.
Adrian took a moment to analyze the front door, it was in disrepair even though still functional. He decided to try to utilize the nanobots in a new way. Seeing what the nanobots could do for tools had given him an idea. He put his hand flat against one of the doors and commanded the nanobots to repair and upgrade the door. It felt as though a liquid storm of metal flowed from his palm. They started immediately working on wear and tear, cleaning up the damage from being exposed to the open for so many years. Finally, they slid to the hinges and locking mechinzim to reinforce those then returned back to Adrian as a cloud.
Free nanobots available: 52,730
That was an easy sacrifice to make, being most of the work was repair, not very nanobots were needed. He sighed as he looked around him at what was being built, it was starting to resemble a home of sorts. It was going to need a name soon. As he was thinking, his senses picked up a fluctuation causing him to turn and see three people on a roof ten blocks away. His new senses easily picked up subtle details even from this distance.
Adrian headed off to confront the strangers, hoping they weren't there to cause problems.