After testing the Exoskeleton 2.0, Keon, now a formidable three-meter mechanical spider, crawled toward the piles of extracted materials. His eight optical sensors, newly integrated into the massive frame, gleamed with an inner crimson light, reflecting the faint glimmers from the iron, crystal, and quartz pieces scattered before him. The hum of his internal motors was a low, satisfied thrum, a stark contrast to the silence of the cavern.
Without a moment's hesitation, he drove one of his powerful, multi-jointed legs into the scattered materials.
[Assimilation: Initiated]
The blueprint in his core flared to life, a complex cascade of circuits and data guiding the process.
Immediately, countless microscopic threads, a hybrid of glass, quartz, and iron traces, unraveled from his leg. They wove together with the speed and precision of a spider spinning a metallic web, twisting, fusing, and hardening into a single, continuous strand.
One meter, ten meters, and finally fifty meters.
By the time he cut the process off, a thick coil rested at his feet, its polished surface reflecting faint glimmers of light. The rope was narrow, just half an inch in diameter, but the density of its hybrid structure gave it a tensile strength far beyond ordinary metal, a testament to his engineering prowess.
Keon clicked his limb, a soft, deliberate sound, and inserted the rope coil into a prepared slot in the ground.
'I hope its length is enough,' he thought, his eight lenses shifting to the remaining quartz and crystal fragments. The question carried a subtle weight, a blend of hope and calculated risk.
Once more, he stretched his leg into the pile, and assimilation began again. This time, he crafted a specialized locking strand and a bearing mechanism designed to release the rope easily, then lock it tightly at the end, ensuring a secure anchor.
Then, his gaze swept over the empty cave around him. The silence was absolute, broken only by the faint hum of his motors.
'As my perspective and size increased, the cave now feels too small and too suffocating. The walls around me look like the ribs of a beast that wanted to crush me. Although as a mechanical species I shouldn't care about such an environment, my soul is still human. I cannot stay here for long. I need to reach the surface at all costs.'
A profound sense of claustrophobia, a relic of his human past, pulsed through his core. The desire for the open sky was a tangible ache.
Keon's core pulsed, and a few more machine names flashed in his memory, each a potential solution to his predicament.
'To climb upward, I'll need more than just a drill. I need an anchor for the sand.' The thought was a cold, logical assessment of his immediate needs.
The rope bundle coiled neatly by his side. The plan was simple, elegant in its mechanical efficiency: create a small autonomous machine, drive the rope upward into the desert's heart, then lock it in place like a piton. Once anchored, he could use the rope to climb.
He began designing the drilling machine in his mind, circuits and components assembling themselves with cold, unyielding precision. The problem, however, was resources; the five hundred kilograms he had gotten from 5757 before were already consumed. He now needed more, much more.
Time passed slowly. The cavern darkened further as his optics adjusted to conserve energy. Every second of waiting in the cave, after feeling the hope of leaving, gnawed at him like a predator chewing bone, a relentless, internal pressure.
Finally, after a few hours, a notification flashed in front of his vision, a beacon in the dimness.
[Notification: Incoming Message]
The interface lit up, a translucent blue screen against the cavern's gloom. A private message from Universe 8990.
[Universe 8990]
"I have sent the promised materials. There are 400 tons of quartz, crystal, and magnetite. The remaining 20 tons are metallic resources, including nine tons of iron, four tons of copper, three tons of gold, one ton of ilmenite, one ton of vanadium, one ton of chromium, and one ton of nickel. I just rounded their quantities for you."
Keon's optics pulsed faintly, a subtle outward manifestation of his extreme internal excitement. The resource list was perfect; it was exactly what he required. A surge of triumph, a purely human emotion, coursed through his core.
But before he could act, another message followed.
[Universe 8990]
"By the way, I want to remind you… Your sand contains resources usually spread across distant regions; some are found near lava mountains, others near gold, copper, and silica mines. This means the sand you have didn't form naturally. Its resources probably came from a meteor or volcanic eruption nearby."
Keon paused, looking at the message thoughtfully.
'A meteor impact and volcanic eruption… both are single cataclysmic events delivering all essential ores into one place. Perhaps it was really the case. Anyway, once I leave this cave, I will find out the reason.' His analytical mind was already piecing together the geological puzzle.
[Universe 8888888888]
"I know, thank you."
After thinking for a while, he wrote a reply calmly, though his processors buzzed with deeper implications. He opened his storage panel. Digital boxes upon boxes filled his vision, some containing tons of resources glittering in their crystalline purity. Alongside them, the large amount of coal he had exchanged earlier using energy.
'It's time to work.'
His eight legs twitched in anticipation as he released small portions of metals and coal required by the drill machine.
[Assimilation: Initiated]
Assimilation surged once again, and his limbs started operating with precision. One leg wove delicate circuits, embedding them into the forming structure. Another latched onto the half-formed machine, guiding the alignment of gears and bearings. Piece by piece, the design in his mind was forged into reality.
Finally, a machine the size of a human foot rested on the cave floor. Its crystalline drill tip gleamed razor-sharp. Beneath it, a sliding base assembled from hardened alloy supported interlocking gears, compact motors, and a powerful energy cell.
Keon inspected it closely. Once its plates were adjusted, it would drill in a fixed direction until its energy battery pack was spent.
'The battery will last for a fifty-meter tunnel. If that isn't enough to reach the surface… I will have to find another way.' His thoughts sharpened, a grim determination settling within his core.
He pushed the drill toward the cave wall. Its tip scraped against the compressed wall. Adjusting the angle to 135°, he locked the rope's end into its rear slot and then activated it.
[Activation: Confirmed]
The machine whirred to life. The drill spun at extreme speed, biting into the wall. Sand sprayed outward as the mechanism advanced, dragging the rope with it. The bundle beside Keon began to unwind rapidly, the coil shrinking as the rope fed into the tunnel.
One meter, two, five, ten, twenty, thirty, and finally, after thirty-three meters, the stand bearing slowed down as the rope dragging reduced.
Keon stilled silently, his optical sensors focused intently on the slowly progressing rope, which eventually stopped.
Suddenly, his optic lenses narrowed.
'Let's see if it has reached the surface or failed midway.' A tense anticipation, a very human emotion, pulsed through his core.
He thoughtfully placed one leg on the rope.
Spark!!!
A faint spark ran along its surface, and an encoded electronic pulse traveled down its length. Keon's sensors flared, reflecting his profound relief.
'It's a success. It has reached it, finally.' A wave of satisfaction, a deep and quiet triumph, washed over his mechanical being.
As designed, when the drill breached open air, it released an electronic pulse through the rope, providing the undeniable confirmation of successfully reaching the surface.
…