With the plan now firmly in mind, 'Herta' immediately threw herself into designing the AllSpark.
Even though she couldn't get her hands on the real thing for reference, its functions were actually pretty straightforward—just two main things.
First, transform existing mechanical devices into robots capable of changing form, each with an independent energy source.
Second, grant those robots self-awareness, or you could say, a personality.
As for the third function? 'Herta' had no use for it.
Mass production wasn't her style—too trivial for her tastes. But figuring out how to code in that spark of intelligence? Now that was tricky.
Besides,'Herta' wasn't sure how the real one would react if she showed up in person.
Would she lose her temper and decide to just reboot the entire space station?
Maybe even reformat everything Herta had set up, or build a whole new station from scratch.
With that kind of uncertainty hanging over her head, creating new life felt a bit irresponsible. Better to keep things at a highly intelligent, non-sentient level.
If it all got dismantled in the end, so be it.
So, after ruling out that second function, things became a lot simpler with just the first one to focus on.
All Herta needed to design was an intricate mechanical framework, then add some self-iterative capabilities.
She'd compress space within the AllSpark to fit a fully automated, integrated unit inside.
Next, she'd design a tough, nearly indestructible outer shell for it.
Once those were done, the AllSpark's basic functions would be good to go.
No time like the present.
Following this initial concept, 'Herta' quickly moved into the first phase of design.
In just two days, a flood of blueprints took shape under her hands.
From basic mechanical structures, to high-strength alloy formulas, weapon systems, energy sources to support transformation, supercomputers… and so on.
Though the core function was simple, making it fully autonomous with basic self-upgrading capabilities meant there was still plenty to add.
With the design plans finalized, the next step was gathering enough materials.
The equipment and supplies stored on Herta Space Station just weren't enough to build the AllSpark. So 'Herta' made a bold move—she sent a list of everything she needed to that idiot Ruan Mei, under Herta's name.
Gotta say, Herta's name worked like a charm.
The list 'Herta' sent to Ruan Mei was completely taken over—handled entirely by the Interastral Peace Corporation.
They didn't even leave a scrap for Ruan Mei to start with.
The Corporation wrapped up the whole order themselves.
Their efficiency was downright terrifying.
And the real kicker?
After Herta so brazenly scored that huge haul of materials from the Corp, not only did the company seem totally fine with it, her own lifespan and extraction progress bar inched up a bit. Not a lot, but enough to count.
Satisfied, Herta took delivery of all the raw materials and necessary equipment and immediately got to work building the AllSpark.
Along the way, she even slipped in some small upgrades and iterations.
The original AllSpark design definitely had room for improvement, but Herta had to consider one thing: the actual construction was going to take a lot of time.
Even ignoring the possibility that the real Herta might show up at any moment, she only had thirty days total to make use of Herta's intellect.
Subtract the days already spent, and she had just over twenty left.
So the project had to be squeezed into a month, no exceptions.
Because of that, Herta didn't push every aspect to the limit.
Only the self-iteration and defensive functions were designed to the highest standard.
Everything else was just made "good enough for now."
And during the hands-on phase, she focused on sticking to the schedule, only making minor upgrades where possible.
--+--
Time flew by.
Compared to the short design phase, the actual manufacturing process took quite a bit longer.
But there was no helping it.
Herta couldn't just rewrite the laws of physics—processing and fabricating those materials took exactly as long as it took.
Fortunately, after a full twenty-five system days, the AllSpark was finally complete.
Herta looked down at the cube in her hand, covered in intricate engravings, and allowed herself a satisfied smile.
No way was she making some oversized AllSpark—palm-sized was just right.
As for testing it…
Herta brought the ring she wore for phase shifting and storage close to the cube.
Then she gently drew out a bit of the AllSpark's radiation.
Soon, the AllSpark began to vibrate softly, a stream of energy flowing into the ring.
The silvery-white ring shimmered under the light, quickly unfolding and transforming.
It shifted into a small, sleek, mechanical snake that coiled around Herta's fingertip and greeted its creator: "Greetings, Lady Herta."
"Record my mental wavelength. Don't mistake me for someone else in the future."
The mechanical snake responded immediately. It glided up her arm all the way to her forehead, its warm metal surface pressing against her skin as it began to scan.
Several seconds passed.
Just as Herta started wondering if she should drop the act for a moment, the snake finally finished recording Bai Ming's soul wavelength.
"Recording complete, my master. Phase Shift available at any time; storage space is also ample."
"Good. Return for now."
Herta smiled, tapping the little snake on its head with her finger.
In an instant, it retreated to her left middle finger and shifted back into a ring.
"Now," Herta said, pointing at the AllSpark in her hand, "help me log this AllSpark's data. Register it as the space station's first Curio."
"Oh, finally remembering me? Let's see what we've got here…" AI Herta immediately began setting up the file.
After a moment's thought, Herta also left a few messages in the file for the real Herta.
Activating the AllSpark would require a special method—to prevent it from indiscriminately transforming all mechanical creations without control.
As for what that method was…no way she was leaving that behind. Let the real Herta figure it out herself.
Once AI Herta had the file properly set up, 'Herta' called someone in and had the AllSpark moved to the containment sector.
As for the matter of transforming the Herta Space Station itself…'Herta' really wanted to do that right in front of the real one.
If Lady Herta could sniff out the imposter on her station and hurry back before this act was over…
"Hmm… If she doesn't notice, I'll just have to send Lady Herta an invitation myself~"
A mischievous grin spread across 'Herta's' face.
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! 2 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.