Pami stepped into the wide-open room, one that was both long and wide. At the west end of their base, the furthest they would dig in this corner... the anima room awaited. The darkness of this room was broken by the three torches placed on the path she had to take, their light casting shadows as the pillars of stone at the sides of the path delimited the way forward.
She walked forward with purpose. Before her, the glow of that tree called for her, that tree that grew stoutly, even in this cavern, beneath the transparent roof she had set up to illuminate that patch of ground, dirt which she had transplanted from outside, digging into the floor to set up essentially an oversized flowerpot. It called for her.
Anna and Nathan were there, sitting on the cushions just a short distance away from the tree, taking in this calming feeling. The small patch of ground... which would be an entire garden... was overflowing with that light-green grass... that grass would grow only as a result of the tree. There was enough. It was ready to accept her. No words as the girl stepped up to it, sitting down and placing a hand on the bark that felt like flesh.
It was a beautiful sight... everything felt so far away. This spot was almost isolated from the rest of the base, with nothing unnatural around. It was so peaceful here. She focused on what the tree had to offer. Sensations of far-away things, beings that she could ask for help. Others might consider these gods... she knew better. There was only one god around. But still, those things existed... and would now grant her the ability to do what her mother could... enact psychic powers. The grass around her withered as if they were a power source being used... but that feeling, that link remained.
"What did you feel?" Anna was curious if there was a similarity.
"That there's something out there that can help us."
"I felt the same thing. With the nobles, I think they believe it is their emperor. But those powers don't come from James."
No, they did not. But he was helping. This act was prepared. She had three trainers to unpleasantly employ via injecting nanites far too close to the eye. No better way to deliver knowledge to the brain. They had splurged on them... or James did. Four trainers to take in... lightning, frost, resurrection, and tech. There were so many ways to affect the world. The path of the staticlord was for everyone... as it was the prime means of improving damage in combat. Some resurrection from the path that dealt with corpses... now they had to worry less about one of them falling. Anna had that one as well. And with her starting understanding she could go further in lightning and tech. Mechs beware her.
As they looked at the girl improving her abilities so quickly, all three noticed that grass quickly growing back. All of it. The tree was ready again. A smirk from them. James was pushing it... but the game would let him do that no more. The next ones would have to come when it was ready, but with three people to meditate next to it, he could be giving them all powers like this soon enough.
"Your turn, Nathan."
He almost expected this. Why else did he have these other trainers to let him focus more on battle... but also protection? A repeat performance... the three were now much more formidable. Pam would turn to leave just as her brother would start injecting his trainers.
One year. So much. She was growing older and older... and James was still out there. But they were on schedule. Seven more... or so says her boyfriend. The girl walked down the long hallway that stretched from one end of the base to the other... almost touching two borders of their land. The base was not done... they had more to come. Much more. First would come on the left... the guest rooms. They had three tiers of guest accommodation. Either grab a free bed in the barracks, where three rooms held 36 beds, practically ready to be a hotel. They could pay up 100 silver and have their private room and bathroom, with a double ergonomic bed and plenty of comforts to it. If they were feeling much more... entitled... noble rooms were double the size of the private ones, with fine decorations and furniture, fit for a count. They were also 250 silver per stay. Eight private rooms, four noble ones... and one more. One fit for a stellarch. One THOUSAND silver per stay, but it was downright luxurious. No one had taken it yet. Some of the kids were joking that the room was for the outsider.
Kids... can't call them that anymore. They grew up quickly. Fiona had blossomed into a proper woman... young, but very much an adult now. She was as smart as her father... and as handy as her mother. The surprise came when she had an artistic side. No doubt she was in the lab, working side-by-side with Ben, getting them caught up on all the discoveries they needed. Those two were fast friends... but not quite lovers.
This was a long-ass walk. Pam thought that they needed some sort of transportation inside the base with how big it was. Okay, it was not THAT big, she was just going down the longest stretch. A long way from the anima room. She'd pass her mother's throne room to her right, useful only to get her that promotion and nothing else. Anna preferred to meditate in front of the tree. The throne room was also a relatively decent room to hang out in, but their rec room was better... a giant TV, games, comfy sitting. Pam even built this radio that could pick up stations from satellites. Still, the nobles preferred a "royal" room. Entitled idiots.
Conversion was slow, but it was happening. They had two people in one of the prison cells right now, slowly bringing them around to the way of the outsider. Ben had quite the convincing tongue on him... and it was useful for other things... Finally, the girl reached the door to the courtyard. No more improvised garden... all paved, delimited... that relaxing garden in one corner with some seating, the crates upon crates of stuff they were ready to sell to orbital traders. Mostly robes, drugs, weapons from the raiders, organs from the same raiders...
They had cars now. Decent ones that Pam was proud of. Six vehicles sat on the southern side of the courtyard. Two pickup trucks, two sedans, and two vans. She had a sense that they could get better. Much better. Those cars hadn't moved from their spot since she assembled them, but they were fueled up and ready to go, a garage door now beside the door leading out of their courtyard. That path down the middle had to be a bit wider.
Another long walk south. To the edge of the territory. Their entry bunker was shaping up. Barbed wire, a shit ton of traps before those, then mines... it was a position fortified against assault. They had fought off 21 raids since the last time... some worse than others. Some of them THEY caused... those cops have a fragile ego. All she had to do was call them "delicious bacon people" and they sent 18 pig-men to try and ruin their fun. Two survived... one ran away and one had converted. It was tempting to do what some of those terrible people do... begin to feel like they had a right to this. But all was with purpose. Like her walk.
Spring again. The end of spring. Her birthday was a couple of months ago. Twenty-five. She'd been here for three years. This was her life now. She once said that... with a resigned attitude. But now she said that with pride. This was indeed her life now. And it was better than before.
One step from the border. Here.
*
James had brewed himself another mug of that super-strong coffee. The ashtray was moved inside and he was smoking far more often than usual. Didn't matter. This was his focus. The door to his balcony was open to have some clean air coming in. Two AM. The man had been driving them with an absolute focus. The main parts of the base were done. The Genetics lab was operational, and the xenogenetic lab was also ready, one for making the hybrids, one to later improve his colonists. He was tempted to add more mods... but the game had been acting odd... might refuse that.
Whatever was happening had gone beyond the normal. There was some sentient force affecting the game... it did not restrict the "normal" actions, but it had put a damper on what he could do with the dev console... forcing a more "earned" victory. Maybe whatever was doing this wanted him to work for it. Or he'd finish it in an hour. No building too strong stuff, no getting too many resources. It would let him get ahead just a bit... and then his options were restricted. He barely got enough trainers to get those two into fighting shape. Some bought, some spawned.
Just need to find a reason to send them out there... With the kids grown up, he could, in good faith, send the trio out to those complexes that kept showing up. Might want to hit a few labs, and where is a ruined vault when you need one? Sure, he could hit one of the sealed ones he had since forever, but that door could take two nonstop days of hacking for Fiona to crack open... or for them to build a bloody tank and blast the door open. Or, the more organic way of getting the master hacker superpower. Yeah, no adding superpowers either. It would let him change them... because many sucked... but not ADD.
And with this, the three have psycasts. Way to boost their potential. And where is Pam going? Oh, a walk. She's not saying anything, so not like he could read her mind. Can he? Nope. There were some limits to his power. Another smoke lit as the man thought about what was next. Greenhouse. Hop to it, Nathan. He should get Cassie into mining to help her dad out when she grows up. The kid is grown and walking about... not yet ready, but probably being a small nuisance. James was now the daddy of two... little Belle had come with a surprise. Yes, the sex mod allowed natural futas to be born, but it still surprised him. And he felt proud for finding where that statistic was hidden... the one to tell him if one of the girls wanted a dick. Phoebe wanted one so that prisoner that was utterly unyielding to conversion would donate one.
This power was a tad terrifying. Whatever he brought over from there would stick. He could make some ridiculous amounts of valuable things to bring back and sell, he could shove himself in the gene-tailoring room... once they had one... and come back with literal superpowers. He could come back decked in armor that laughed at every modern means of stopping a guy short of a nuke and firing a weapon that could murder a hundred people in under a minute. He could do that and go back out there... do the things he wanted... change the world. Take it over. But he did not want to. These colonists started to mean more than the world to him. The world he was making was better than whatever he could turn this one into. Which was the better choice... to stay here and try to fix things or keep on with whatever the game might offer him. He'd take the second option either way. It felt like it might take centuries before this place was fixed...
One long pull. He was determined... mind running to a dozen ideas at once. But they all led back to something. They needed steel and lots of it. Even if six of those mining camps showed up to raid... it would not be enough. Vaults. He needed to hit a vault. Maybe Nathan and his new toy, combined with that power... might tear the door down. Maybe HE could tear it down. Either way, worth a shot. Hm. The pickups have only a tolerance of 600 kilos. That's decent. Maybe he could use them for a less effective vault run... or maybe just use Anna's shuttle call. Yep. And then focus on building the dropship. Come on, Fi... time to make Daddy proud. She could crack that. The girl was a damned genius.
And then... he was standing on a dirt road intersection, three wide paths going forward, left, and right. And there was a girl with a smile on her face just a few steps away. The man was standing THERE. He just got pulled without a prompt. The man had to take a moment to process this. Oh, THAT's what happened.
"I give you psychic powers and the first thing you do is call me? Without asking. A bit rude."
"Wanted to get it off my chest." Pam had a guilty smile on.
"Kinda expected it a bit. You don't disappoint, little munchkin. Was that it or are you going to force yourself? You ain't hypersensitive so that limit was only sixty. But with our translation, it would be a day and a half." Must be precise on math. Six times six hours equals thirty-six.
"Well, I just wanted to see you a bit... but if we've got more than a day..." A smirk. Yeah, she wanted the D. And more.
