Shattered super-soldier

As the sun slowly rose and bathed the world in its warm light, the previous idyllic scene of the abandoned wooden cabins had changed somewhat, for one the clearing was a little larger than before, this was in part due to a few trees having disappeared, but also due to the fact that only one of the wooden huts still stood, the rest had been piled into a neat stack of logs and other wooden materials.

A few figures moved in the widening clearing, one was Matthew that was hauling a freshly felled tree back to the center of the clearing, another was Alina that sat in the middle of the clearing on top of the 2nd thermal generator in deep focus as the occasional piece of rusted metal appeared besides her before it was picked up by a worker android which no longer looked like its original schematic due to how much Aea had shaved it down to save on their limited stock of supplies, still the small metallic frame with its hydraulic muscles and three finger hands was more than enough to move around light objects, and when heavier metal salvage arrived, 2, 3 or even 4 of the small worker androids would corporate to move it.

Matthew laid down the wooden trunk in the pile before he took a breath and walked back out to the edge of the clearing and picked up his axe and begun to chop down another tree, the axe was made of metal from cannibalizing the Marshal sword and along with Matthew's power he quickly felled another tree before he stripped off the branches and hauled back the trunk to the pile of logs

‘How is the worker droid crafting going?’

After a moment, Aea gave a report

[2 minutes and 34 seconds estimated before schematic completion]

Matthew laid down the log on the pile and stretched his back as he watched the worker 4 androids that waddled back and forth ferrying sticks and branches from the edge of the clearing and the other 4 that waited on metal to appear next to Alina before piling it up and the 3 that were recharging on the 1st thermal generator

‘...At least we’re making steady progress… How far are we from the goal?’

[The mistress is making steady progress, we are about 15 kilograms short of the targeted amount]

‘Any surprises in the metal contents so far?’

[6 new elements have been logged, due to limitations in processing power and nature of said elements no special properties have been noted for industrial exploitation yet]

‘... Well just keep me posted’

The current goal Matthew and Alina was working towards wasn’t anything as sexy as a gravity manipulating fabricator nor a high caliber could riper, it was a relatively simple infrastructure automata that would begin work on a underground bunker for habitation and housing further more delicate machinery, but the single most important function this bunker would serve was refuge from the blue comet

‘...Why can’t that thing obey just a single established law of physics’

According to Alina the blue comet was a fickle thing, it would show up with little notice or warning, and it would stay over a single area as long as it pleased, there were even historical records that speculated it could be in multiple places at once, the more Matthew learned about this thing the stranger it seemed and of course, a flimsy wooden shack wouldn’t keep out the mind-altering blue light, which properly has something to do with why it was abandoned in the first place

‘...For now a few meters of dirt and silicate concrete will do as protection… But I want a fully sealed self-sustaining CBRN bunker about half a kilometer down in the future’

[Schematic completion confirmed, worker android assignment?]

‘stick duty for now'

[Confirmed]

The new worker android offer no complaints about its assigned purpose and began gathering sticks and branches as Matthew returned to chopping down trees, with the initial 12 worker androids completed all the remaining metal would go directly towards the infrastructure automata which Alina finished gathering enough metal for after Matthew had felled another 2 trees, he walked over to her and patted her twice on the head to get her attention

“That’s good for now, take a break with me”

Alina that had snapped out of her daze nodded silently and jumped off the generator before sitting down in front of it, Matthew sat down next to her after he assigned the Forge nanites to begin making the infrastructure automata

[Schematic assigned to Forge nanite pattern 1-5, 135 minutes estimated until completion]

“Thank you, you Matthew”

Matthew was a little surprised to hear this unexpected thanks from Alina so he asked her

“What for?”

Alina fell silent for a few moments and Matthew noticed she was moving her metallic arms and hands around for a few moments while the knife-like ears on her head twirled around

“This body is, is helping my mystic reach a, a even higher proficiency than when I, I was alive”

Matthew nodded, there was no doubt in his mind that Alina was getting faster at using her Displacer powers, this no doubt due to Aea’s data crunching powers and Alina’s new body which had no need for rest or sustenance other than power

“Don't mention it and hey, it's the weakest body I am ever going to make for you”

Alina nodded as she gazed over at the mass of nanites and metal that was reforming itself into an infrastructure automata and spoke

“Living underground won’t, won't be tough for you Matthew?”

Matthew shrugged and voiced his thoughts

“Maybe a bit at the start… but if things go well we won't be living in a mere dirt hole for long”

Alina nodded swallowing the rest of her concerns, her and Aea had continued exchanging concerns over Matthew mental state and how being confined underground in a dark cave wouldn't do wonders for him, from the images Aea had generated for Alina to visualize a modern bunker once completed she was surprised how nice it looked.

But constructing such a bunker was a daunting task, never mind getting the required materials for its construction

‘... I wonder if he ever got anywhere with his thesis for a comet barrier… either way someone did at some point, going along that line of thinking anything that can block the maddening effect of the blue comet is either very expensive, highly guarded or both’

With this in mind Alina decided to voice her line of thought to Matthew and Area that quickly agreed with Matthew adding

“Most like, it is also likely that some sort of mobile barrier of some kind that can either partially or completely negate the blue comet”

Alina nodded and lowered her head as she meekly spoke

“If only I, I had paid more attention to my surroundings we would know more…”

“Don't worry about it, now that this possibility have been raised we can aptly prepare for any opportunities in the future… Saying such things later is better than never”

Alina nodded silently after a few minutes of silence Matthew was reminded of his basic biological needs by Area

[Caloric and water storage is running low, seek intake soon]

“... Right, I need to eat soon”

Alina nodded and spoke as she closed her eyes to focus

“Leave it to, to me…”

With those words Alina stretched out a hand and a few moments later a large creature fell from the sky and landed in the edge of the clearing, presuming perishing on impact as its exoskeleton cracked and spewed green blood out through the cracks, it was for all purposes an ant, only its exoskeleton was covered in white fur that featured a black pattern

And it was also the size of a cow

“...Thanks Alina”

Matthew got up from the ground and walked over to the large carcass, however a few meters away from it he suddenly stopped approaching it as he felt the hair on the back of his neck stand and hurriedly dodged to the side as it turned out the ant wasn’t quite dead and spewed green acid at where Matthew had just been standing, though he failed to avoid it completely and some of the acid hit his right hand which quickly began melting

[Caustic damage and nerve poison detected, Trauma nanite pattern 1 and 2 isolating poison and containing corrosive elements]

Matthew quickly scanned his surroundings for anything he could use as a weapon, but quickly retreated as the white furred ant charged at him, though suddenly Alina appeared above the white furred ant and the next moment a sonic boom echoed out as dust and debris quickly blinded Matthew, he continued to retreat as he called out

“Alina, are you okay?!”

A few moments later Alina’s voice sounded out behind him

“I, I am fine”

And a moment later Alina arrived next to him before carefully taking his injured right hand, most of the skin and flesh had melted off by now leaving only bone behind, a silver lining would be that the Trauma nanites had stopped the spread of both the corrosive acid and the nerve poison from spreading further, Alina was about to speak when Matthew laid his left hand on the top of her head and spoke

“I’ll be fine, don’t worry too much about it”

Alina remained silent for a few moments before she nodded and looked over towards the small indent in the ground that was thinly laminated by the earthly remains of the white furred ant, Matthew and her approached and after Matthew deployed some nanites to harvest the remains he asked Alina

“...How exactly did you do that?”

Alina thought for a few moments before she began describing

“I, I used my Displacer abilities to, to transfer air into itself hundreds of, of times before letting it out in a certain direction”

Matthew blinked once as he realized why his ears were ringing as if an orbital artillery round hand landed next to him, it was because this tiny android next to him was able to match the destructive power of one, at least in terms of single target damage, Matthew quickly internalized this with a nod to her and a thought to himself

‘...I am just not going to piss off Alina for any reason at all, got it’

Just as he had decided such a notification from Aea snapped him out of his thoughts

[Acid with high industrial applications and a considerable large amount of rare metals discovered in harvested biomass]

“...Well, I’ll be damned, it is ant hunting season”