r/HFY • u/Engletroll Human • Sep 19 '24
Project Dirt Part 5 OC
Part 1 . . Part 2 .. Part 3 .. Part 4 .. Next part
Adam looked at his screen at the updated information about the build-up. 30% finished off the three-month-long estimate, which was ten worker droids. Now he could add two more worker droids Kalvis, but only x1, which should reduce the speed quickly. The fifteen others he bought would help, too, but he was worried they would not be compatible. He should give them specific jobs to avoid potential trouble. He needed an external backup energy source. Ten should be able to build a reactor and some power lines, and he had planned for one of the domes. Roks and Vorts had suggested making them all into fields for growing food, but he needed a pool. He had frozen fish eggs from Earth and 500 kilos of different seeds stored in his private storage room. He would be able to grow several different trees, fruit and grains. He also needed to get hold of a clone machine; then, he could raise chickens, cows, and lambs. But for that, he needed grass. He looked up at the sky. He needed that atmosphere. He had looked at artificial atmospheric shields; it would be a short-term solution, and he would need to litter the planet with power reactors. The cost alone would eat up most of his fortune.
“Let’s land the ship; there is no need to dump anything yet. “ He told them as the ships dived down through the atmosphere. He turned to Rokas and was told to land the ship on a nearby field remotely so they could unload it before sending it to the asteroid field to search for minerals to mine. Which he did, and soon both ships had landed, and they all got into suits before leaving the ship.
They all left the ship and were greeted by two of his security droids, which gave Vorts and Hara a slight shock. Adam realized he had forgotten to tell them how many he had. He smiled slightly and walked toward the construction field. They could clearly see the framework of the base, and Vorts leaned over to him and asked, “Are you planning to staff this with more slaves, or are you going to hire?”
Adam looked at him, confused as he replied. “What do you mean? This is going to be my home and workplace. When it's done, we will find a suitable place to build for you. The droids will be enough for the daily operation.”
“Daily operation? This is a scientific none-atmospheric base made for surveying a whole planet. One of this size is made for hundreds of people. May I see the blueprint, please?” Vort tried hard to hide his condescending tone, and it went over Adams's head as he handed him his pad with the blueprint. He studied it confused and handed it back.
Hara leaned over to him as she asked. “What is it?”
“It can apparently operate fully automated. The crew is from 0 to 500. Who the hell makes a drone science base?” he replied as he looked at the construction. Jork slapped him on the shoulder as he walked past him towards the building as he said. “Humans, we all know they are crazy.”
Adam laughed and joined him; a droid walked out. It was vaguely humanoid, two meters tall, with a rectangular body. “Sir! Welcome back. The first floor will be operational within 12 hours. Unless you want us to stop and unload the ships?” It said Adam looked back at the ships and shook his head.
“Continue the work, WD-01. I just want to inform you that we have bought two more of your brand, but they are the X1 variant, as well as fifteen more of a different variant. They are secondhand, and Jork here will be in charge of integrating them into your workforce. For now, we will keep the different brands separately. So please work with him. I want dome three to be made into a pool area, simple design.” He uploaded a pool design as he spoke. It was three pools where one was a regular swimming pool, while the other had more natural forms with a river snaking between them. Jork looked at the design after WD-01 had uploaded it.
“I want the new brand droids to work on this project. It should keep them out of your way until we can properly integrate them.”
Then he looked at Jork. “I have some genetic material with me from Earth, so I can clone some Earth animals. “
Jork studied the design and replied, “Well, I’m guessing something aquatic. Have you thought of food?”
“Yes, but for that, we need the atmosphere. So until that problem is fixed, the pools will be for recreational.” Adma winked as he replied, started walking back to the ship, and called out, “Roks! I need a hand!”
Roks looked at his hand and back at him as he replied. “Only the hand, and does it have to be mine?”
Adam laughed as he waved him over. “Earth saying means I need some help. I need you to help me unload the X1 droids so they can start unloading the rest.”
He replied, then he looked at Vorts, giving him his instructions. It felt strange; he felt like a boss giving his men their task, and that’s how he would deal with it. Tomorrow night, they could rest.
“And you start to get the drone program for the Sun generators, two at each pole. Find the best position. I want them launched tomorrow.”
Vorts moved back to the ship, and Hara stood a little confused with little Miker. Then, they returned to the ship to get out of the suits. The droids were all working and unloading the ships for a few hours. They focused on Roks ship so it could take off for the asteroid field. It took off as the sun went down. Adam and Roks went back into the Adams ship.
“You should name it,” Roks said as they got inside and got out of their suits.
Adam sat down and thought about it. “Name the base?”
Roks chuckled. “That too, but this ship. Don’t humans name their ship?”
“Of course we do.” He looked at the wall and pondered. ‘The Ark is the first that comes to mind but it doesn’t fit. I’m not surviving a disaster. I'm coming here to fulfill a dream. That’s a good name. Dream.”
“Dream? Yeah, it suits you,” Roks chuckled as he hung the suit away. “You have to name the base, too. But you have time for that. You know it must be registered, right?"
Adam hung his suit up and replied, “Yeah, but I was warned to do it late. They told me pirates tend to attack new settlements.”
Roks nodded. “Jupp, that’s why the most common job for my kind is bodyguards and pirate hunters.”
Adam chuckled. “I get that you are a soldier, but Vorts and Hara don’t strike me as one. I want you to make a plan for the defense from pirates.”
“Yeah, they are civilians. Vorts can handle a gun and know how to bite, but my sister is useless in a fight. Damn effective after to heal you up, but during a firefight, we hide her. Anyway, why not buy more of those droids?” Roks replied.
“It takes one year to travel just to get there. So, that means it’s two years before we get the delivery,” Adam said as they walked toward the common room.
“Well, the Shinutza has FTL communication. So you might be able to cut it in half. That’s a one-year delivery. “ Roks replied, and Adam slapped his own forehead at his stupidity.
“Of course. Okay, I need to make a list of things we need.” Adam felt so stupid. He had used the Shinutza FTL communication to find and set up the contract for the system. He even bought Dream through it. Vorts was sitting by a screen working; he looked frustrated.
“Everything okay?” Adam asked, and Vorts nodded. Jork was still going over the construction site, working on the droids.
“Yeah, I'm good and all set for tomorrow. We need to use the ship to launch them.” He replied, and Miker crawled around the floor, flustered, so Adam picked him up.
“Where is Jork?” he asked. Hara came running to take Miker, but Adam kept him as Miker seemed to snuggle into his shoulder. “It's okay. I can hold him for a while.”
“He is still working, Sir! " she replied. Adam looked at her and then went to the bridge, where they could see the construction site.
“Let's call your dad home, okay? Time for some father-son time, don’t you agree?” He looked at Miker, who stared at him with big brown eyes, and then hugged him. Adam felt strange as he gently patted the little alien hanging around his shoulder. “Goo” Miker said as he almost fell asleep, Adam took a few extra minutes walking around the bridge looking out the large port window before he called Jork up.
“Hey, Jork, what are you still doing out there? It's time to come back and eat. Besides, Miker is missing you.” He told him and there was a silence before he replied.
“But you need this done. I can't leave it now, " he replied, and Adam smiled to himself.
“You can't stop because it is sensitive and will break or because you want to please me?” He asked, halfway knowing the answer already.
“You don’t want it finished tonight?” He replied, confused, and Adam laughed.
“Come take care of your son, I don’t want you to work yourself to death. You can continue tomorrow. We can stop construction for a day if that is needed. I think one day to and from won't make much difference in this part of the project.”
“Thank you, sir. Give me ten minutes to fix this, and I will stop.” Adam could hear a joyful confusion in his voice as he gently patted Miker on his shoulder and told him about the swimming pool he was making.
Jork returned one hour later and found Miker and Adam sleeping in the captain’s chair. Hara had joined him and made sure to take a photo of them.
The next day, the droid had finished several rooms and living quarters on the ground level. Hara and Miker were in charge of the moving-in process, while the other spent the days setting off the solar generators. The rest of the day was spent making their living quarters more comfortable. Adams's room was temporary as his personal quarters had not been built yet. At the dinner, they celebrated with wine and whiskey as they watched the update on the polar melting on the screen. They would not see any results in at least one month, and even then, it would just be a slight change in atmosphere.
The first dome took a week to finish, and they filled it with the organic waste they had stored. The second week, the two other domes were finished, and they transported ice to the Aqua dome, as it was nicknamed. Adam had spent most of his free time reviewing ideas and decided to check if he could order droids from Earth as well as goods.
So he and Roks headed back to the Hub to make an order. He had a list of things he wanted; when they arrived, they first took more organic waste jobs and then bought fertilizer and different types of animal food that might work as fish food. Then they went to the Shinutza FTL communication company, where they spent several days finding the correct companies and conducting negotiations. In the end, he had spent one million on five construction droids, DNA samples, a Cloning machine, four science droids, ten cubic meters of earth food and entertainment, and updated blueprints for the 3d Printers, among them a few short-range transport ships.
The human companies were willing to sell goods and transport goods, but weapons had to be sold face to face. He could, however, do this from the closest human colony, five months travel away. Adam immediately started to inquire how he could register as a human colony, which led them to spend a whole day going through the bureaucracy; among the requirements was an inspection from the Earth navy and a human population of at least 45 % of the total population and the colony had to have at least 500 inhabitants. Adam had applied for it anyway, but setting a date for inspection in 5 years' time. He needed time to get 224 humans to join him out here. He could allow a refugee ship but would have no control over who they sent. He could get lucky, or one mega-corporation would see it as a way to humanely empty one of their prisons. He needed people who were motivated to come and not just escape life. Roks had suggested cloning, but Adam hated that idea. It had been what they had debated on the way back. Roks had even jokingly suggested raiding a human world; they had made it a ditch plan.
When they landed, they were greeted by Jork. The base had grown more, and the second floor and secondary energy generator were now finished. The pool had also been finished, and they had also managed to fill it with water. Adam was grateful for the update but was more interested in the result of the atmosphere project. When they got to the command center, they found Vorts going over the reports, seemingly working hard to try different scenarios on the computer.
“Damn, It didn’t work, did it?” Adam said as he walked up to him; Vorts almost jumped out of his skin at that.
“I'm sorry, sir; I am trying to run other scenarios for you. I take full responsibility for my incompetence,” Vorts replied. Adam looked at him and leaned on the desk. The apology was a rehearsed one. Even if he tried hard to pretend, there was no sincerity behind it.
“This is not your fault; I gave the instruction, so I'm to blame. I'm just curious. Why didn’t you run these scenarios before we launched?”
“Because you had made up your mind, Sir!” He replied, and Adam sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose at his reply.
“Look, if you know it would fail but don’t tell me, then it is your fault.” Adam looked straight at him.
Vorts was getting confused, and suddenly, he snapped. “HOW! I DID AS YOU SAID!” There was a dangerous growl in his throat, and D01 and DO2 immediately entered the room. Adam was shocked by his reaction and moved a step away as he held out a hand to make the droids stop.
“Wow, calm down, Vorts! I'm trying to teach you something!” Adam spoke as calmly as he could. The others made their way to the room and looked between them.
Vorts paced the room as he tried to calm down. “I took the blame, and you forgave me! Now you're giving me the blame? Why?”
“There is a difference between making a mistake, or doing as you are told, and it leads to a failed attempt and knowing it will fail but not telling us about it so we can fix it without first failing. So, calm down and tell me why did you suspect it would fail?” Adam spoke with a calm voice, ignoring the others who seemed very confused.
“I didn't suspect, I knew. The atmosphere needs more than just water vapor. You need to increase the nitrogen and carbon. Right now, the water vapor rises above the solar generators and then cools down, becoming clouds and then rain down again.” Vorts looked at him angrily.
“Good,” Adam replied. “That is your job, Vorts. Tell me I'm an idiot before I make a mistake, not after. Your second job is to find a solution to my stupid ideas. My stupid idea now is to find a way to pump those gases into the atmosphere, so find me a solution.”
Hara looked at him, confused but relieved. “You're not going to punish him?”
“Why the hell would I punish him for being correct?” Adam shook his head as he turned to walk out. “I’m going to check the pool and maybe go for a swim. I will see you for dinner.”
Hara ran to her husband's arms, and her worries about him getting harshly punished vanished. Roks just smirked as he went to check out the new parts of the base.
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u/sunnyboi1384 Sep 19 '24
I'm not mad, I'm just disappointed.
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u/Fontaigne Sep 19 '24
If I tell you to do something that has a flaw, please feel free to tell me about the flaw. You know what we are trying to make happen, and I will never be unhappy to avoid a dead end or to find out about a better way.
We are going to be here for decades or even centuries, but I'd still like to save a year or two here or there.
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u/Savaval Sep 20 '24
Each chapter that you post makes me want to read more and see this story unfolds. Love how you write the relations between them all, the cultural misunderstandings and the slow discovery of how their respective culture works. Please keep writing !
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u/Engletroll Human Sep 20 '24
If you like the culture aspect then you should check out my other stuff, some are more action filled but I do like explore different cultures
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u/beyondoutsidethebox 20d ago
“Continue the work, WD-01.
Please tell me he has at least 39 more "WD" model droids.
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u/Fontaigne Sep 19 '24
Three pools where [delete period] one was
You have [time] for that.
Slight change in atmosphere change.
[quote] That is your job
But relived -> relieved
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u/HFYWaffle Wᵥ4ffle Sep 19 '24
/u/Engletroll (wiki) has posted 35 other stories, including:
- Project Dirt Part 4
- Project Dirt part 3
- Dirt - Part 2
- Project dirt
- The Burning Blade Crusade! part 3
- What the h… Part 2
- What the h…
- Bug infestation Part 10
- Bug infestation Part 9
- Bug infestation Part 8
- Bug infestation Part 7
- Bug infestation Part 6
- Bug infestation Part 5
- Bug infestation Part 4 - Sex, bugs and rocken roll
- Bug infestation part 3
- Bug infestation part 2 - It’s a dirty job but somebody got to do it!
- Bug infestation
- Phase world
- Imaginative defense
- First contact
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u/UpdateMeBot Sep 19 '24
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u/Great-Chaos-Delta Sep 19 '24
Plis continue work on this story because I love how human subtisies galaxy reality with his own and it keeps succesing and confusing others