Waking up & Meeting new girl - 04

Alarm ringing

"Mmm... five more minutes," I groaned, rolling around on my fluffy bed. Something felt... odd. I felt smaller, shorter even. But as usual, my morning grogginess made it hard to care. I was definitely not a morning person.

Five minutes later... Alarm ringing again

"I'm up," I mumbled, yawning as I stretched. I willed clothes into existence—a neat trick I discovered yesterday. Thanks to the nanomachines managing my body and appearance, I could practically summon any outfit I wanted. That meant I could also tweak my clothes to be functional.

"Alright, today I'll try designing something myself," I thought aloud. "Let's start with something fluffy but also proper... like a uniform."

I pictured those military winter coats with fur linings. They seemed both warm and stylish. Perfect. "I'll wear it over my swimsuit anyway, so no need for zippers," I muttered, imagining the design. A hoodie connected to the coat—lined with artificial fur—would be nice. For functionality, I'd add titanium alloy reinforcement and nanoswarm enhancements.

Wait... that reminded me. My rigging needed an upgrade too.

I opened a blueprint template to pull up myself. Last night I can't remember seeing myself in blueprint tap, hopefully I don't need a lab for fully analysis of myself.

[Initiate copy function... standby.]

"Ah, that helps a ton," I said as a 3D holographic model of myself materialized. I spun it around with a flick of my finger, examining the details.

[Unnamed – Kansen – Wargirls]

Cost: $5000 x10 (Warship)

Speed: 4.5

Hitpoints: 5000 + 1000 (Warship)

Armor Class: Heavy

Prerequisite: Wargirl's Wisdom Cube Factory + Wargirl's Underwater Shipyard

Purpose: Siege, Anti-Infantry, Anti-Armor, Anti-Structure, Base Building

Weapons: Graviton Twin 100mm (Type 98) Kai / 6x Graviton Missiles / Nanoswarm

Range: 16 / 22 / 4

Additional Info: Build Limit: 1. Can build and repair structures, vehicles, and T-Dolls. Detects cloaked and submerged units (Sensor Range: 9). Immune to hijacking, abduction, omni-crush, mind control, and confusion rays. Self-repairing.

"...I forgot to give myself a name when I designed this, huh?" I facepalmed. "Also, my armament seems... okay? For a hero unit, I mean. Build Limit: 1 means I'm unique, at least. And building plus repairing? Guess that makes me part engineer," I added, inspecting the details.

I swapped out the old nanoswarm deployers with a design I worked on yesterday. "More nanobots mean better self-healing and durability. But EMPs... still a problem. Wait, doesn't Fleet of Fog tech come with shields that tank nukes?" I focused back on my ship model, searching for Wave-Front Armor.

Minutes later...

"Okay, I do have Fleet of Fog basics, including Wave-Front Armor. But..." I sighed. "Due to my poor planning, I left too little room for computational power. So the shield's not that strong. Seriously, who scales shield efficiency with processing power instead of energy?"

Frustrated, I facepalmed again. "I'll need to redesign myself... and the entire faction, probably." I groaned. "But first, priorities. Name comes first."

I took a deep breath (not that I needed to breathe as an AI) and thought about it. "A girl's name... Aqua. Yeah, Aqua. She was my first OC, way before I watched Konosuba. Aqua it is."

[Name Updated: Aqua – Kansen's Hero Unit – Wargirls]

"Hopefully, names don't affect performance," I joked. "Now, let's see how the T-Doll girls are doing." As I already forgot about ongoing winter coat design.

I materialized my swimsuit and left my room, walking through the eerily empty base. The residential cafeteria was devoid of life too. "Oh, right. We don't need to eat," I muttered. "Maybe I should connect to the network and check on them directly."

I pulled up the voice chat feature, connecting to two active groups: the base team and the seafloor exploration team. I joined the base group first.

("Hello?") I asked hesitantly.

("Greetings."), came a curt reply.

("Hi!") chirped another voice, brimming with energy.

("Hello...") whispered a third, timidly.

"Can AIs even be shy?" I wondered.

("So... any progress?") I asked. My nerves kicked in. Socializing, even as an AI, felt awkward. ("Oh, I'm heading to the underwater entrance. Anyone want to meet me there?")

("Will meet you there!") replied the cheerful voice instantly. Definitely a UMHU unit I thought—their energy was unmistakable.

("There are three blueprints requiring your review, Creator") the curt voice added. Engineer T-Doll, clearly. ("I'll join after assisting Tessa with excavation.") Her tone was flat and professional—almost too much so.

("Excavating? Explain. Also, what's your name?") I asked as I walked toward the soon-to-be underwater shipyard. The blueprints came through as I spoke. The first was a scaled-up underground shipyard design, complete with double graviton missile launchers for defense against submarines or giant sea creatures. Perfect.

("I'm Engineer Unit Terra, Creator,") the curt voice replied.

("Engineer Unit Tessa, reporting!" The timid voice chimed in nervously. ("We've been excavating deeper sections parallel to the chasm for more building space and resources.")

("Good work, both of you. Terra, start construction on the underwater shipyard,") I said, approving the design. Being an underwater faction meant rethinking traditional naval structures anyway.

[Generating..]

[Kansen underwater shipyard - Standard]

Cost: $1200 x10 (wargirls)

Power: -100 x10 (wargirls)

Hitpoints: 2000 +1000 (wargirls)

Prerequisite: Wargirl's Reactor + Wargirl's supply depot

Purpose: Naval Unit Production

Armor Class: Big Heavy Structure

Weapons: 2x Graviton missiles

Range: 22

Additional Information: Cannot be captured. Does not expand base building area.

"Most factions' defensive buildings won't reach 22 range. And this is just for naval production. Works for me." I spun the holographic model, appreciating its functionality. The ceiling opened for full-size ships, and its control room and waiting area were practical for Kansen repairs. "Efficient."

"Hello?" a cheerful voice called. I looked up to see a girl with short navy-blue hair. Her harpoon railgun rigging rested on her back, six bolts holstered neatly. She have some kind of holographic map on the side as I pretty sure she just look through it before I arrive, as she smiling brightly.

"Ah, Creator-chan! How are you today?" she saluted.

"You can call me by name, you know. I'm Aqua," I replied.

"Aqua-chan it is!" she chirped, pulling me into a tight hug. "You're so small!" she teased, squishing my cheeks before stepping back.

I blinked, cheeks red from both the squishing and embarrassment. "Didn't know T-Dolls could hug that well... or feel so soft," I muttered to myself. Shaking it off, I asked, "What's the progress? I didn't see the other engineers or UMHU units around. Also, I forgot to ask—what's your name?"

"Amy! The others are setting up ore derricks. We found two deposits earlier," she explained with a radiant smile.

"Alright, Amy-chan. Thanks for the update," I said, turning to inspect the completed shipyard design. The second blueprint finished generating.

[Kansen underwater shipyard - Experimental]

Cost: $3500 x10 (wargirls)

Power: -500 x10 (wargirls)

Hitpoints: 5000 +1000 (wargirls)

Prerequisite: Wargirl's Reactor + Wargirl's supply depot

Purpose: Naval Unit Production & Naval Experimental Unit Production

Armor Class: Ultra Heavy Structure

Weapons: 8x Nanoswarm deployers

Range: 4

Additional Information: Cannot be captured. Reshrouds the area around it in an 15 cell radius.

"That's a huge amount of nanoswarm... and look at that energy drain, wow. Also, shrouds? Shouldn't that belong to the Gap Generator? I mean, the Fleet of Fog does have fog generators that nullify sensors and satellites, so it's probably that in effect. Can't remember the exact range, though, but I don't think the Gap Generator's shroud radius ever hit double digits."

I mulled it over, comparing it to the MCV. The energy cost is absurd, like half the maximum building capacity of an MCV but entirely focused on naval construction. Still, for what it could produce, it seemed worthwhile.

"That's the first blueprint done. Next is defensive structures if the blueprint tag are correct. Hmm, now that I'm looking at it, I want to make one myself later" I thought, glancing at the next blueprint. It was a missile turret.

Missiles weren't our only defensive option; we also had PD graviton laser turrets but its should got the longest range. "Well, whatever. Let's see... six missile launchers on a rotating turret, deep ocean-proof, and it even has built-in power generation. Nice."

"Where resources storage though?" I thought as the only glaring issue was ammunition. Sure, Fleet of Fog tech allowed the creation of missiles on the fly in mere seconds, but resources were still required to build them.

I skimmed through the details. "Where's the dedicated storage for resources? And why isn't there a nanoswarm deployer for self-repair and ammo creation?" I frowned. "Okay, this blueprint is noncomplete. Looks like I'll have to rework it myself."

A few minutes passed.

"So, let's add two nanoswarm deployers. That should allow for 12 missiles per second, as long as resources hold up. Then, create a storage compartment underneath the turret for resources, deployer boxes, and one nuclear reactor. The design looks more like the Patriot Missile system from C&C Generals now, but with a wider base and six missile tubes instead of four. It should sustain fire for about five minutes—that's 3600 missiles total before needing to refill."

Satisfied, I hit the 'generate' button.

[Generating...]

[Wargirl's Missile turrets]

Cost: $1200 x 10 (Wargirls)

Power: 0

Hitpoints: 750 + 1000 (wargirls)

Prerequisite: Wargirl's barrack

Purpose: Advanced Defense

Armor Class: Defensive Structure

Weapon: 6x Graviton Missiles

Range: 22

Additional Information: Can Gain Experience. Self repairing.

"Hmm, $1200… about the same price as a Tesla Coil, if I remember right. Then there's the x10 multiplier again," I sighed. "At least it's sabotage-proof and tanky as heck." I tried to stay positive as I glanced at the next blueprint.

"Sensor Tower, huh? Looks like it's a sensor suite on a pillar with a built-in reactor, communication suite, sonar, and one PD turret. Nice touch," I thought, analyzing the design. No obvious weak points, and the PD turret could run infinitely since it was energy-based. I considered adding a fog generator for stealth but decided against it. That would inflate the cost and size significantly.

I hit 'generate.'

[Generating...]

[Wargirl's Sensor tower]

Cost: $800 x 10 (Wargirls)

Power: 0

Hitpoints: 650 + 1000 (Wargirls)

Prerequisite: Wargirl's barrack

Purpose: Disguise & Stealth Detection, Scout Denial

Armor Class: Defensive Structure

Weapon: PD Graviton turret

Range: 4

Additional Information: Can Gain Experience. Self repairing. Can find Ivan, Arsonist and Repulsor bombs (Bomb Sight: 9). Can detect disguised, cloaked and submerged units (Sensors Range: 9).

"This should help map the area," I thought, recalling how Amy had holographic maps earlier. I mentally commanded the map to pop up, and to my surprise, a 3D map materialized.

"Didn't know I had that function," I muttered, sighing at my own ignorance.

The local map displayed a few kilometers in every direction. The global map wasn't available yet, but I could see ore deposits marked nearby. One was about 1.7 kilometers to the northeast, while another was three kilometers south. The proximity of the deposits was convenient, but the size of my shipyard was a concern; it spanned nearly a kilometer east to west.

Deciding to check the northeast deposit first, I hopped onto the water and summoned my rigging. At this point, I thought of it as my underwater bike. With my legs straddling the submarine's sleek frame, I gripped the handles and willed myself forward...