49 Spatial automation

- "So, how are the turrets doing?" Eric inquired while approaching his friend.

- "Well, they're doing pretty well. We got another one of those bastards this morning."

- "Nice job. Install a few more on the eastern side of our mansion and we'll be off to a good start."

Since they started placing automated turrets here and there, the number of annoying players who threatened their base dropped down significantly. Those who did not turn back most likely ended up laying on the ground, shot dead.

That was such a relief for this small team of friends. They had really big projects in hands, especially after finishing such a large mansion, but they could not afford to deal with people deteriorating their work.

Back inside their base, Eric proceeded through the illuminated hallways. He really enjoyed seeing these light bulbs giving off a comfy aura.

After all, this was the fruits of their labor. They constructed a large generator to produce electricity and were now expanding upon this new power.

Eric went down some stairs and entered a large underground place. This room was already populated with some of his friends who were currently supervising large machines. The room was so large that he had to walk for several minutes before getting to his own office. He turned around a corner and spotted a familiar generator.

Eric and his friends had been working automated crafting processes for quite a while. From electrical oven which temperature could easily be controlled to manufacturing machines, their rate of production was increased several folds. Since they mostly finished working on these, Eric started working on improving their current generator.

If they wanted to expand through the automation path, they would need much more electricity than they could produce for now.

For that purpose, he started making plans for very large factory. However, since they would need a lot of resources for such a building, Eric decided to improve upon the existing generator for now.

Their goal was to build a self-sufficient base before focusing on bigger projects. Some of his team members were even assigned to build excavating machines so that they could acquire the resources needed for the factory.

Eric sat down at his desk and let his mind venture off while searching through his plans.

'Now that I think about this, it's kind of funny that we had to install turrets around our base. In a way, our development similar to that of those guys, right?' Eric theorized while thinking about the unknown players who did set up these automated turrets that killed them several months ago.

Keith stepped back of the launch pad before turning around to join a secure room. He made this several weeks ago and it was made out of reinforced concrete. Only a small window with highly resistant glass let him witness what was happening outside.

Keith pressed a small button and a screen turned on in the corner of the room. He checked the data shown through various graphs before activating another button. This one was big and had a really vibrant red color.

A countdown started on the device, taking up most of the space. There was a total of two minutes left before the launch.

The lights turned off in the spatial room. Soon, however, the large open space was flooded with sunlight and Keith noticed smoke accumulating around the launching pad.

He was standing several hundreds of feet away from there, but he still felt the vibrations coming from the rocket.

The tremors got stronger by the second. One minute remaining before the launch.

Keith's gaze was hesitating between the screen showing off the big countdown and whatever was happening at the center of the spatial room.

At around twenty seconds remaining, Keith was forced to count in his head and focus on his rocket. He could not see much with all the smoke that had accumulated over time, but he could still perceive the top of the structure.

Flames started to rise up from the bottom of the rocket and dispersed the smoke everywhere.

'Ten... Nine...' He started counting out loud in his head. He was really nervous about this launch since it was the first of this kind.

'Five... Four... Three... Two... One.'

The rocket was decoupled from the launching pad's large pylons and the structure started flying up at a steady pace. It reached the top of the building in only a few seconds but Keith stood there even after the rocket had left by the large opening in the rooftop. He finally woke up and pushed down the big red button another time.

Large vents were activated, quickly getting rid of the remaining smoke. The lights turned back on while the rooftop was being closed. Keith immediately exited the secure room and rushed outside of his base. He wanted to see his own creation fly up in the distance.

However, by the time he got there, the rocket was already a few miles away from land.

'Farewell, Satellite A-2, let's hope you accomplish you mission to the perfection.'

It was not the first rocket he sent off by itself. There had already been two test launches in the past. The first one was the size of 'Orbital One' or 'Orbital Two'.

In fact, Keith decided to write it down in history by naming it 'Orbital A-3'. The 'A' stood for 'Automated' since the launch did not require any manual input. Albeit the rocket actually made it into orbit, its fate was quite sour.

Keith had coded it so that its program could process an optimal deceleration curve in order to land near his base. However, the landing did not go as planned and the last stage of the rocket exploded before even reaching land.

He concluded that there must have been some parts that burned off during the re-entry in low atmosphere, since its speed was really high at that point.

Regardless, Keith was actually quite pleased with the results achieved by 'Orbital A-3'. In fact, its fuel consumption was even more efficient than when he did it manually.

'Errare humanum est.' Keith concluded while remembering a famous latin quote. Although the program of the rocket was also made by him, its inputs were much more precise then his and only corrected the trajectory when really needed. It was the opposite of him during his first two flights since he was so nervous back then and did correct the trajectory a bit too much.

The second test rocket he did launch was actually the size of the one that took off a few minutes ago. It was a real-scale test flight which transported a fake weight to simulate a satellite.

Keith named it 'Satellite A-1' and almost everything during this take off went according to plan. First off, the increased size of the rocket did not seem to hinder its stability too much and it transported more fuel anyways so it could make it into orbit.

It actually reached the thermosphere easily but the last inputs needed for an orbit maneuver got mixed up and the rocket did not have enough fuel to correct its trajectory.

Since he received data a while later thanks to radio signals, he concluded that the fake weight must have distorted the program's calculations in some way or another.

After this unfortunate second test flight, Keith took a large break to build up an electricity-controlled rooftop in his spatial room while assembling the rocket parts and optimizing its program.

Today, Keith had decided to mark history by launching 'Satellite A-2' which contained a fully functional satellite. It was not really complex in any way but it should be able to relay informations from a satellite phone. This meant that Keith could potentially control his base from anywhere on the planet, as long as the satellite was in the right area at the right moment.

'It has been so long since my first launch. Was it four or five months ago?' Keith was elated. He had accomplished so much since he joined Project Overworld. If today's launch went according to plan, he would have reached another step in his spatial colonization plans.

For now, since he could not do anything else besides trying to spot his rocket among the clouds, Keith decided to come back to his base and analyze the data transmited through the radio waves.

He was currently halfway through his university year. The lessons did get harder as time went by, but since he was playing Project Overworld a bit less than before he managed to understand most of his courses.

He was quite confident in passing his diploma, maybe even with an honorific grade if he studies even more in the future.

After getting his economics diploma, he actually planned to join a small manufacturing company like the one he worked for during the last summer. It was only a short-termed solution, but he had to get some expercience in that domain before starting his own business.

'Okay, so how is my creation doing? As it reached the thermosphere yet?' Keith inquired while looking at his base's main screen.

For now, he would most certainly focus on Project Overworld and go as far as he can in his favorite game.