Chapter 41 - Planning

With a clear head he started thinking of trying to make a surface base, having giant bones stronger than steel would also help a lot, he could coat them on metal and make columns tall enough to keep a base atop the mountain and above the water, he was totally dependant of Rose for the metal parts though, he could either create an enormous synthesizer or make everything modular, but a base above the water maybe not during winter but the rest the year it would be a great place to live as there were just 10 meters of water on the top of the mountain, that was totally doable as there were deep mining sea bases on earth that went much deeper, he would also add floating tanks so it would float if the columns broke, he might even be able to make an observatory to see where the heck he is.

"Rose, could you-"

[No]

"I still didn't ask?"

[no, I won't build modular giant steel columns and a base, sound like a pain to design and print for weeks]

"come on, I will do something that you want too... that doesn't put my organs at risk"

[Che…, no fun, well then, if you reconnect power to a metal extracting factory inside a creepy cave system then I will help you build those tons of work of printing the base]

"anything too dangerous?"

[no, just a violent warring tribal society, you have dealt with worse, so it's fine right?]

"hmm, what race?"

[crab people, slow, strong and violent, they are a warring culture divided into subgenres and tribes fighting against each other, that should also be one the reasons why the octopeople are here so high up, it's safer here, but also their evolution will slow down].

"so, they need something in their prey to evolve?"

[well, it also happens with the water pressure, the deeper they reach their genes are rewarded with adaptations by the ARK's systems]

Erik paused at that, he had thought of a wonderful cheat….

"what about-"

[No, I'm not allowed to intervene directly with the evolution of the beings, if you wanna make it you will have to make it yourself]

"oh well that's fine, can you make me a big compressor and a room resistant to pressure, let's say it's a safe room to resist in case of flooding, and make it modular and made with a steel I can weld with my tools, the one you normally use it's really hard to weld, barely even melts"

[that's... allowed, that might be a loophole, keeper races weren't allowed to evolve, yours is not registered so you are allowed to evolve, but you need to collect more DNA, your DNA is too simple for now]

"what do you mean?"

[check your DNA]

He did so and was surprised, his DNA had a third helix, that was mostly empty and disconnected, he remembered the octopeople had 4 so they were much more complex.

"so, my DNA has already mutated?"

[well yes and no, you have not realized it but the chimeric enhancements you did to yourself were registered as evolutions and added to that new helix of DNA so you are actually no longer a chimera, also you normally wouldn't survive so many upgrades at once, didn't you find it strange it took so little time?]

"well… I never really considered it, but anyway, that's convenient I guess, so I need to just eat more?"

[yes, eating lots and lots of raw meat from more powerful beings will have a chance to randomly absorb the genes from that organ, for example, your sperm has already gained a weak aphrodisiac effect]

"what the heck, so you can even check my genes?"

[yes, genes, brain waves, heart rate, I had even a medical module long ago, I forgot how to use it for unknown reasons though]

"Okay, that's not suspicious, so if ingesting sperm gained that, if I eat their eggs I will start laying eggs?"

[no, you would get a really small chance of getting a random gene from the unborn, and an even lower chance for infertile eggs]

"Does that mean cannibalism can make them stronger?"

[in a sense... yes]

"wow... this world is surely harsh, okay how long will it take for the safety room parts to be ready so I can start welding?"

[should take a day]

"fine, this will be useful, maybe not for me, but I doubt the elders are lacking in getting DNA, just lacking in pressure, if they get it here they might evolve, I will have to talk about it with the Fourth Elder as she's the oldest, an evolution would also increase her lifespan, and if I also gave them refined potent aphrodisiacs while inside, then the chances will go up too..."

'it should also be a good spectacle to see ' he also thought, he would definitely add a window, he would find the way!.

"can you make glass?"

[no, I can make graphene screens though, but not thick enough to make a pressure-resistant glass]

"that's fine, just make a lot of circular ones and I will stack them and join them in a circular window, find some kind of sealant and bolt the 2 sides tight"

[...or not adding a window-]

"no, it's a necessity-"

[listen, add a camera inside and outside and screens on both sides]

"oh…., that works too"

[yes, and avoids the possibility of everyone dying to the pressure discharge just because you wanted to see alien sex]

Erik didn't comment on that, she was right, not like he would tell her..., she could read his memories anyways, so no need to bother.