Soon, he pressed within the cave. It was a dark and fetid place, full of mouldering bones from old kills. But the Aura within was thick and strong, breathing it in caused his Nodes to regenerate unusually fast. He paused to utilise his Skin Suit's sonar echolocation, which after a moment provided him a map of the cave system. He smiled at what he saw.

He followed the thickening Aura, heading further into the cave. Minutes passed as he pressed deeper into the ground, lighting his way with the powerful torches on his Skin Suit helmet. It was a twisty journey, as the cave had frequent sharp turns.

Where the tunnel finally ended, he found a crack. It was the height of his body, but too thin for him to pass through. This problem was swiftly solved via a small amount of explosives. He wasn't worried about the noise, as he was now deep in the ground and the many turns would ensure the sound was well dampened by the time it issued from the distant exit.

Once the dust settled he squeezed into the enlarged crack. With Soul Sense he found his way easily through. The crack thinned, until he struggled to pass and had to strip some equipment from himself, tossing it ahead, and then was able to barely squeeze through. It began to widen, and there was natural light.

He came into a small underground grotto.

It was lit by blue-glowing fungus which coated the ground. The far wall shimmered with lights as that blue glow was caught and reflected by the lines of Oma crystal running through the cave wall. Water trickled out of that wall, running down the Oma crystals and into a pool, from which rich Aura rose like steam.

It was… idyllic. The kind of place a weary Cultivator might rest, soak in the calming, natural vista, and drink deep of the natural energies before moving on.

But that wasn't quite Nicolai's style.

As his gaze panned over it, taking the forty-odd square metres in, the other Modules helped him generate an AR simulation.

The Assembler was a great blocky mass of machine-metal smack-bang in the middle. He wanted easy access to all sides of it. A pipe ran up to the ceiling, to where he spied some natural cracks. Bulky filtration systems appeared over the cracks, to reduce the steam and smoke produced as much as possible before sending it off to crawl through the hillside, emerging here and there.

A metal security door appeared over the crack he'd gained entry through. The wall running with Oma crystals was eaten away by automated mining bots. The floor was turned to smooth, flat concrete. In place of the dim blue light generated by the glowing moss came a stark white illumination from powered strips above. A workstation over there, large and expansive, covering one entire side of the room; for maintenance on guns, bots, drones, and any other tools and tech of Earth. The pool of water would be drained into vats; Oma infused water was useful for refining Symbiotes, he wouldn't throw it away. But the pool itself would be the start of his mine, where bots would be set to work drilling into the walls, harvesting the thick veins of crystals visible within them.

Peering around the dim grotto, he no longer saw a beautiful natural haven.

He saw the secure, clean, and above all efficient little bolthole he'd turn it into.

His first step was thoroughly investigating the cave and surroundings. His Skin Suit had a ground penetrating radar scanner, which he utilised to scan the underground around him, working to ensure there was no undiscovered caves close to his own. He used Soul Sense for a closer and more thorough investigation, making sure the cave floor and ceiling was stable.

Drones were sent over the hillside and into the nearby jungle, creating a detailed 3d map of the entire area. Nicolai himself roved through the available cave and out and onto the hillside, seeing what he could feel in terms of Aura ripples, giving himself time to see if he could sense anything off. All he saw was a small group of raptor-looking Toothbearer's consuming the bear's corpse, where he'd left it. None of them even glanced at the drones moving a few hundred feet above them.

After a few hours spent exploring and investigating, after which he was confident the place was as lacking in neighbours as it had first appeared, he got properly to work.

Nicolai activated the Assembler Permit, which transformed into a silver rod with a button midway down it. From the rod extended a line of light, and where it touched, the light sprung from the ground to form the shape of the Assembler. With an effort of mental will, Nicolai had the shape rotate and twist.

He aimed at the centre of the grotto, turned it until he was satisfied with the position, then pressed the button.

The blue light settled, turning more solid and flickering oddly. A faint outline, blue light glinting off the suggestion of metal.

His Mark pulsed, asking him if this was the chosen location. He tapped affirmative and silver energy flared, running in thick loops over the surface of the phantom Assembler. The light roved in snakes from top to bottom, faded away, and it was there.

The Assembler should have looked entirely out of place. But somehow, looming in the faint blue glow of the moss, it seemed fitting that it was here. A monster in a cave, a queen in a hive. Nicolai ran his hand lovingly over the smooth metal, the pipes and struts.

This queen would make him an army.

It reminded him of Zero-Twelve, and other bots. It felt like home. Nicolai couldn't help it as his body pressed up close against it, embracing the beautiful, cool metal, whispering sweet nothings to it to it, and his mind spun into all the wonderful things it would do to him. For him. Within him the Modules emanated a strange bliss, and he found himself wanting to be inside of it; to crawl into its cold centre like a fetus returning to the place that had given it birth. His lips touched on metal.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

That was until the Mask idly commented, I wonder what Jo would think, if she could see you now? and Nicolai moved quickly away, stumbling slightly with a sudden onset of dizziness. 'I was merely performing a physical check,' he snapped, wondering—yet again—just what the fuck was wrong with him. In need of a quick distraction he began to look the Assembler over carefully. It came packed with raw materials, all of its vats and bins full, and was thus able to create a huge variety of items.

He looked at the crack in the wall and his thoughts spun dizzily on, into matters of security, which as always were a priority. The cave was open. There was a pathway of air, large enough for a person to travel through, between his beautiful, wonderful Assembler and the terrible, dangerous outside world.

The Modules, echoing his anxiety, were already drawing up plans. Threat Analysis and Simulations came up with the most immediate solution, simple and effective; some explosives, placed after careful analysis of the cave rock, should be able to cause a series of collapses. With that he could section the cave tunnel into chunks. Airlocks, of a sort.

He would be blocked in at first, but he would be able to dig his way through with the help of mining bots, made by the Assembler, and create fortified entrances at each one. In the meantime he had plenty of sustaining Seeds, and if necessary the Assembler could make him more food. He wasn't concerned about oxygen, as he had determined that there were indeed thin cracks in the ceiling, from which fresh air was winding its way through the cliffside and into here.

The jungle was full of dangers. He would appreciate knowing he had a place where he was entirely safe from them.

He settled in before the Assembler's primary console, waiting as it powered up. Seeing GRECKON TECHNOLOGY INC blazing across the startup screen made his lip curl, but it was a habitual response. At that moment his love for the Assembler was boundless and the unpleasant reminder of his old masters was quickly overwrit. And anyway, no one would deny they made good tech.

Setting it up didn't take long. After tapping through the intro portions he connected to it directly via Link, keying it to himself as its primary user. With the aid of the other Modules, he was then able to go through the full setup, add a number of modifications to its programmed rules and issue dozens of orders, all in only moments.

To construct these bots, and these components, and these tools, and… so on.

The Assembler ground into action, rattling and humming. He took a slow walk around it, smiling at it and humming happily as he performed his visual checks and ensured there were no issues with its functionality.

It had one large construction bay, comprising the majority of the space it took up. The bay was big enough to construct an SUV, if desired. There was a thick tempered glass panel granting a view into the bay to check everything was going well.

Within he already saw components emerging from the fabricators, being pieced together by welding torches on one side, while more careful soldering work was done on another. It was creating four mining bots at once, each of which would be larger than a human.

It also had a few extra bays. One for apparel, two for handheld items—tools, weapons—and then a few for smaller and more specific items.

For now, only the primary construction bay and the one of the handheld item bays were operating. It didn't take long, as he hadn't asked for anything complex. Once finished, he retrieved a simple sledgehammer and pickaxe, and carried them to the crack which he squeezed through.

Nicolai walked for a few minutes through the cave tunnel until he was near to the entrance. This was the site where he intended to have the first and furthest collapse.

Ground penetrating radar analysis of the rock formation via his Skin Suit's scanners told him exactly where to place the explosives; C4 he'd purchased from the Trade Link long ago, which until now had been kept in his storage Symbiote.

This wasn't ideal for the purpose. Plastic explosive was expensive and meant for finer use, but it was what he had. He used the pickaxe and sledgehammer interchangeably to create holes to place the C4 into, then squeezed it inside and affixed a Link enabled detonator. That done he retreated all the way back through the crack to wait with the Assembler.

The first detonation went exactly to plan, dumping tonnes of rock at the very entrance of the cave, entirely blocking its length. After that he moved backwards, and performed two more detonations, splitting the cave tunnel into a total of three sections.

It would take roughly half a day for the mining bots to be completed, and unless he wanted to do some mining himself in the meantime (far from appealing), there wasn't much for him to do here. However, now he was assured that the Assembler and his new home were safe, Nicolai was free to leave it for a while.

That was good, because a timer he'd been keeping an eye on these past days would be ending momentarily. He tapped his Mark and it showed itself.

Phantom City opens in;

0:00:00:02…

0:00:00:01…

0:00:00:00

You may now enter the Phantom City.

Simply accept this prompt, and a portal will open on your location. For the next eighteen (18) hours, you may freely open and close the portal and use it to come and go, travelling between your current location and the Phantom City.

Once opened for the first time, you may not choose a new portal location until the next opening of the Phantom City.

You may take others with you to the Phantom City, keying them to your portal.

Your current limit for additionals is: 1.

It is possible to find Permits to expand your portal capacity in the Phantom City.

Do you wish to open your Phantom City portal here?

He considered the message thoughtfully, then moved and placed the Artifact Blade against a wall. He decided not to bring it, because doubtless he would encounter others in this city. The Artifact Blade had led him to be immediately targeted by the first true Cultivators he had met. He was free to return here whenever he wished, and it should be safe here. If it wasn't safe here, then he was in some very serious trouble and had truly fucked up by placing the Assembler.

He'd done all the checks he could, as thoroughly as he was capable. He'd sealed the only entrance to the cave with three collapses of rock. There was no reason to suspect anyone knew he was here or had followed; he'd killed all the Cultivators and he was very experienced and skilled at detecting when he was being tracked, not to mention the loop-backs and hide-wait-sees he'd applied as he came closer to his destination.

Regardless, his paranoia gnawed at him, saying But what if? What if? Somehow? How can you know for 100% sure? He took a slow breath. I cannot, but there is a difference between being cautious, being thorough, and being paranoid. He stepped away and left the Blade against the wall. Threat Analysis helped him calm himself, reassuring him that there was no more he could do, that the Blade and the Assembler would be as safe as anything could be.

He moved through the gap in the wall to stand just outside of it, and summoned up his UI once more.

Do you wish to open your Phantom City portal here?

Yes, thought Nicolai. He chose this particular spot because he worried it would be possible to see through the portal from the other side. He didn't want anyone seeing the Assembler or the Blade.

A dot of blue light appeared and rapidly widened, swirling into a circular portal. The light flickered, growing darker on the edges, while in the centre formed an image. No, not an image. A window.

He saw a city and many people. A thrill of excitement shivered his limbs. He stepped into the portal, and the world shifted around him. A frozen moment, stretched and warped, here and not here.

His awareness snapped back together and he was on the other side, surrounded.

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