NBB - A sphere's tale - Chapter 6 Planning for the future

Dammit! GD18 cursed as he pulled in as much data from the next database as he could. The connection kept destabilizing like some archaic over the air network. The second it finished, he selected the third and probably final one he could download before the connection terminated.

He had planned on taking over a dozen sets of data but now had to make do with the three most important ones. The first had been mainly inscriptions, the second anything about math, science, and a choice selection of history that he had deemed too important to forget. It would make it so he could likely recreate most of the things in four or five of the databases. That left five categorized databases filled with an immense amount of data on thousands of planets and their specifics. The information they housed was gathered by millions of people over the course of a thousand years.

It doesn't matter, he thought, focusing on keeping the connection stable. At the rate it was degrading, it would stop either just before or just after all of the data had been transmitted.

A painful, sawing sensation came from a part of his body, close to the side of what was now his head. He knew it was Mutar, chopping his way outside while dragging the sphere with him.

Why, though, GD18 thought. It seemed unlikely the undead was trying to harm him, and now that his mind wasn't hampered by what others thought was good for him, he realized the undead probably wanted to help him so.

Moments before the data finished, the connection blinked twice, and a message transmitted before the line ended. The message indicated the start of a program that not a lot of AI were capable of using.

> Self destruct mechanism started

> The library guidance AI for district 18, designated GD18, will terminate in, 3….2….1….

There wasn't any explosion or loud roaring sound. Nothing happened, and that was as it should be. The internal neural quantum network that had supported his mind for the last eternity had collapsed on itself, and the sphere was now nothing more than a hard-to-destroy marble.

Both happiness and a slight amount of sadness bubbled up in GD18, but compared to the forceful in-your-face emotions he was used to, it was so light he easily ignored it. Instead, he was paying close attention to the cutting sensation that was currently trying to penetrate the plates that covered his side. He heard a soft sound from that spot.

When a sharp-tipped arm shot through the cap between two plates, pushing them sideways, he felt a pain that he imagined would be similar to a human getting a splinter. With the hole came more noise, including a soft voice.

"Finally out. You better wake up, Geed. I have no idea how to get out of… wherever we are!"

Mutar's voice was muffled, but GD18 could hear the worry in it. It surprised him.

He tried to form words, but no matter what he did, it didn't work. Even the basic speech through his mana-field wasn't possible. I need to get some form of communication going before he leaves with that defunct prison cell.

In the meantime, Mutar was increasing the size of the hole.

GD18 searched through the patterns using the status-window interface. He immediately found the slow, cumbersome process annoying. Something needed to be done about that, but that could wait. Finding what he needed, a simple mental communication pattern, he summoned his massive mana-field.

"Watch out, Geed!" Mutar shouted, and GD18 saw the Bonewarper, again with the massive chest that showed it had absorbed the sphere, jump from the widened opening.

Calm down, GD18 thought as he began inscribing the skill pattern. Compared to his orange laser, the process was far slower, and he followed Mutar as he moved away from the wyrm, heading back where the wyrm had come from. As soon as the pattern finished, the basic usage was made clear, and he pushed a message to the Bonewarper.

Mutar, stop!

The Bonewarper stopped mid-step and looked down at its chest.

"Geed? Your back? I can't wait! That wyrm is still dangerous!"

No, it's not. I am the wyrm! The thing you are carrying was… a prison.

Mutar didn't immediately respond as he stood to the side of the wyrm-sized corridor that snaked away behind him. After a minute, he took a step forward.

"You are the sphere?" he asked, pointing at the wyrm.

Yes.

Mutar opened his chest and held the sphere in his hands. "Then what use is this now?"

Nothing. It would be great if you could destroy it if you can.

"Are you sure?"

Yes. It has served its purpose and is an eyesore.

"I don't know what an eyesore is," Mutar said as he dropped the sphere to the ground. He raised his arms that kept stretching. When they were three meters or more long, they merged and formed a thick hook at the end. "but I think I can destroy it." The hook slammed down on the sphere, and a crack appeared in the middle with lines running away with it. The long arms whipped up and down, increasing in speed until they were whirring. After a second, a loud bang rang through the tunnel, and the side of the sphere shattered, parts of it flying everywhere.

Mutar stopped, looking at the sphere with his elongated arms still raised. "Is this enough?"

GD18 was staring silently at the remnants of the sphere. He wondered if he should feel any sadness over it. Probably someone might, but he just felt relieved.

It's perfect. Just leave it there. We need to find a way out.

"Out of where? Are we in another wyrm?" Mutar asked as he slowly moved closer to the wyrm. He kept looking from the wyrm to the sphere for a while.

Don't you remember where you are from when you were a sigmiton?

"I only know this," Mutar waved around, "has always been as it is now. And if we are in a wyrm, it is far larger than your new body. Perhaps you should try and take it?"

We aren't in a wyrm. We are below the ground, and from what I can sense, pretty deep. Let's continue ahead. There is a split in the tunnel not too far from here. Climb on.

Mutar was quiet again, staring at the wyrm before finally climbing on. GD18 barely felt the hooks as they scraped into the tough scales. It tickled slightly.

It took a moment to figure out the proper way to move, but as soon as he did, GD18 realized something. Moving this massive body cost energy, and it didn't seem to run solely on mana-orbs. Reading through the information he had copied was much slower now he had to use the interface, and he decided that the first new pattern he was going to inscribe would be one that simplified that process. It was a good fit because the pattern would passively increase his intelligence by a percentage. That wouldn't matter a lot now, but in the long run, it would.

GD18 wiggled until he fell back on all of his legs, then began moving forward. Slow at first, he noticed the speed straight ahead didn't drain him nearly as much as the wiggling had. He investigated his body more, matching the information he read on the status window with what he sensed.

So I need to eat metal to keep moving and grow? He skimmed the rest of the information and found that besides moving, his body used the metal to generate mana. Consuming mana-orbs just gave him a short boost, but not nearly enough. He knew he must have read all of this before he transitioned into the mana-core, but he didn't remember anything of that. Why he hadn't thought of adding this knowledge to the first data package was beyond him, and he wondered if it had been in one of the others. Besides his core data, he hadn't been able to take anything along, and the sudden confusion irritated him greatly.

"Can you take over the body of any being?" Mutar asked, after having been quiet for a long time.

They reached the crossroads that seemed to have been created by another wyrm, one that was roughly the same size as his new body, and GD18 used his sense of smell to try and determine what the best way was. A lingering sweet scent came from the left, and it caused him to feel hungry. There must be metal to the left, he thought and began turning his body around the corner. It was challenging, and his energy reserves dropped rapidly, which in turn increased his hunger. He quickly took stock of what he had remaining and realized that after this occasion, he should prevent turning around if he could. The small, barely ninety-degree turn had cost him more energy than all of the moving straight had.

"Geed?"

Finishing his turn, GD18 sighed.

I could before, but not anymore.

"Why did you not take my body?" Mutar asked straight away.

Well, he doesn't pull his punches, GD18 thought-feeling slightly amused. The integration of his new feelings was so much more natural than only half an hour after migrating to the core he already barely noticed them anymore.

Deciding not to lie, he formulated his words carefully.

It's not big enough to hold everything I am...everything I was.

"That makes sense. Are we moving to a place for you to train now?"

GD18 thought about the question, missing his ability to speed up his time. His new body wasn't ready to evolve yet, which was something he needed to fix fast. He had no idea if strong undead existed that hunted wyrms, and it might become dangerous quickly.

Increasing his mana-field and bone density would require metal, and he knew where to get that.  Many cities had survived on the surface. He pulled up a map and found where his sphere had been before Solus moved it. New Carlington city was in the middle of what had been a vast swamp area. Now it was in the middle of a desert wasteland.

We are going up to the surface and find a city with metal. I need to get stronger.

GD18s body easily continued forward as he used his smell-o-vision to determine another crossroads was an hour ahead. The path was moving up slightly, but without knowledge of how deep they were, he had no idea if that meant they would be up soon.

Mutar didn't say a lot, and as GD18 felt the wounds in his body slowly heal up, he had time to enjoy the fact that he was moving. By himself! As a sphere, he had imagined that he might one day end up in a humanoid android body, moving and running around, but as he surged forward, another plan began shaping. This body had massive growth potential, far more than a small humanoid shell did, and there was another upside. He looked nothing like a human.

Pulling up his status window, he looked at the open inscriptions slots, noting he had seven left. He needed to keep five for the different evolutionary patterns he knew he would need, both to change his body and to get a class. That left him with two—too little for all of the useful inscriptions. Without knowing what would become necessary, he decided to leave them all free until he had more information.

Opening the data he had downloaded, he began slowly working through the parts he thought he would need first, adding them to his own memory. The process was slow and cumbersome as he had to read them instead of just download them and integrate them.

How these humans learned anything at this speed, he thought as he opened a data storage unit on battle and war.