NMS: THE NEXT ADVENTURER
SIX: BASE ONE
The traveller studied the object. It was made out of some kind of metal and there was an inverted triangle etched into its surface. Ve was about to lay a hand on it, when movement caught vis eye.
A two-legged creature was making its way across the grassy land. It looked like a bipedal dog, albeit one with horns. Sounds came out of its mouth that had the ratio of randomness to repetition typical of language, and the traveller wondered for a moment if the animal might have some claim to ownership of the object. But the creature showed no interest in it, instead plucking a fruit from a tree which it held in its paws, feasting as it continued on its way.
The traveller turned vis attention to the object. Placing vis hand on the inverted triangle, ve felt a panel press into the main body with a click when pressure was applied. The triangle began to glow with a blue light and the panel slid up to reveal some kind of display. A recording started up, accompanied by waveforms that rippled across the screen.
“No fuel...failed to reach station..no choice but to…”
The message ended, but not before downloading plans for a base computer. A base computer. The term meant little to the traveller’s foggy memory. A look at the plans revealed it to be a means of building complete habitable structures. Just provide it with suitable materials and, provided the instructions were also provided, the base computer would build the components required for constructing...well, a shelter, a science laboratory, even a military installation.
At this moment, a shelter took priority. The question was, where to build it? Since being close to a water source was preferable, the traveller set off in search of such a place.
As ve made vis way down yet another gentle hill, the traveller noticed two grazing animals. They had bulky brown bodies covered in scaly-looking skin. Atop their long necks there sat a head from which there sprouted an almost umbrella-like appendage. The traveller could not help but notice how these creature’s heads resembled the leaves that sprouted from the tops of the trees that grew all over the place.
The creatures were docile enough, content to graze as the traveller continued with the search for water.
By the time the unmistakable sound of lapping water could be heard, the sun was starting to sink below the horizon. Darkness had fallen by the time the traveller reached the edge of the lake.
It was time to build the base computer, and that meant gathering the necessary resources. The traveller’s scanner revealed a source of materials close by, and so ve went to gather what was needed using the multi tool.
With the help of the nanobots supplied with the instructions from the object, the traveller worked through the night to construct the base computer.
That done, it was time to put it to use and build some kind of shelter. The predominant building material in this place was the wood from the trees. The traveller headed cut some down using the multi tool.
Heading back to the base computer, the traveller attached the multi tool to the appropriate slot and set it to work. The beam was directed back and forth across the wood, carving it into planks with jigsaw ends that would fit together like a three-dimensional jigsaw of a shelter. The traveller slotted the pieces together, and after hours of labour had built a simple but sturdy shelter.
So now the traveller not only had a ship but also a base. True, it was only a simple shelter that could not offer much beyond a refuge from the weather, but somehow the traveller felt like it was the start of something bigger...
The adventure continued.
Thanks to Hello Games for the images.