The Record of Unusual Creatures

Panda Novel

Even though the Divine Storm around Star Cluster X showed no signs of abating, the droids’ movements were not affected by it.

Being on an emergency call, batches of droids entered the ancient and mysterious star system from the series of “faults” in that dimension. They moved toward the Executor homeworld, where Hao Ren was situated. The droids had begun to build all kinds of star forts as well as manufacturing plants across the vast space, and most of them were starting to take shape.

Barren asteroids were anchored together and turned into a base, while starports and connection tubes were built between the asteroids. A massive spaceborne infrastructure was slowly taking shape within the dark void. The droids worked day and night, building factories, hives, antenna arrays… The structures were expanding at breakneck speed across the stars like an insect swarm. The first batch of droids had already left the production line a long time ago at that point, and they were pressed into the next phase of expansion.

With the terrifying highly efficient expansion now fully operational, the works on the Executors’ homeworld now had the required “manpower”, moving rapidly into the next construction phase.

Around the rift by the side of the forward base, the droid swarm had already completed the first phase of terraformation. The scorched earth and ruins were given a further cleanup. The craters and tiny cracks were all covered by argent alloy while the rift itself was reinforced using layers of alloy. At the edge of the almost metallic canyon were a few massive towers sticking out of the surface, and around the towers were massive stabilizing cables. These cables were about two meters thick, and one end was laid out in order next to the data center at the empty field by the rift, awaiting connection. In contrast, the other end snaked deep inside the rift along the walls, as though connecting directly to the planet’s core.

A huge number of droids had shifted into atmospheric operation mode and were milling about busily around the cables as well as their surroundings. They were checking the cables and their connection with the First Born’s ancient nervous system while also sending the signal code to the data center whereby preliminary connection could be attained by the afternoon.

The data center was not too far away, by the rift. There were three hexagonal buildings, each about a hundred meters tall in a triangular layout. These buildings had a beautiful argent shell and looked really futuristic. On the base of the buildings, a few cables had already been connected and welded shut.

That was only the engineering on the surface. There were even more awesome works going on underground.

The reason was that only a data processing center was built on the surface, while deep under, a total overhaul of the First Born’s nervous system was required. The cables on the surface extended deep down into the heart of the planet, passing through the crust and the mantle before reaching the nerve points deep within the planet. To ensure that the entire thing was stable, Hao Ren decided to simply rid the First Born of any nerve clusters that had been poisoned by the crystals, and replace them with man-made structures. Now, thousands of droids were busy inside the caverns and faults in the crust as well as the mantle, connecting the artificial nerves with the First Born’s biological clusters together. At the same time, they also built secondary data processing units at special connecting ports to help with the system’s stability.

The size of each piece of equipment was no less than the size of an underground metropolis.

Just like Hao Ren had said, the First Born there was in a sorrier state than the one on Purgatory. It was a critical patient with most of its nervous system rotting away, and fixing it required drilling through an entire planet.

Rollie swiftly clambered up one of the tower complexes, and only after she found a flat spot did she heave a sigh of relief. She then took Lil Pea out of her bag and carefully placed the little one on her head. “See, we can see the entire canyon here! Doesn’t it look like fish jerky?”

“I don’t know, but Daddy said not to simply run around!” Lil Pea said as she tapped the catgirl’s head with her tail.

“I’m not simply running around, nya!” Rollie said with her arms on her waist. “Big Boss Cat said not to run pass that fence (energy barrier). He never said anything about not coming here. If you rat me out, I won’t bring you out to play again.”

Lil Pea tapped her tail again and did not say anything else. Rollie then pulled a piece of paper and a few crayons out of her bag. She spread the paper on the ground before she grabbed a handful of crayons and started to draw clumsily.

“What are you doing?” Lil Pea poked her head out and asked curiously.

As she drew clumsily, Rollie explained, “This is my diary! Big Dumb Cat says that writing a diary is a good habit. It can make me smart, and I can go to university. There’s fish in the university’s canteen, but I think writing’s so troublesome; drawing is easier.”

She seemed to be in a good mood as she drew. Her tail curled into all sorts of shapes. Hao Ren had expended lots of energy trying to teach the cat to read and write, but it seemed that it was to little effect. The cat seemed to be happier drawing than writing.

However, Rollie’s good mood did not last long because she soon realized her spanking new papers were missing an edge at the lower-left corner. On them was a line of tooth marks.

“Nyaa!!! You ate my diary!” the catgirl said as she leaped up, her tail bristling. She grabbed Lil Pea by the head and placed her before her “diary”. “Your tooth marks are still there!”

“I thought… this was a snack you prepared for me…” Lil Pea stuck her tongue out. “And you put me together with them… I couldn’t help myself…”

The catgirl totally could not accept Lil Pea’s excuse. It had never occurred to her that placing Lil Pea and paper together would produce such an outcome. She only shook her head stubbornly. “No can’t do. You need to replace my diary!”

“It’s just paper, you haven’t even finished your first drawing!”

“They’re all part of my diary!”

“How do I replace them? I can’t spit them out.”

“…Then let me bite you once?”

“No!”

“A lick will do as well, nya!”

“No. Gross!”

…

Lily’s ears twitched a little as she looked up into the distance. “I thought I heard Rollie and Lil Pea’s voices…”

Hao Ren turned to face the direction that the werehusky was looking at and only saw the edge of the base along with the tower structure facing the construction site of the “long-range cognition array”. Shaking his head, he said, “I didn’t hear them.”

He then turned back and looked at N-6 and N-4 before him.

Behind the two Executors were rows and rows of personnel, whom N-4 had brought with her, in addition to a few other unfamiliar faces.

The unfamiliar faces had been ferried over by the Petrachelys to the base. They were originally stationed on the moon base, but just before the mainframe departed, it had left behind directives for these select few Executors to be the new “administration team” of the new Executor civilization.

Hao Ren heard that they were planning to emulate the humans and set up a Tribunal to lead their kind.

Hao Ren looked at the new arrivals and saw them as a group of confused and dazed “youngsters”. Although every Executor looked like an adult and possessed the required mentality as well as knowledge when they walked off the assembly line, in actuality, none of them were more than fifteen years old. Even N-4 with her eleven-year service was already considered an experienced and well-read veteran. The newly-redeployed officers from the moon base averaged at the same age too.

The Executors’ knowledge could be downloaded from the Bibliotheca, and they each had a complex logic circuit and a simulated nerve network. All that led to them requiring some life experiences to create their own personality. Just like N-4 and N-6, who had been equipped with the same basic databank, due to their time in service, had developed into two distinct entities. That was the manifestation of their learning and self-upgrading.

Yet, the long war resulted in only a handful of Executors being able to live for a long enough period, so when the Cortex Prime died, it left behind an overly “young” race. Even the eleven-year-old N-4 ended up becoming one of the administrators.

Today, N-4’s comrades had come to bring her back to the moon base to take over that position.

Also leaving was N-6. While she lacked the experience to become an administrator, she was the first Executor to run the “Final Code” and gain her freedom. She had also received upgrades using alien technology, therefore she had better hardware and growth space. As a result, she was also absorbed as a member of the Tribunal.

Hao Ren looked N-4 in the eye. “So how’s it going? Do you have the confidence you need for your new job?”

“It is my duty,” N-4 answered the same way she would normally. “I will do my best.”

“And frankly, the problems we face are plenty,” an Executor from the moon base spoke. He was a short-haired male with a seemingly cheerful and chatty nature. He started a conversation with Hao Ren. “The Cortex Prime has left us, and we now need to decide on what we need to do next. While our logic circuits already have the needed programming, no one knows if we will be able to do it properly.”

“You will face a massive paradigm shift,” said Y’zaks, who had experience running an empire before. “The war will end, and your focus will need to shift to other necessities. There’ll be a change in production, reallocation of materials, and production capacity. You’ll even need to change your societal structure to be a part of a one-of-a-kind civilization. And not too long later, you may even need to return here to rebuild your homeworld. These are all things you have yet to do before.”

Vivian nodded gently. “Your creators have left an entire civilization to you, and its needs aren’t just as simple as warfare.”

“Rebuilding our homeworld…” The young Executor looked into the distance, and the first thing he saw was the incredible alien base. However, his eyes did not stop at the majestic buildings. They trained even farther, finally landing on the lush mountains and thick jungles.

The Executors were silicon-based beings, yet their creators had been born in a carbon-based world that was full of life, so they need to protect the planet. Perhaps, this life would even spread to other planets they may visit in the future. For these Executors who had lived their lives on a cold and barren moon, to live and expand on such a planet was a brand new subject.

Despite that, the subject got them excited.

Hao Ren added, “We’ve also almost completed the transformation of the First Born or the Devourer. Its cognitive organs have been totally destroyed and replaced, and a gentle consciousness will be taking over the dead body. Once that’s done, you can return properly to your homeworld without fearing any more attacks.”

A few harmless landings on the planet’s surface would not trigger the tentacles’ attack, but the movement of the entire Executor race from the moon back to the planet would definitely trigger the “alarm” in the tentacles. Therefore, until Hao Ren had completed his job planetside, the androids would have to stay on the moon base for a good while.

Of course, they did not need to wait too long. Since they did not need to build a cognition core, the droid swarm could complete the artificial neural network transference project within the next few days. The massive wireless receiver could also be completed simultaneously. Once Zorm’s consciousness was extended over there, the exiles on the moon base could finally return home.

“All Executors now know about every one of you,” the young Executor spoke. “We hope to show our thanks and appreciation, even if all our thanks would not suffice for what you have done for us.”

“That’s fine. This is part of my job anyway.” Hao Ren waved him off. “But if you really want to thank me… then live well. That is the biggest thanks you can give to us, and also your creators.