Far above, in the heart of the desert, the drill erupted from the ground. Its outer plates, with a sharp metallic snap, cleaved into four jagged anchors that speared into the sand like fangs, scattering in opposing directions.
Each plate then extended keen magnetic barbs, greedily siphoning metal particles from the surrounding grains, securing itself firmly in place. The drill's core expanded, and a pulley system unwound upward, a rope feeding cleanly from beneath the surface into the open air, shimmering faintly under the red sunlight.
Deep underground, Keon's limbs clicked once.
'Finally… It's time to leave this cave.'
A low hum of anticipation vibrated through his motors as he returned to the quartz pile, his metallic mind already mapping out the next phase.
Assimilation surged through his body, weaving blueprint directives into reality. This time, the blueprint called not for a weapon or tool, but for protection: something larger, smoother, and rounder.
Layer by layer, a spherical shield of compressed quartz crystal condensed around his frame. Its surface glistened faintly, engineered for minimal drag, yet hardened to resist the crushing weight above.
At its tip, a narrow, conical opening remained, designed to allow the rope to pass through while channeling force forward. Over this opening, another structure took shape: a crystalline drillhead layered with hardened quartz teeth. Each ridge was angled to scatter pressure, every tooth designed to rotate frictionlessly, grinding sand to dust.
'This drill will rotate and unload the sand's tension as I ascend,'
Keon's core processed, the blueprint's purpose unfolding with exact clarity. Guiding the shield beside the cave wall, he threaded the rope through its front tip, then crawled inside the hollow cavity. His body locked seamlessly into the harness, eight limbs clamping down with precision, motors tightening as if sealing a vow. The motors whined, and the crystalline drill spun faster and faster until it became a blur. The shield shuddered, then pierced the cave wall with a grinding shriek. Sand instantly pressed against the barrier, suffocating, crushing. But the drill spun furiously, unloading the tension, scattering grains aside, and clearing a path.
Keon ascended, each meter a hard-won victory against the relentless resistance.
Click!
A sharp crack split through the shield's surface. Keon's sensors flared. 'I anticipated this pressure, no worries.'
Assimilation triggered without hesitation. Quartz threads unfurled, rewoven directly into the fractured section. Fractures sealed, the shield restored itself in seconds.
Keon continued his ascent, each motion deliberate, each motor rotation pushed to its limit while carrying his weight. As he climbed, the crushing pressure began to ease. Every meter closer to the surface reduced the strain on his limbs. His motors roared louder, stabilizing into a rhythm, his ascent growing steadier and quicker.
'The cave is just 23.3 meters below the surface. Thankfully not deeper. Had it been fifty meters… these tactics would have failed.'
His processors calculated, even as his body pushed upward. He noted the wear on his motors: burned circuits, strained joints. Damage was accumulating, but he dismissed it. Repairs would take minutes; progress mattered more. Five meters, ten, fifteen, twenty, twenty-five. Finally, after thirty meters, the rope loosened, slackened, and sank into the shifting sand.
'Time for phase two.'
He halted thoughtfully, and assimilation surged once again, transforming half the shield into eight barbed pads that clamped onto his legs. Each barb displaced sand with a magnetic pull, locking him against the shifting grains.
With stability secured, Keon dismantled the remaining half of the shield, molding it into a wedge before pushing forward again. His focus sharpened as the surface drew nearer; the pressure intensified as his weight forced the rope loose, but he adapted.
'Only three meters remaining.'
Lastly, self-motivating thoughts flashed in his core as he resolutely pushed forward, even though his view remained obscured by the quartz-white interior of the shield. Suddenly, the resistance vanished as the shield burst free. Sand spilled away as light broke in, and Keon was ejected violently onto the surface.
[Assimilation: Initiated]
The remaining shield and barbs dissolved instantly into a flat crystalline plate beneath his eight legs, spreading four meters wide. The drill and rope system locked into it, forming a stable platform.
Keon's optics expanded, lenses rotating and focusing outward. 'So this is the planet I've awakened upon.' He scanned the barren horizon. Endless dunes stretched in all directions, broken by scattered stones and jagged debris.
His vision zoomed, refining every grain of sand, every crack in distant rocks. Not a single sign of life... no plants, no animals, no insects. The sky glowed an eerie red, with a small red-orange sun hanging low on the edge of the horizon. The colors painted the land in rust and fire, yet there was no warmth… only stillness.
'It seems the atmosphere is incompatible with carbon-based life. Probably this world rejects the living,' he thought as his sensor readouts scrolled in his mind.
'Surface temperature: 3.1 degrees Celsius. It's cold despite the sun on the horizon. It will fall further once the sun disappears. It seems insulation upgrades will be necessary. Heat or cold, I must remain mobile. Adaptability is survival in such a world.'
His lenses shifted downward toward the rope system still embedded in the sand. 'A tunnel is needed. I can carve a secure passage back to the cave. I will take shelter in it when the surface becomes unbearable. It will be the first foundation of my base.'
Confidence surged through him. The suffocating pressure of confinement he had felt inside the cave dissipated. Before, the unknown outside the cave had cast a shadow on him, a question that might never be answered. But after witnessing the world and sky outside… the cave transformed into a safe sanctuary in his mind, no longer a prison.
'So this is the nature of the human soul… Even in this mechanical shell, that instinct remains. Our nature craves security and comfort in every condition.' His optics turned back toward the sun; calculations began whirring in his core.
'The sun shifts at one millimeter per second… It's too slow. At such rotational speed, it will take thousands of Earth years to vanish from my sight. There can be two reasons: one, this planet is extremely large compared to Earth, or two, this planet's rotation is nearly nonexistent.'
He thought, and then after a little silence, he started observing the surroundings, the sand dunes. 'Anyway, I am a mechanical species… this planet may be dangerous for carbon life, but it's a treasure for me.'
After opening his storage panel, Keon released stockpiled iron, copper, and magnetic fragments onto the glass plate below his feet.
[Assimilation: Initiated]
Assimilation wrapped around him, his limbs pressing against the smaller drill from earlier. Slowly, the machine transformed. Its frame thickened, the rope enlarging as more iron was woven into its fibers, its diameter swelling to two inches.
Around it, a massive five-meter-wide round pipe materialized, its metallic body gleaming dully under the weak sunlight.
'This machine will carve the tunnel for me.'
Keon embedded a battery core inside, layering drills on both ends... upper and lower. Internal motors locked in sequence, clamping tightly around the rope. Their purpose: to push the drill up and down from the surface to the cave continuously, like the beating of a colossal mechanical heart.
[Switch: Activated]
The drill roared to life with a thunderous vibration.
GRRRR!!!
Sand erupted outward as the drillhead sank downward using the rope in the middle, the massive pipe swallowing the grains and forcing a channel open. The machine pushed relentlessly, consuming its way through the desert. Traveling thirty-three meters below, until the pipe met the mouth of the cave.
Bang!
Immediately, the locks triggered, and the five-meter pipe anchored firmly onto the wall with a collision.
The next moment, the reverse mechanism of the drill engaged, and then it started crawling back toward the surface with metallic precision. Upon reaching back to the surface, Keon didn't hesitate.
He assimilated another five-meter-wide round pipe, one meter long, locked it around the drill, and then sent it down. Upon reaching below, the drill machine locked the pipe with the previous pipe, securing a second section, and then returned.
After a while, another pipe locked in sequence, then the fourth one, the fifth one… Thirty-two cycles passed, and the drill machine moved up and down.
Slowly, the tunnel grew stable, reinforced pipe by pipe, until finally the drill switched into excavation mode, scraping sand upward and ejecting it meter by meter.
Hours passed, the machine working tirelessly under Keon's command, until the entire passage was carved clean. A direct route now connected the surface to the cave below; Keon glanced at the five-meter-wide tunnel leading to the cave thoughtfully. 'It's my first achievement, the first step toward exploration of this world.'
…