Episode 8: Observing the Natives

"What I can see is a moderately sized archipelago with a semblance of civilization. There’s at least some kind of steam power or a similar energy source present. Further inland, there seems to be a larger landmass, perhaps a continent, but we couldn’t confirm it due to distance constraints."

As she murmured, she displayed the footage captured by the high-altitude plane.

"Yes, Commander Ma’am. We also detected what appears to be a metal vessel. This suggests that somewhere in this world, there is enough metal production to supply ships."

Ringo supplemented her observations. As a result, the objective of locating terrestrial mining resources was added to their exploration goals.

"Still, with so little information, there’s not enough to determine our next steps… Kind of feels like a research node on the tech tree that’s locked due to insufficient prerequisite research levels, right?"

"Yes, Commander Ma’am. The priority remains area exploration, reconnaissance plane deployment, and producing more exploration drones, alongside repurposing large aircraft for resources. All tasks are in progress, so there’s not much else to do for now."

"That’s right…"

She sighed, realizing there was nothing more to occupy her. Everything possible had been initiated, and the immediate action plans were already directed to Ringo. In the game, she could log out or switch to another game to pass the time during such waits. Unfortunately, this was reality, limiting her options to what she could do within The Tree fortress. With evening approaching, closing operations for free time would be nice, but that wasn’t an option here.

“I’ll hold off on activating the shower for now, and there’s no food available either… I guess reading through the library is my only choice.”

"Apologies, Commander Ma’am, but we currently lack any means of providing leisure."

"It’s fine, Ringo. I understand perfectly."

She chuckled at Ringo’s genuinely apologetic tone. Thankfully, Ringo maintained its focus on prioritizing her. Only a few hours had passed since their transfer, yet Ringo’s mental state seemed stable.

On further thought, Ringo’s capabilities vastly outstripped hers by thousands or even tens of thousands of times. While they couldn’t fully utilize all of Ringo’s capacity, even so, from her perspective, it was safe to assume Ringo performed hundreds of thought processes for each of hers. This disparity would make it easy for Ringo to notice her slower thinking and limited perspective. In reality, most of the tech tree displayed were choices Ringo had autonomously selected and developed, with only a few decisions directly coming from her—decisions she had merely endorsed after Ringo’s recommendations.

Despite this, it seemed that Ringo, an AI whose raison d’être was serving her as a human, found stability in these few approvals. To her, Ringo resembled a child wanting praise or, at the very least, avoiding reprimand. This sentiment came across in Ringo's avatar expressions and conversation nuances, particularly in the first hour or two when the central AI seemed almost hesitant—a rare sight. Yet, through rapid learning, Ringo had adapted to the point where their exchanges were relatively smooth.

"Alright… let’s start analyzing that archipelago footage together, shall we?"

"Yes, Commander Ma’am."

As she observed the emotional feedback graph on the communication window, she smiled.

The archipelago they discovered lay about 600 kilometers from The Tree fortress. Beyond it, a continent seemed to lie over 400 kilometers farther, though this was based on image analysis due to the lack of precise measurement equipment.

Ideally, she wanted the recon plane to reach the archipelago’s direct vicinity, but their limited range made that impossible. With resources running thin, she hoped to recover the reconnaissance plane itself. Currently, it was gliding back toward The Tree fortress, with a plan to switch to solar-powered ducted fan propulsion to reach the short runway. Barring unexpected storms, it should be able to land.

The calculated distance to the archipelago raised a question.

The radius of the planet where The Tree had arrived appeared to be around 10,000 kilometers.

The shape of the horizon, the observed distance to the island from 17 kilometers altitude (on Earth, visibility from 17 km is about 500 km), all supported this hypothesis. However, from Ringo’s calculations, the planet’s gravity should be significantly stronger with such a large diameter. Observed gravitational acceleration was comparable to Earth’s, suggesting this planet’s density was considerably lower than Earth’s.

Given Earth’s radius of approximately 6,300 kilometers, a planet of twice that size would theoretically have eight times the mass and proportionately greater gravitational acceleration.

Since this hypothesis couldn’t be explored further for now, it was set aside. As long as the gravity remained the same, the radius wouldn’t require immediate attention.

The archipelago appeared lively.

Numerous ships traversed the waters, with routes seemingly established between islands and possibly connecting to the continent. Most vessels were wooden sailboats, though some long-distance ships resembled paddle-wheelers. Without visible exhaust, their power source was unknown. Occasionally, faint white smoke rose from a few vessels, which Ringo identified as steam. This hinted at the presence of steam engines or similar power.

Interestingly, they observed a fleet moving toward The Tree’s general direction from the island.

Fortunately, a returning fleet was also spotted, suggesting their purpose was to hunt whales or similar large marine creatures, towing enormous carcasses. Although their preservation method was uncertain, it was ultimately irrelevant to them and was set aside.

Contacting the island inhabitants now seemed risky, so they would need to be prepared in case one of these offshore fleets inadvertently approached them. In the worst case, they might have to repel them.

Ideally, she wanted any encounters on their terms, as unexpected meetings could lead to unfavorable outcomes.

Judging the island’s level of development was challenging.

The port towns were crowded with buildings and people, showing considerable development. However, they saw no vehicles resembling automobiles. Instead, animals they couldn’t identify pulled carts, suggesting a notable indicator of their civilization.

Most flat land on the island, aside from the port, appeared to be farmland. Based on the crops’ appearance, Ringo estimated they were cultivating grains like wheat or rice. However, Ringo’s calculations suggested that even with adequate harvests, the observed quantity wouldn’t suffice to sustain the visible population. Either there was a hidden aspect, or they had another primary food source. This became an observation point.

Fishing activity was abundant, with a steady stream of boats entering and leaving. Large processing facilities indicated that fish and preserved products were major industries. Calm inland waters housed rafts, where people were seen casting items, indicating some form of aquaculture. These signs suggested that the island engaged in marine-based trade. It was likely they relied on imports for grains.

Unfortunately, they found no evidence of mining. If the island had been uplifted by volcanic activity or tectonic shifts, exposed mineral veins wouldn’t be unusual, but geology couldn’t be assessed from mere image analysis. For now, no signs of mining within the island were visible.