[Notification: Unidentified inorganic entity discovered.]

Custodian dropped everything it was doing, and focused on the source of alert. If the inorganic entity could be a foreign drone, this could change everything in Custodian’s plans. If there was another A.I. like it, it could stop planning under the assumption that there was only one Custodian in the world.

The A.I. switched its perspective to Niner’s. Unfortunately, it wasn’t what Custodian had wished. It was a walking pile of gray rock, not a metallic puppet.

‘Master Custodian! Come and look, quickly!’ Niner exclaimed over the hivespeak.

‘Please cease your high pitched screaming. You can automatically assume that I am everywhere, at anytime,” Custodian reprimanded its prospector, then proceeded to examine the creature.

The rock creature wasn’t hostile to the drones, at least. It looked at the two drones, then off into the distance. After some time, the massive rock creature strided into the distant unexplored darkness.

‘The inorganic entity is made out of iron ore, which would mean that any of the iron deposit could be one as well,’ Custodian warned.

‘Then I will personally check every crack and grain on the wall,’ Niner offered.

‘Affirmative. We still do not know if the creatures would fight back should we try to kill them, so for now, just try to locate all of them,’ Custodian accepted.

‘In the event we do try to subdue the inorganics, how would we go about it?’ Niner inquired.

‘We will prod their capabilities with combat drones later. Right now, we need to worry about securing the mining operations.’

Huge walking rocks or not, Custodian wanted as much iron as possible. Not only that, the A.I. had already sacrificed too many resources creating drones for the mining operation. It wanted to pay for its loss, one way or another.

‘Designation for those inorganic entities is now Iron Golem,’ concluded Custodian as it turned its attention to something else.

By the time Niner had inspected the first few deposits carefully, the mining drones had arrived.

Exarchi, displaying his talent in drone control, started to direct the drones to their position. “As soon as you reach your position, begin mining.”

“You’re getting good at commanding them, huh,” Niner noted as he patted a section of the wall for inspection.

“All in the name of what Master Custodian strives for: Efficiency!” Exarchi proudly proclaimed.

“I bet if you had the chance, you’d enslave us and work us to death, right?” Niner casually said. He turned to Exarchi, only to find him facing away.

“Brother, what does this mean?!” Niner retorted as he grabbed Exarchi and shook him.

“Wait,” Exarchi palmed Niner’s face to shut him up and continued,” do you hear that?”

They both froze on the stop to listen to anything strange. The miner drones also stopped doing what they were doing.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

A pair of heavy steps resounded from the distance. The two drones quivered as they started to prepare for possible combat. The small drones stood valiantly in front of their older brothers as well.

Thump. Thump.

It was getting closer. If the drones could sweat, they would’ve sweated a bucket already.

A massive humanoid figure emerged from the shadow, frightening the drones.

“Ahhhhh!” Niner screamed.

“Question. Why do you produce such nonsensical noise?” The figure, revealed to be Drone 1, asked.

“Oh, it was just you. I was scared for a moment…” Niner sighed.

“Me too... “ Exarchi slumped his back in relief.

“Retort. Drones cannot feel,” Drone 1 replied.

“Never mind that. Why are you here?” Niner asked.

“Reply. Escorting miners and placing observer drones.” Drone 1 raised a small stick with an orb stuck at the end. It then stabbed the stick onto the rocky wall, awakening the observation drone. It began slowly moving its head left and right like a vigilant dog.

“You say that. By why do you have your axe? Do you want to pick a fight with the cave itself?” Exarchi pointed at Drone 1’s bulky weapon. He noted that Drone 1 always received the prototypes first, so anything that the research automaton carried would eventually make their way to its other brethren.

“Affirmative,” Drone 1 promptly replied as it started marching towards deeper into the passage, where the iron golem was last seen.

“W-wait! This is too sudden! We just started mining! We should at least try to mine as much as we could before we clash with the inorganic entities!” Niner protested.

“Pondering. Is that so? I will return should you ask, then,” Drone 1 assured then left.

“Geez, I’d rather talk to Ratslayer than that guy. Talking to the younger ones is just… eh,” Exarchi muttered as he placed his hands against his hips.

“Technically, Drone 1 is the oldest since he might be the first drone to be built, which might be why he is called Drone 1. That means he’s your older brother, you know.” Niner elbowed Exarchi.

“Error. Not enough memory for filial piety,” Exarchi coughed.

“Shut up. You have enough memory for snarkiness,” Niner retorted.

At the outer rat hunting grounds, three drones carried a pole of dead spiders. Ratslayer’s hunt had been largely a success, with Drone 6 and Drone 7 learning valuable combat lessons. In fact, Drone 7 learned how to extract the acid out of the spiders.

“Master Custodian will be pleased. These acid glands would be interesting subjects of study,” Drone 7 chuckled as it raised the sac curiously.

“What will you plan to do with those?” Ratslayer asked.

“It could be used for something useful. We wouldn’t know. I believe it would be useful against the rats or something else entirely,” Drone 7 replied.

On the other hand, Drone 6 carried bundles of silk. It was curious about the strange webs since it first encountered them.

“These could be woven into useful threads,” Drone 6 observed.

“What would we do with the threads?” Ratslayer asked.

“Many possible applications. Such as armor,” Drone 6 said as it stretched the silk in its hands.

“Armor, you say?” Ratslayer’s interest suddenly spiked at the prospect of improving his combat efficiency.

“We shall see, brother,” Drone 6 replied.

On their way to the core room, the three drones realized that there were a lot more basket carriers than before. Not only there were monster cores being transported, but also baskets full of iron ore.

The passage to the core room was starting to become crowded, as both small and large drones moved in and out of the room. It took some effort for the three drones to get into the core room.

“Welcome back. Place any raw materials to be processed on the conveyors,” Custodian instructed. Plenty of improvements had been done to improve efficiency. Cranes, conveyors, and automated stackers were made and placed around the core room. Custodian felt more at home in this factory setting.

After organizing their hunts, the three drones approached their master.

“It seems you have something for me?” Custodian asked.

“I have learned how to successfully extract the acid from the organics known as spiders.” Drone 7 presented the acid gland taken from the spider corpses. “I will continue experimenting on the acid for its potential applications.”

“I see,” Custodian interjected.

Drone 6 stepped forward with the bundle of silk and presented it. “The silk produced by the spiders might prove to be resilient material for armor. If possible, we should actually minimize spider hunts.”

“What? No! We can’t let that happen!” Ratslayer protested.

“Silence, Ratslayer. Let your brother explain,” Custodian reprimanded its combat veteran.

“As I was saying, we should minimize the hunts, not remove it entirely. Provided that we are able to capture or at least push the spiders into specific sections of the cavern, we could farm a lot of silk. My idea is to prove to the spiders that we do not mean any harm to them,” Drone 6 explained.

“That is very ambitious and risky, but I approve. Innovations would lead us forward,” Custodian approved. “However, how are you going to do it?”

“We could transport some slimes using wheelbarrows and try to feed the spiders with them. Though, they might prefer rats,” Drone 6 suggested. “Imitation drones could also help us, I believe.”

“Interesting. But first, let me weave these silk. Once I find proof that it would be good material, I will allow you to continue with your plans,” Custodian said.

“Affirmative.” Drone 6 saluted, then left with Drone 7.

“Ratslayer, you stay,” Custodian called out to its last drone as he tried to leave. Ratslayer looked over his shoulder then stopped. He slowly walked forward to face his master, then rested his spear against the ground.

Looking closely at him, Ratslayer had changed since he was first awoken. He had many adjustments to his body, making him bigger than the rest of his brothers. Not only that, he was also covered with a heavy set of fur armor. Only his face showed any indication he was a faceless metal puppet, even then, anyone else would’ve thought it was just a metal helmet.

“You should trust your brothers more,” Custodian counseled.

“I am a drone. I unconditionally trust my brothers and my kin,” Ratslayer replied.

“We shall see. Have you seen Drone 1 lately?” Custodian asked.

“Sometimes. We bump to each other from time to time. Why do you ask?”

“Are you aware of the new weapons he was carrying?”

Ratslayer’s interest was piqued as he cracked his neck side to side. Whenever it came to combat equipment, he would become intensely curious, which Custodian liked to take advantage of.

“I am aware. He carried an iron axe around, as well as a sort of… ranged weapon?” Ratslayer answered.

“Correct. I was simply experimenting with my manufacturing capabilities. I created the great axe as it would require less training, less material, and less skill to make. But, it is not good enough against agile foes such as rats and spiders. Perhaps an axe or hammer would fare well against those recently encountered golems…” Custodian explained.

“I see,” Ratslayer interjected.

“Worry not. I think it is time for a promotion. Your promotion, that is,” Custodian said. The A.I.’s arms came out of the core, then grabbed a medium-sized storage chest off the floor. It placed the box in front of the drone, carelessly dropping it onto the floor with a loud thud.

“This is…?” Ratslayer raised its head in confusion.

“Open it.”

Ratslayer did as he was told. He crouched, then laid his metallic hands against the chest. Opening it slowly, something swelled within him. It was happiness. Pure, genuine happiness.

Inside the chest was a set of weapon. Not just any weapon, though. It was the latest development in arms technology for Custodian. The weapon had a gray blade which shone, but much cleaner than that of an iron blade. The hilt was carefully created to be ergonomic, as well as durable.

Ratslayer lifted the blade from its home, then looked at it. Running his hand against the blade, he almost thought he could feel its smoothness, even though it wasn’t possible for him to feel anything.

“Steel. It requires more work, more biomatter, more iron ore. But, it was worth it in the end,” Custodian explained.

Indeed. On Ratslayer’s hands was a intricately, and carefully crafted steel blade. Since relying solely on claw hands was impossible to craft such a weapon, the A.I. had to create a few more specialized drones built for different purposes.

Unlike the spear heads, which were created very roughly, the steel sword was given more care in thought. “I do not think I will have to replace your sword for many months, or even years, to come,” Custodian concluded.

Ratslayer found that the steel sword bent but did not snap, showing its flexibility. Which meant that the sword wouldn’t break easily even if he tried to break it. It was almost two tiers… No, three tiers above bio-iron.

He also noticed there was something else on the box. It was a crossbow that Drone 1 loved to lug around, even though he never used it. He dropped the bundle of bio-iron spears on his back, then exchanged it for the crossbow. He also tied a bolt bag around his thigh.

“I am sure you could live without a steel shield?” Custodian asked.

“Yes, this will all suffice for now. Thank you,” Ratslayer bowed.

‘They can also feel gratitude, it seems,’ Custodian thought.

“Now that we are facing different types of threats, your role among the drones will have to be made clear. You are no longer Ratslayer, for you shall henceforth be named Slayer.”