Kyle kept his guard up, staying wary as he stepped through the now-opened door of the administrator’s room. However, instead of seeing a control center of some sort, it was instead a long concrete hallway, dimly lit by barely functioning lights. There is still electricity in the place – entirely possible for someone to be alive.

He slowly stepped down the hallway, minimizing the noise of his footsteps as much as he could as he approached a T-junction. A sign in the Council’s language was plastered on the wall, further cementing Kyle’s belief that this was a Galactic Era installation.

[<--------------- Seed Storage | Genetic Chemicals ------------------->]

Seed Storage? Is this a doomsday bunker? However, the existence of the green gaseous chambers that improved the hobgoblins did not seem right. It felt more like an experimental lab than a bunker meant to hide out. There were also no signs for shelter, so it did not feel like an evacuation point.

Kyle decided to check out the chemicals’ section first, curious about the green gas. He had breathed in a few whiffs but felt no particular changes to his body, wondering if it only affected goblins.

He soon reached another similar metallic door, locked tight. Unlike the previous doors, this one was seemingly well-preserved, with no sign of attack or any metal nano-plague corroding it from inside out. Kyle was considering his options on breaking the lock when the door automatically opened for him, as though it was expecting him. This raised his suspicion even higher as he tried to figure out why did he have such privilege.

Is every System user an administrator? If there are such facilities in Versia, and Galactic Era tech was able to be recovered, perhaps they, too have a System User…

Kyle focused his attention on his immediate surroundings. He stepped through the door, revealing a bio lab that was clearly dedicated to genetic experimentation. Hundreds of labelled pressurised gas tanks were lined up in a packed formation, the tubes attached to their nozzles and running the entire length of the lab’s ceiling towards an exit duct that no doubt led to the individual gas chambers.

There were four vats in the lab, each with a floating specimen inside. Kyle could see that they were arranged in ascending order, with a goblin baby being the first, followed by a goblin child, a goblin adult and a hobgoblin adult. They seemed to have been preserved in some sort of stasis, their cellular activity frozen in time.

Were the goblins artificially created? Or experimented on? Kyle moved over to the control terminal, where he spotted a helmetless human wearing an exosuit sitting on the chair, facing the vats. He readied himself for a fight, slowly moving up and using the hammer to spin the exosuit around slowly.

Only the dead, agonized, decaying face of its occupant stared back at Kyle, long dead before Kyle even arrived. Streaks of dried blood stains were marked on the wall, along with three other destroyed exosuits with no bodies. A pile of human bones lay in front of the exosuit pilot. Cannibalism. Not surprised.

He shoved the exosuit and bones out of the way, tapping the control panel. Nothing responded despite electricity still being supplied to this place. Kyle tried tapping once again, prompting a shimmering sound to materialize behind him. He quickly swiveled and swung the hammer, only for the hammer to pass through a holographic human.

[Good morning, Administrator. Oracle-13 ORISA at your service. What tasks would you like me to perform today?] The holographic AI human bowed, wearing a skimpy bikini that accentuated her curves in a disproportionate way. It instantly disgusted Kyle.

“Revert to your default form and give me the logs of the lab. And call me sir.”

[Understood.] The A.I. reverted into a military-style uniform, complete with a beret. [Following Protocol 138A, all existing logs and data have been purged from the facility. Shall I attempt to uplink to the main server?]

Main Server? “All future uplinks are hereby prohibited. Understood?”

“Yes, Administrator.”

“Refer to me as sir.”

The figure glitched temporarily, before returning to normalcy. “Yes, Administrator.”

Kyle didn’t press any further, immediately picking up on the error. Seems like the cognitive core is damaged.

He continued to scan the room, digging up any information possible. Many of the monitors have already been damaged, with only one intact, still functioning. He reached over to the monitor, tapping the nearly invisible frame with the tip of his fingers. It prompted a holographic keyboard to appear in the air, one that Kyle quickly typed in to try and access any remaining data. Yet the system had been wiped clean, with nothing left to investigate apart from a glowing “PROTOCOL 138A” in front of him.

“What is Protocol 138A?”

[I apologise. Information regarding Protocol 138A has also been erased.]

Kyle frowned, visibly frustrated as he tried again on the keyboard. However, facing such an issue was not unexpected. Many human forces in the Galactic Era employed such tactics to mask their military or secret installations. Galactic Coordinates were a life-or-death matter. It would be catastrophic if they were leaked to a hostile alien force. Kyle himself had employed such a protocol during his liberation war against the invading slovesa, preventing captured ships from leaking critical data.

“When was your last reboot?”

“68163748625”

“In human years.”

“Three hundred and seventy years ago.”

“When was Protocol 138A implemented?”

“Unknown.”

“So, you don’t know what this lab is for.”

[Correct. But I am connected to every mechanical and electrical system in this facility.]

“What defence systems are left?”

[Searching… ERROR: all defence systems have been neutralised.]

“What was your original purpose?”

[Sorry, I do not have the information to answer that.]

Kyle gripped his fist tightly, looking around for any question that he might have to try his luck. “What is this holographic interface that I have?”

[Sorry, I do not understand the question. I do not sense any holographic interface present on you.]

Kyle groaned. “What information do you actually have?”

[I have been equipped with many of the instructions needed to grow the seeds stored in the Seed Storage section. I am also able to control the pressure of the gas tanks that are currently connected to the individual chambers.]

Kyle sighed. If the A.I. had continued to be useless, he might have stormed the entire place to find her databank and rebooted it in the most manual way possible. “That’s it?”

[Apologies. All other records have been eradicated. There are two remaining pieces of data that I have retained, however.]

“Show me.”

[The first is an instruction to download data from the main server. Shall I execute?]

“NO!” Kyle shouted hurriedly. He had no idea what forces were behind the planet or controlling any installation. There would be severe repercussions if the force behind the main server found out that he had taken down one of their facilities. If Kyle were in that position, he would have also done the same thing.

“Under no circumstances are you to make any radio transmissions, electrical connection, or conversation with anyone outside this facility except me. Got it?”

[Yes, sir.]

Kyle pushed the dead exosuit wearer out of the chair, sitting down on it to rest. This is actually a blessing in disguise, but I must find a way to hide the existence of the A. I as much as possible. Spreading the word about such a facility among the common people is a good way to invite trouble.

He glanced at the A.I., who was still in a holographic form. “You mention another piece of information, what is it?”

[While my functionality is currently limited, I am able to restore my original form via repair of a few critical systems. Upon reboot I have noted all damaged systems and their required components]

A list of items appeared in front of Kyle, detailing the extent of the damage. Kyle’s eyes darted as he scanned through the list, most of which were clearly nanotech that he did not have the means to acquire nor produce. However, most of the damaged modules were not that important to him, especially anything to do with communications. It was better if he left it unrepaired to prevent virtual incursions.

One of the module’s name intrigued him, however. “Physical Transfer Module?”

[A module that allows me to upload a copy into a pre-prepared physical biological body.]

Kyle had never seen an A.I adopt a biological organism before, most of the time it being fully synthetic like a robot. Why does the A.I in such a location have this functionality though? “You must have records of using such a body before.”

[No, but I have retained the instruction on how to create a physical avatar.]

Kyle quickly started planning in his head. With the help of this supposed A.I. avatar, it could accelerate the redevelopment of the entire goblin society by centuries. All he had to do was to find some way to get the avatar to be somewhat functional, and then integrate it into the goblin society as a sort of ‘leader’.

Now with Osir dead, Sahusa would be a puppet under him, essentially giving Kyle full control of the goblin society within the Culdao Peaks. This alone would skyrocket his industrial capabilities beyond what any of his competitors could do, even the Ardent Cretins.

Step-by-step. Kyle had to stabilize the kingdom first in order to get the workforce going. Knowing that the source of the instability in the first place was due to famine, food was the highest priority that he needed to solve.

“Show me to the Seed Storage.”

Kyle crossed the hallway in which he entered from, heading to the opposite end where the pneumatic doors unlocked to reveal a broken radiation shower, meant to sterilize germs and bacteria that could infect the seeds.

Rows upon rows of shelves with cryogenically frozen seeds in pods stretched onwards infinitely, while ancient packing drones whirred to life, scaling the infinite shelves along the rims and resuming their indexing task. The A.I floated above him in a holographic projection, following him. [What seeds are you looking for?]

He peered into a few of the nearest pods, noticing a wide variety of genetic modification for all types of plants: Ancient Earth, New Terra and multiple new strains from conquered alien worlds. These collection reminded Kyle of one of the largest coroporations in the Galactic Era: terraformers, paid for decades-long projects to make worlds habitable again.

So was this a terraforming outpost…? But why experiment on goblins? Kyle did not question more, instead focusing on which seeds he needed in the immediate term. “Fastest growing cycle with the largest portion of nutrients and calories, with a slight emphasis on good flavour.”

[Calculating… Type-349-AGW, modified radish with growth cycle of 14 days, leaves are edible as well with a slight spice to it.]

“How many in storage?”

[Approximately 2,000,000 seeds.]

“Good. Have all of them unfrozen and delivered to the front entrance. I will be back soon.”

Sahusa was panicking as he continued to hide in the armoury, worried about what happened to Kyle. He had not heard a single warrior past the armoury ever since, but Kyle not returning after a few hours worried him tremendously.

Suddenly, two pairs of footsteps could be heard approaching the barricaded door of the armoury. Sahusa quickly grabbed a sword and shield that was nearby, preparing to fight. Don’t look down on me! I am Sahusa the Great!

“Sahusa. You better be alive in there.” The voice of Kyle wafting through the barricades sent a wave of relief through Sahusa’s body, nearly bursting out into tears.

The barricade was quickly torn down, with Sahusa clamouring to his feet. “Osir, did you kill Osir?”

“I have.” Kyle respond, tossing the decapitated head of Osir through the opening, the tendrils skidding along the vacant armoury’s floor. “We had a deal.”

Sahusa gulped. His ancestors had always warned him of human treachery, yet at this point he had no choice but to accept for now. As Kyle entered past the torn barricade, Sahusa immediately knelt on all twos. “I, Sahusa, King of the Goblins, in exchange for the grace and help that you have rendered me, plead allegiance to you for the remainder of my life.”

“Good. It’s time to stabilize the kingdom.”

With Osir now dead, the pacification of the remaining rebels went off without a hitch, though some defectors fled deeper into the mountains, scaling up the slopes towards the glaciers above. Combining the forces under Sasha’s control and the loyal followers of Sahusa, the chaos and disorder ended as abruptly as it had begun.

The food that Kyle’s forces had brought in originally only served as a stop-gap. “Sasha, send a message to Merissa to divert more food over here for the next two weeks, we need it to tide over until we become more self-sufficient here.”

[Understood.]

“Sahusa, gather a hundred of your most loyal troops and head to the Oracle’s entrance. I have convinced the Oracle to provide gifts.”

“A gift?!” Sahusa’s face immediately lit up, his respect for the Oracle’s omnipotence immeasurable.

An hour later, a hundred hobgoblins were standing outside the circular chamber in the expansive hallway, murmuring among themselves as they watched the first two dozen hobgoblins, along with King Sahusa, enter with Kyle guiding them in. The doors closed shut behind them, leaving the remaining hobgoblins wondering.

The hallway had been long cleaned up, Kyle having ordered the A.I to sweep up any remaining debris and bodies to prevent the surviving goblins from knowing the true nature behind the Oracle. Yet the hobgoblins were not bothered by the long dried blood stains on the floor, instead marvelling in awe at the carvings that extended all across the ceiling.

<I have never been in the Oracle’s chambers before. Why does it look so different from what we have outside?>

<Shut up, it’s a gift to be even able to enter such a holy place. The Oracle herself shall herald us into a golden age!>

As the hobgoblins discussed excitedly as to the origins of the Oracle over the next few minutes, the pneumatic doors slid open, revealing the same two dozen hobgoblins and King Sahusa. Those waiting outside were taken aback as they clearly saw a marked difference in the bodies of those who entered.

The most prominent change was that of King Sahusa, who had grown to a size nearly as large as Osir, his repressed genes activated by the green gas. It was a stark difference from his previously average height as a normal hobgoblin. Sahusa flexed his hands a bit, noticing the sheer power and strength flowing through his body. He had never felt better in his life.

He threw a punch, the vigorous blood swirling through his vein with a clear new level of power. <I feel like I can do anything! The Oracle has blessed us!>

Cheers erupted from the hobgoblins, the gift of the Oracle evident in front of them. Kyle smiled, watching his overtuned workforce come into being. With this, everything should go much faster. “Sahusa, I leave the rest to you. You already have the information on how to plant the seeds?”

“Yes, Lord Kyle.” Sahusa bowed with genuine respect to him, recognizing Kyle as the benefactor.

“Good. Work with Sasha to overcome the famine and follow her orders. Food supplies will arrive intermittently.”

“I understand… but where are you going?”

“I have a few personal issues to solve.” Kyle waved him off, heading to the rear of the chambers and entering the Genetic Chemicals section alone, sealing the door behind him. With the installation restored to a somewhat functional stage, the System Messages were now flooding his screen.