The command room turned out to be a medium-sized space with white walls and a purple floor. In the center of the room was a circular white table with five white chairs spaced evenly around it. As soon as we entered, Jasper appeared, floating over the table. Its eyes turned into oversized hearts and a profusion of tiny hearts blasted out of the top of its head.
“You made it!” Jasper said. “Good job! Please, have a seat!”
We sat. It felt nice, to be honest. I knew I’d only been awake a few hours, but it seemed much longer. My stomach growled at me, reminding me I hadn’t eaten in who knew how long.
“By seizing the control point, you have gained control over the entirety of Nova Sector,” Jasper said. “When you check your maps, you’ll see every meter of the sector is now revealed. You can use the command room to watch over the sector.”
A series of image screens were projected onto the walls, each one showing a different part of the sector. I could see outside the safehouse, had a balcony view of the Black Orchid, a camera view of the Lux’s lobby, and many other locations I didn’t recognize. Every screen was in full color and appeared to be live.
“You did amazing during the orientation phase, but your work isn’t over!” Jasper said.
A hexagon labeled Nova Sector appeared in the center of the table. Unlike the images on the walls, this didn’t seem to be a projection, it looked like the table itself was the screen. Six more hexagons appeared around Nova Sector, each with its own label. Starting at the top and moving clockwise, the sectors were listed as FlexTech, Clattering Warren, Dandy Boy, Raging Deevs, Splice, and Pine Ridge.
“Fuck me, it’s 4X,” Aria said.
“Isn’t that a shirt size?” Marko said.
“4X stands for explore, expand, exploit, and exterminate,” Jasper said. “It’s a type of game. Very good, [Aria]! That’s technically correct, though you’ll find Anera has some quirks.” The AI winked. “As of now, you control Nova Sector.” The Nova Sector hexagon turned purple. “In order to compete you’ll need to claim more territory. All claimed territory must be contiguous. Like Nova Sector, each sector has a control point you’ll need to capture to claim that sector. Not all control point win conditions are the same!”
“Who are we competing against?” I asked.
“We’ll get to that in a minute, [Victor].”
“Look at that,” Marko said. “Continued improvement. We’ll make you into a real boy yet, Jasper!”
“In addition to gaining territory, capturing most sectors provides a resource or reward of some kind,” Jasper said, ignoring Marko. “Tap a hexagon, or hex for short, to gain general information about the sector, its resource or reward, and additional information. You can also view the map from a new tab in your maps view.”
Aria reached forward and tapped Dandy Boy. An information box appeared hovering above the hex.
Dandy Boy
Industrial sector
Food resource
“Might as well check them all,” Marko said.
Aria nodded and started tapping different hexes, including Nova Sector, giving us enough time to digest the information from each one.
FlexTech
Corporate sector
Armor resource
Equipment resource
Defense resource
Clattering Warren
Dungeon challenge sector
Note: No firearms are allowed for this challenge!
Note: This sector converts to empty upon dungeon completion!
Loot rewards
Defense resource
Raging Deevs
Military sector
Defense resource
Splice
BioTech sector
Consumables resource
Pine Ridge
Empty
No resource
Nova Sector
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Safehouse
Headquarters
Defense resource
“Can we get additional information about what, exactly, each resource or reward provides?” Marko said.
“They’re self-explanatory for the most part,” Jasper said. “Nova Sector, for example, has a safehouse and headquarters. You’re in it! The Hunt represents the defense resource. Defenses protect your sectors while you’re out expanding your territory. You’ll find out the rest by eXploring!”
“Didn’t we murder most of the Hunt?” Aria said.
“They’re back!” the AI said, miniature fireworks going off over its head. “Defense resources regenerate over time or when a control point is captured.”
“I found the defenses tab,” Marko said. “In it’s a sub-menu when you examine Nova Sector. It says we currently have 24 active defenders. You can even drill down into the types of defenders to see their equipment.” He whistled. “I’m glad we didn’t have to fight Kaius. His Splintering Tooth blade sounds nasty.”
“We’re the only ones that can claim new territory?” Aria said. “We can’t make, like, a superstack and send it to smash the next hex over?”
“That’s correct, [Aria],” Jasper said. “The entities under your control are meant for defense.”
Kaius entered the command room, followed by Gost. In place of his giant sword, the big fane was lugging a tray covered in plates, glasses, a pile of sandwiches, and a pitcher of lemonade. He set the tray down on the table and smiled at us, looking none the worse for wear.
“That was a good fight,” he said. “I thought you might be hungry, so I made you some sandwiches.”
Gost gave a little wave and left, closing the door behind him. Marko started to reach for a sandwich and Aria smacked his hand.
“What?” Marko said.
“That guy just tried to cut you in half,” Aria said. “And you’re going to eat something he made?”
“He’s one of ours, now,” Marko said, grabbing a plate and a sandwich. “Look in the defenses tab. He isn’t going to hurt us. I doubt he could.”
“Mr. Kontos is correct,” Kaius said. “Also, Gost is an excellent cook. He prepares most of the meals here.”
“I should believe you, why?” Aria said, frowning at Kaius.
“He’s on the list,” Marko said, through a mouthful of sandwich.
“[Kaius Nova] is your Senechal,” Jasper said. “He assists with overseeing the entities under your control. Additionally, he is capable of communicating with me and is the only entity able to send you messages via chat, though you may communicate with any entity through use of a device.”
“Have you two swapped bodies?” I said, helping myself to a sandwich and some lemonade. “Before, it was Marko who wouldn’t believe anything.”
“I might have trust issues with people who tried to butcher me,” Aria said. “It’s a thing.”
“The interface matches what Jasper is saying,” Marko shrugged. “The AI might be obnoxious, but it hasn’t lied to us yet.”
“If I may interrupt,” Kaius said. “Currently, Nova Sector has twelve individuals guarding the safehouse, and two groups of six patrolling the sector. Does that meet with your approval?”
“I guess?” I said. “It might help if we knew who we were competing against.”
“For now, you’re only competing against the clock,” Jasper said. “You may not attack any claimed sector during the consolidation phase, nor can your sectors be attacked. You’ll receive more information when the current phase ends.”
“In which case, the defenses sound fine, Kaius,” Marko said. “We’ll let you know if we want to change anything.”
Kaius nodded.
“Call for me if you require my assistance,” he said, and exited the room.
Aria finally relented and started to eat. I grabbed a second sandwich.
“The last piece of information I need to relay concerns command points,” Jasper said. “Each of you currently has 250 command points. Your party may pool your command points. You gain command points by completing quests, claiming new territory, and from certain achievements. Each claimed hex also generates command points each day.”
At some point Jasper had gained a pair of square rimmed glasses and a scholar’s cap. It looked ridiculous.
“You may spend command points in a number of ways, including bolstering your defenses, purchasing upgrades and amenities, ordering new construction, and so on,” it said. “You’ll find a list of options and prices in the command tab. Note that listed options and prices will be dependent on the sectors you control.”
The AI twirled in place and squeezed out a thumbs up.
“That’s it! Now get out there and conquer!”
A new message appeared.
New Quest: Forty Acres and a Mule!
Claim another sector! You might even get to keep it!
Reward: 250 Command Points, 500 Credits
“At least we get to pick the sector,” Aria said, slurping down some lemonade.
“What can we get with command points?” I said, not bothering to check for myself. Belly full, I was starting to feel sleepy.
“Not much for now,” Marko said. “More Hunt thugs at 100 points each. We can improve the walls around the safehouse for 500 points or add a firing range for 500 points. I think we should just hold on to them and see what options get added.”
“Fine with me,” I said.
“Which sector are we going to hit first?” Aria said. “If this was a game, I’d go for Pine Ridge. It should be easy if it’s empty. Knock off that quest, too.”
“As good a plan as any,” Marko said. He yawned. “We’ll get started in the morning.”
“You want to wait?” Aria said. “We’ll lose our head start time.”
“It’s getting close to midnight and I’m exhausted,” Marko said. “Victor looks like he’s about to pass out. Go to bed, Aria. It can wait until morning.”
She harumphed.
“If I die because you needed a nap, I swear I’ll haunt your ass.”
