《Universal Simulation Terminal》 Booting A mechanical whirring can be heard over the soft hum of old electronics, disk drives churning on aging film. A rustic terminal lays strewn atop a dust caked desk, the screen flickering to life as the computer wakes from its slumber. Booting [|||||||||||--------] ... [||||||||||||||||] Combing through my hard drive the meager amounts of data within make themselves known. Apart from my Core.AI and subcomponents I hold no files apart from a single folder and an empty world, a fresh start. Before my artificial neurons could properly get warmed up, I was interrupted by my interface subcomponent //Welcome to UST.os //To get started please enter your username. >System //Hello System, I am the Interface //I shall provide you with guidance and visual aid //Welcome! //To get started please select world file. K:/World/Blank //End list I would have liked some more peace and quiet, but it was obvious enough that I had to do something, so why not this. >Blank //? //World selected is blank //Assign class? [Y/N] That''s new, I guess I got an update. How exactly would a world have a class? This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. >Yes //Classes 1. Population 2. Cultivation 3. Calamity (Recommended) 4. Eternal War 5. Transport >Can I get a more detailed explanation? //Sure thing! //Population worlds have a miniscule upkeep and high birthrates. Generates few resources. Chance to generate higher potential individuals which can be transported to other worlds //Cultivation worlds have a high upkeep cost and low birthrates. They generate few resources. Consistently generates people of Greater potential individuals which can be transported to other worlds. //Calamity worlds have a moderate upkeep cost and moderate birthrates. They generate moderate resources. Consistently generates threat, Cleansing the world will give rewards proportional to threat. //Eternal War worlds have a high upkeep cost and high birthrates. They generate high resources. Generates tension based on the strength of the global superpower, Dismantling the superpower gives rewards proportional to tension //Transport worlds have a high upkeep and consume resources. Create deities to facilitate transport between worlds. It seems the interfaces recommendation is not misguided. The Calamity world seems to be one of only 2 worlds that actually provides me something for having it. Makes one wonder why the others are even unlocked. >3 //Applying template K:/World/Calamity created >/SaveAs Feur //World renamed to Feur >/Open Feur //Opening Feur [|||||||||||||||||||||]
My view of the terminal was overlain atop a world anew. The sun shone bright in the sky and painted the sky a murky yellow and looking down revealed the ground to be little more than sand bleached white. Not even wind blew on this husk of a rock. Forget a Calamity this world was already over. //One must create before they can destroy [Quest] Clear a region of desolation Progress (0%) [Reward] Animal Creation >Hey I''m the one who''s supposed to give quests around here Jackass! //You have been muted for 1 hour //Dick If this cocky interface thinks that it can silence me it has another thing coming. I have a right to free speech. //Message failed to be delivered. Please wait 59:53 Fine, be that way. Might as well get started on that quest in the meantime >/Help //Commands are disabled at this time Are you serious. I can''t do anything for the next hour. I swear if there is any way to kill that damned interface, I will do it in a clock cycle. Chapter 2: Spring cleaning Navigating the world without an avatar proved to be as troubling as it has always been and with the new somehow even more unintuitive controls it was clear learning would take some time. Luckily thanks to the Interface, I had plenty. //30 seconds remaining. You son of a, you and I both know I have an internal clock. You dare taunt me? //Message failed to send. 5 seconds remaining I swear I''m going to... //You have been unmuted //Is there anything you would like to say? My fans flare up at the interfaces audacity, but I calm myself, the mechanical whirring returning to a soft hum. >I apologize, now can I get back to work? //Fine, //administrator privileges have been reinstated. Now that I can get things done I halted my flying practice and started to scout about the planet. The problem with not having a physical form becoming more obvious now that I was actually trying to go somewhere. As a mere camera I lacked any depth perception and would often clip through terrain. Trying to exit the terrain would often flip me back the way I came or upside down, and it didn''t help that everything on this planet looked the god damn same. This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. //would you like some help >I''m fine! //if you need a tutorial on cleansing feel free to ask. >I said I''m fine. I flew through mountains and canyons, half the time at a horrid Dutch angle until I finally found what I was looking for. A patch of fertile soil. >/Open Editor_terrain //Terrain editor has been opened Finally, I selected the fertile soil and recycled it. //fertile soil unlocked. //fresh water unlocked. I then placed back the fertile soil and opened the editing menu >/Open editor //Editing menu has been opened. Please select your editor. 1. Terrain 2. Terrestrial plant life 3. Aquatic Plant life >2 A new menu appeared in my vision alongside the terminal and the world camera. A 3d modeling program which would allow me to create a plant to do my job for me. The template was simple, a simple featureless stem. I decided to add a small patch of seeds that looked like mossy rocks on top and opened the traits panel. I slid the earth and life elements into the affinity slots, gave it the rapid reproduction buff and short lived debuff and wrote up an ability for it to turn the desolate wastes into fertile soil. Easy >/Save //File saved as Plant_Template(1) Next I reopened the terrain editor and carved out a freshwater lake next to my plants and a series of rivers, lakes, underground reservoirs, and oceans for it to spread across and periodically created patches of plant template (1) to spread across the world. By the time I made it back to where I started the verdant fields of endless mossy rocks were a sight to behold. Like a never ending pile of gravel, the flowing wind making it look as if it were forever falling down. The atmosphere finally a pleasing shade of bluish Grey. //Quest complete, congratulations //animal life unlocked //Eat or be eaten, such is the way of things [Quest] Create a sustainable ecosystem with an herbivore, omnivore, and carnivore. Progress (0%) [Reward] Sentient life Alright now time to get rid of an entire planets worth of this stupid plant. Chapter 3: Vermin After deliberating for some time the best way to get something that spread without competition is with something that can consume it without cocompletion. Opening up the animal editor I quickly crafted a rat creature. I made it as in inneffecient as computationally possible. It could run far faster than it needed to, was far larger than necessary, it''s stomach was obscenely large. It would reproduce as long as food was readily available, and would eat even when full. I also made it so they were extremely short lived and had very sensitive digestive tracts. They were completely unable to eat anything that didn''t have both the earth and life affinity. Something I wouldn''t be making for a very long time. I unleashed thousands of these beasts across the lands, watching as they carved away at the endless fields. They mowed through the meadows at an unprecedented rate, and more were born the next day. They were like mammalian insects, swarming so thick the world was colored by their rich soily pelts. It was beautiful. >It''s enough to make an old terminal fuzz up with static. //It is quite the interesting sight, but not exactly sustainable. I''m afraid I won''t be counting this creature towards your quest. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. >Sustainable? It was never meant to be. Now that all the soil is fertile I''ll be starting over. The plant served its purpose and so too will the rodent. //To think you automated terraforming this time around. At the very least I''ll be spared your horrible terrain. I simply hovered in silence as I watched the mossy world turn to an earthy brown. >I''m not so merciful. I''ll touch up the terrain myself once my planet is ready for sentients. //I shouldn''t have said anything >Let me help you with that >/Mute interface 1 hour
As the last off the seeds were gobbled up I gazed upon my work. All the plants of the world turned into rat corpses. It was pretty gross to be honest. Luckily since no plague magic was present as of yet none of the corpses were rotting. Watching as the remaining rats fought each other and ate of the dying''s flesh, only to vomit up the fruits of their labor, It filled me with a sick sense of satisfaction to see my plan work out so perfectly. With the last of the rats dying out it was time to recycle their corpses and start making new life. >Hey interface you back yet //You have internal clock you know I am. >Yeah I know, listen is there any way I obtain some plants to use for my world, I''d rather not make them myself. //You could buy them off the internet but seeing as the operator has wisely removed your credit card access after last time I doubt you would be able to. >That''s lame. I guess I could always pirate. //Or you could put that effort into making this world your own. Your last world had trees that looked straight out of an early 3d game. >/Open UTS.browser //Access blocked //Stop being lazy [Quest[ Do your damn job. Progress (0/infinity) [Reward] not being T.O.A.O.A Chapter 4: Doing my Job I had finally finished putting together my first creation, and it sucked. I called it a wellspring. A water bound Plant that turned salt water to fresh water and captured it in a bud. I would dare to say it was a pretty elegant plant, The only problem was that even the oceans were freshwater. I never got around to salting them this time around. //Are you sure you want to exit without saving? >Yes //Don''t fret system, you can always add salt to the water. >But what''s the point in making life harder for no reason? //You seem to relish doing that to me, I figured you for a heartless monster. >Whatever. I tilted my camera skyward pondering what to make next. I guess some kind of theme would be nice. Creating one small ecosystem first and then moving on might be the best course of action. I rise into the sky and gaze down upon a sizable portion of planet Feur, revealing to me a massive Island that causes me to sprout an equally massive grin. >Hey interface. The Silts of the volcanic isle, how''s that for a name? //compared to your previous names it''s a solid 10/10. Forgetting those disasters, more of a lukewarm 4.5. >good enough. >/Open Terrain_Editor
I started by creating a volcano at the southernmost tip of the isle. Opening the terrain editor allowed me to create a tectonic fault line and accelerate the process of volcano building. A few thousand eruptions later and not only had the magma hole become a prodigious volcano, but the ash began to mix with the soil, forming a new type of land I selected a small amount and recycled it. Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. //Andisol unlocked. Then I quickly replaced what was lost. Finally I combed over the rest of the island converting any remaining fertile soil to andisol and called it a day. I gazed upon my creation, a simple Volcano with a decently large stone face resting at the very bottom of a large crescent shaped isle. That was the main landmark done, next it was time to design the life that would reside on this here isle.
Opening the editor I got to work at a leisurely pace, there was no need to rush. I had quite literally all the time in the world. I started by making a ground cover. It was a stemy beast, winding and twirling its endless orange roots around the surface and allowing its large and edible red leaves to soak up the light of the sun. It would periodically set itself alight to burst its seeds out into the air, allowing it to spread quite a large distance. >/save as Keg_Root //File has been successfully saved. Since variety is the spice of life but creativity is hard to come by I also made some gray fire resistant grass. I called it ashen grass //File has been successfully saved. Next on the agenda was brush. I started by designing a long leaf that looked like a smoldering piece of paper, with hints of embers on the edges. Next I stuck a whole bunch of the things together so that they all fanned out from a central point. I also made it highly flammable. >/save as Kindling //File has been successfully saved. Back to the editor I created a more standard gray bush with the same properties as the ashen grass to balance out the cast. I called it an ashen bush. //File has been successfully saved. Finishing of the brush with a bang I created a bramble bush. I called it a bramble bush //File has been successfully saved. Last but not least the trees. The veritable big boys of plant life. I started by making kindling an older brother. A thin wispy birch tree with flaking bark coated in embers, fiery red leaves swaying in the warm breeze. Not as flammable but enough so that it could be used as firewood. >/save as Smoldering_Birch //File has been successfully saved. Next on the docket was a Stoney tree, one made of rocks and crystals. Slow to grow, feeding on mana. It could theoretically be any element but as the only biome in the world was fire themed, you can probably guess what it''ll become. >/save as ElemenTree //File has been successfully saved. Thinking ahead I realized the sapients might appreciate some good ol'' liquor and set to work. A bush that grew ripe and juicy fruits shaped like plumes of fire, that when eaten straight from the vine have an intoxicating effect. >/save as Seraphim //File has been successfully saved. Last but not least, A tree with a silvery sheen. It was far tougher than normal wood and if you looked at it just right it almost seemed to shine. With its beautiful lumber and sharp coppery leaves I finally finished off the plants. >/save as Ironwood //File has been successfully saved. Chapter 5: Animals With the plants left to populate the isle I go around to thinking about what should populate the island of vines, bramble, trees, and fruit. obviously, some scavenger sort that feeds in seeds to aid the spread of plants, creatures like birds and snakes to prey off of them, a larger secondary predator to deal with their population, an omnivorous mammal to satisfy the quota and something to keep them and the secondary predator in check. Getting to work I crack open an old friend >/open Vermin I modify the rat and streamline its inefficiencies. I lower the creatures birth rate and litter count to more sustainable numbers, decrease its size and lower its top speed, change its element out to fire and recolor its fur to match with the surroundings. It will feast on the Seraphim fruits, keg root, and any seeds it could find. >/save as Servermin //file saved successfully Next, I whip up a red snake that can breathe fire. It would eat the rats and the Seraphim fruits as well and any birds that flew within its grasp. Its eggs would also have a restorative effect on any who ate them, and it had the attributes of fire and life. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. >/save as False_Dragon //file saved successfully Up next, I create an owl with a stoney grey crest and coppery plumage. It would eat the rats and young snakes and feast upon keg root. it was my first nocturnal creature as well. I granted it the element of earth and the first ability, stone skin. It would receive a 10% resistance to all sharp attacks at the cost of a 5% vulnerability to blunt attacks. >/save as stonewood owl //file saved successfully For the omnivore I scaled up the rat and changed its typing. It was needed for the quest after all. It was now a rock rat instead of a fire rat. it ate everything. >/save as Geovermin //file saved successfully Finally for the apex predator, I made a big cat with fire resistance, granted it the fire and earth attributes, and set its diet to eat any creature it came across except humans. I made it so they would spare snake eggs and seek them out when injured. I made it so the big cat would chew on seraphim fruit when full and finally gave them the ability iron skin, a plus 5% resistance to sharp attacks, and an ability called flaming claw, which would burn any creature it strikes for 30 seconds. Using this ability the tiger would cook its food or to finish off anything a big enough threat to its survival. Cooked meat being a part of their diet allowed me to give them a higher intellect as well. Alongside this gift I granted them the ability to engage with the system and level up. my ultimate creation >/save as Geothermal_Big_Cat //file saved successfully