[Hanako] Chapter 15: The Garden

[Throndir]

Mining Site #2 - 5th Level - Section 10 - The Garden
Day 17 - 10 AM

The girl moved quickly, before anyone else could get their bearings on the situation, the girl who called herself 'TLS-1' was already on you. A plain shock of surprise was on Trudy's face, and even Kari's, not expecting the action.

The girl's lips was pressed on to yours, but not only that, you had the keen impression that she was a great kisser. She was warm to the touch save for the metallic plate that was on her chest, and you felt the obvious sensations of the girl's tongue almost exploring your own. The whole ordeal was a few seconds at most with the other two girls behind you with their mouths wide open. But eventually she stepped back.

"Imprinting is complete~ Master, what is your name?" The girl asked as she licked her lips in an almost slow and deliberate way.

Titles appeared then.

You have gained a new title 『Owner of the Garden』
You have gained +1 Skills
You have gained a new title 『Loaded』
You have gained +1 Skills
You have gained a new title 『Absolutely Loaded』
You have gained +1 CHA

[Asta]

"Uh... Buh..." Hanako stammered for moment trying to process what just happened. "Hanako... is my name... could you uhh... explain?"

It wasn't the first time something unexpected had happened since coming to this world, and surely it wouldn't be the last; yet every time it seemed to take Hanako by surprise.

[Throndir]

Mining Site #2 - 5th Level - Section 10 - The Garden
Day 17 - 10 AM

The metallic-chested girl continued to lick her lips, as if savoring every bit of it.

"A tasty name... Master Hanako, I like the taste of your lips, too. Since you're the master, you may make use of the Garden however you please. You may also have your way with me." The girl said, as she began to wrap her arms around you.

"Then a loooooong nap once we get the Garden powered up again~"

[Asta]

"Ah..." Hanako started, and very deliberately made sure not to return the embrace. She shot a sideways glance at her companions that said "I don't know what's going on but lets not act hasty."


"Err... TLS... One was it? I assume this is the Garden we're in? Could you err... elaborate on that?"

[Throndir]

Mining Site #2 - 5th Level - Section 10 - The Garden
Day 17 - 10 AM

The look on both of your companion's faces was still in shock, though Kari recovered quicker. She had her weapon drawn already, but began to tentatively put it back. As for Trudy, she seemed to have been pouting and puffing her cheeks, though didn't really say anything.

"Yes... this is the garden, where I've slept for probably hundreds of years now." TLS-1 confirmed. "It's a creation of my first master, Arch Technicist Alcina Thamylon of the Feltheno Empire. She created this, along with my sisters and I."

At this she let go of you, then raised her hand and pointed it towards the direction of the dark room beyond. Light appeared from her hands then, lighting up the immediate area, and from what you had confirmed earlier, there really was nothing but soil and long dead trees. Though, with the light from her hands, the trees did have a slight orange tint to them that you didn't notice before.

"The Thamylon Legend is a ship with each of it's components built in various cities around the world during my time. This one, the Garden, was the center of food production, agricultural productions, and cultivation. With sufficient power, it'd have enough output to feed a country. It can speed up the growth of any plant by a thousand-fold. When it had power to create a false day in here, it would be so warm and comfortable that you'd just want to nap all day in the sun~" She said dreamily.

She turned back towards you.

"Unfortunately master... Power has been out since 3,183 years, 126 days, and 14 hours ago. Since then, I've put myself in a lower-power state, and only awakened when the systems you powered up just now tapped me awake~" She yawned at this.

[Asta]

"Yeah stands to reason... You said this was part of a ship? The entire thing is deep underground right now, which probably explains the power loss. Is there any way to get it back up and running? Side note, if we get it going again is there an easier way to get down here? Because I gotta tell ya..." Hanako motioned to the various rips, tears, and bloodstains all over her uniform. "It wasn't a walk in the metaphorical park."

Hanako figured if she just glazed over the fact that she was on, what was in all likelihood a huge goddamn spaceship, that she would be able to retain her sanity; as well as not have to spend an hour explaining what by all rights was just a science fiction concept made reality to Trudy and Kari. Though... they did live in a world of magic... so perhaps it wouldn't be that far fetched to them.

[Throndir]

"It's deep underground because of the phasing. A chunk of the city was forcibly dropped here underground. The remnant of the city was in a panic though, but as per my orders from Doctor Alcina, I had the Garden go into lockdown."

"There's an engine core in the Garden that we can use to charge it back up... It can siphon mana from any source. Though, it'll take an extreme amount of mana to do so. We can also use ether crystals, refined into a liquid to power it. The final design of the Thamylon Legend actually relied on the Tower to provide the energy for all other components, but as long as we have mana the Garden can work. As for being underground... We do have some minor weapons on board, but I can't guarantee on how well they'll be able to make it to the surface..."

"Doctor Alcina had written up instructions for this generation's hero. There is a user's manual for the Garden. However, I can guide you through the systems as well if you would like." She stretched as she yawned again. "Just say the word."

We'll treat the user manual as a kind of Training. Unlocking it will allow you to use Knowledge checks related with the Garden/Thamylon Legend, without a horrible circumstance penalty. DC 17, RS: 6.

[Asta]

"Well... I guess lets see if we can get it up and running then. You'll have to guide me, I don't think I have time to read over the manual at the moment... Let's go over it step by step and then take it from there. Then maybe we can work on figuring out a faster way in and out. Heck, maybe we can find out a way to take the whole thing to the surface."

[Throndir]

Mining Site #2 - 5th Level - Section 10 - The Garden - Heading to Control
Day 17 - 10 AM

It was completely pitch black in the room. If it wasn't for the torch Trudy was carrying, along with the artificial light TLS-1 was producing, it would have been hard to see anything at all. For one thing, it was a very open space inside where-ever TLS-1 was taking you to. The ground beneath you was definitely dead, and having a chance to near the dead trees, it was then that you realized that the trees here had parts of it that shone a metallic orange.

300 ft. from there, the group ran into another door, along with a wide glass wall. TLS-1 then inserted her hand into a section of the door, then lights flickered as the metallic doors opened. There was a gush of wind as pressure was normalized between the two.

"This dome we're leaving is Biosphere-1, where the orichalcum trees are grown." TLS-1 explained. When the door finally opened, it revealed much more dirt, though a clear lack of trees of any sort.

"This is the central area of the Garden. Another 400 ft. to the elevators that will take us to Control."

With that, the group took off again. TLS-1 took a relaxed pace, stretching, or yawning every so often. She claimed to have been created by an 'Arch Technicist Alcina Thamylon', though her own mannerisms seem natural and almost life-like. That said, the fact your own golems were glancing around, in an almost nervous-way was much the same.

Finally, the elevator was in sight. It looked like a metallic shaft with a 10 ft. wide entrance, that went straight upwards. Much like before, TLS-1 inserted her hand into one of the consoles on the elevator, and it soon powered up. TLS-1 yawned again at that, wiping the few tears welling up in her eyes from the yawning gesture. Once the elevator was brought to life, the doors opened, and TLS-1 hopped right in.

"Don't be shy! You can enter any time." She said, throwing a wink while specifically looking at Hanako.

[Asta]

"Ehhh, right..." Hanako replied and tugged at her collar before stepping into the elevator. "Did you say orichalcum? Like the metal?"

If Hanako knew her fantasy metals, and like a good NEET she did, there was a veritable treasure trove of resources in the dome they had left behind.

[Throndir]

Mining Site #2 - 5th Level - Section 10 - The Garden - Elevators to Control
Day 17 - 10 AM

"Yes~ One of the experiments doctor Alcina started thousands of years ago. She had planned to grow orichalcum to sell to the empire to help fund her experiments and research, but it wasn't quite as profitable as she hoped. Their growth rate is extremely slow however even with all of our advances. Anyways, we have other domes too, though, they're all empty except for that first one we passed through."

Mining Site #2 - 5th Level - Section 10 - The Garden - Control
Day 17 - 10 AM

It was rather cramped in the elevator with the skeletal summons and golems. But everyone managed to eventually fit. TLS-1 kept one of her hands inserted into a control panel, and up the group went. The control room was actually a good far distance above, but the speed of the elevator made the trip quick. The doors opened again, and like before a rush of air blew in, signifying another slight change in pressure.

"Master Hanako..." TLS-1 yawned. "I want to take a long nap with you. I'm getting really sleepy opening up all these doors and running these elevators..." She shook her head.

"We're almost there~" Said TLS-1 as she took the group through a few halls and eventually to a larger room. "This is the Garden's engineering core. I would take you to Command, but it's useless if there's no power through the ship."

"The 'direct access personal energy converter', or DAPEC for short." She pointed towards a glowing blue orb in a protected glass covering.

"It's made from crystal-type metallum in our era. Doctor Alcina invented it. It feeds directly into the ship's fuel lines. If you touch it, your mana will be drained almost immediately."

You can specify how much MP you want to put into it. MP is mainly used for a variety of functions for each of these ships. From charging/reloading weapon batteries, flight time, boost time, and other specific ship functions. There is also a daily drain on the energy levels when it's not in power-saving mode. These upkeep smaller systems such as lights, automated doors, alarms, communications, life support, etc.

[Asta]

"Fascinating..." Hanako said. It was like she had walked into the setting of one of those sci-fi anime, all that was missing were the mecha. "I think we are all actually a little tired. It was quite the hassle to get down here. We could probably take a break if everyone wants to."

"I do have a question however, if the ship takes up so much mana to run, how exactly did they power it without having to be constantly draining multiple people? Did they use some sort of alternate fuel? If we can't get this thing out from underground, we're going to need to figure out a way to get here and back easily. There are people waiting for us on the surface, and we have plans to leave this country in the near future..."

If the party is ok with it, everyone can take a little break to recuperate.

[Throndir]

Mining Site #2 - 5th Level - Section 10 - The Garden - Control
Day 17 - 10 AM

"Yes!~ This ship and all other components of the Thamylon Legend run on Ether Liquid. It's made by processing Ether Crystals into it. These crystals are ones that can store mana. At the same time, direct mana through the DAPEC can work to refuel the ship, converting it directly into energy, but it's generally more efficient using Ether Liquid. That said, it's even more efficient if the Tower, another component of the Thamylon Legend, were to supply us with the energy."

"As for refining ether crystals into ether liquid... That was the main job of the Alchemy Lab. We can process a bit of it in the Garden, though, not as efficiently. But then we'd need the supply of ether crystals."

"There are ether plants that can supply us with mana, too. If all we care about is the raw energy to power the ship. Though, it'd help more if we had a supply of its seeds to use. We have one in the lobby. The enchantment placed on the lobby building by Alcina prevents time from affecting the lobby negatively. So even the ether plant used as decoration there is still usable."

[Asta]

"Ether plant you say? Like the 'Mages Gift'? If it's seeds we need... well, I've got that covered." Hanako pulled the collection of Mages Gift seeds from her bag to show to TSL-1. "My golem over there is carrying the plant from the lobby. Original plan was to take these back to the surface and use them to manufacture mana potions. If the growth rate of the plants is accelerated enough to use them as a temporary fuel source we could probably do that and shoot our way to the surface to take off. Tell me more about this tower though."

[Throndir]

Mining Site #2 - 5th Level - Section 10 - The Garden - Control
Day 17 - 10 AM

As the golem produced the plant out. TLS-1 nodded brightly.

"Yes, that will do perfectly." She said nodding at it. "Mages' Gift? That's what they call it these days? Etherius suffruticosa is what we called it."

"As for the tower..." She yawned at this. "That's kind of a boring topic... But suffice to say, it's the primary engine for the Thamylon Legend. It has a fuel capacity 100 times more than the Garden. It also has the proper systems onboard to efficiently make use of both mana and ether liquid."

"Anyways... We can activate one of the domes for growth once we place the seeds or the plant inside. We'll need some fuel though, or at least your mana."