98 M1 - Term: 2 to 3, Break (2/2)

Daedo: it was a hybrid electric with fossil fuel. Maybe they just use the fossil fuel as a backup.

Mace: that's probably correct. But I never thought I'd see one in actual use.

Jeram: remote tribes often use centuries-old technology.

Picard: what do they spend their UBI on?

Daedo: if you don't pass P7 of cyberschool you don't get UBI in Africa.

Mace: And they couldn't speak universal.

It was a logical conclusion that if the men couldn't speak universal they probably never completed P7 of cyberschool and therefore didn't qualify to receive Universal Basic Income unlike most citizens of the world.

Daedo: Let's finish getting all this together so we can start mining. We will probably have to get some security in place before we leave. Are you good for a round trip Jeram?

Jeram: yeah. With this light of a load, the fusion drives don't use much.

Daedo: Barran; leave your Mech here, go back with Jeram and bring back sentries, foam and drones. Enough to protect our assets.

Barran: can do.

Jeram:We need to unload all the supplies into the base and then we can take off. It will take a few hours for the roundtrip.

Barran: I will talk to Ikaros, hopefully, we can have the gear at the hub waiting for us. Or on its way at least.

The base was coming together with constructafoam floors, walls and ceiling it was built well enough to keep the sand and sun out. The initial plan was to mine enough iron ore, silica, amber, kernite, copper and hydrocarbon liquids. With small amounts of these base materials, the base would move into stage two. And at the same time, a mining drone would retrieve some arkernite.

Aemo would run the entire mining and refining operation, while Daedo was overseeing the manufacturing and expansion remotely.

Once a small amount of arkernite was in hand, Daedo would examine and announce the discovery organically. Hopefully without close scrutiny due to the tremendous luck involved.

Mace: I have their location.

Picard: did they just expect us to follow? Or that we knew where their village was?

Daedo: it's not hidden, I can see it on the live public satellite map.

Mace: are we hidden?

Daedo: no. Can we be?

Mace: anything is possible. You just have to know who to ask.

Daedo: I'm not concerned. We own everything here that we need.

Daedo, Mace and Picard ran to the village in exos, leaving the two mechs behind.

”Are you keeping an eye on the base?” Daedo asked through voice comms shared between the three remaining Daedalus members.

”Yes. I left one of my friends there, I can see everything for a few kilometres,” Mace replied.

”Who wants to take point at the village?” Daedo asked.

”I think it has to be you. We will provide backup,” Mace said supportively.

”Sorry, Daedo. Without Vannier, you have no one to pass the buck to,” Picard observed.

”Barran would have volunteered,” Daedo speculated sadly.

”Yeah, and you'd let him?” Picard asked with a laugh.

With jumpjets, the exos were almost as fast as the ancient truck. Daedo checked the systems, the amount of sand and heat had him concerned, they weren't used to operating in this type of environment. He was happy that the arkernite prompted him to establish a base here. All his invented reasons were built on sound logic.

Testing of equipment in harsh environments. Experience with building a remote base, from scratch, in an inhospitable environment. And even establishing the remote base as insurance for an alien invasion made sense.

The trio halted at the outskirts of the village. The housing was sparse, they could not have been more than a few thousand people living here. Their base was on the northeast of the Eye of Sahara, and this village was on the southwest. Which was probably the reason the government allowed the Daedalus operation in that area as opposed to closer to this village.

The homes were either square or rectangle, and it was immediately obvious they were not made from constructafoam. They were constructed with some sort of earthen brick.

”I guess they don't have many issues with snow on their roof. They're all flat,” Picard observed.

”Or water,” Mace added.

There was a central well in the village, it was probably tapping the aquifer that Aemo's drones had found. So much for undiscovered. It just wasn't mapped or recorded.

Daedo removed his helmet, despite the heat he was sure locals would respond better to a face. The exo was covering most of his body and would keep him cool.

”I hope they take us inside. I don't want to get burnt,” Mace said.

Picard adjusted her helmet to sit on top of her head and showed Mace how to do it.

”Thanks,” she said.

Daedo walked slowly into the village, followed by his two squadmates. They were all unarmed, and now their heads were unprotected.

The streets cleared before them. Women and children who were busy working or playing had disappeared in moments.

”I don't think they get many visitors here,” Picard said.

”They probably don't get many that come in a carrier half the size of their village,” Mace observed. It was an exaggeration, but not by much.

Before they reached the centre, a cadre of men approached them headed by the leader presumably. It was a blessing when he spoke in fluent universal.

”Hello. Welcome to our village,” the man said. He looked haggard, but there was no grey in his hair. It was likely his skin was weathered by the conditions which made him look older than his natural age. His skin tone was darker than Daedo's, as was his hair.

”Thank you,” Daedo replied. ”We are pleased to receive a kinder welcome this time. I am Daedo, this is Mace, and this is Picard. May I ask your name?” He said while introducing his two friends.

”I am Berko,” he replied. ”You surprised some of our men with the large vehicle. What was it?”

”It was a carrier. It has to be large to carry our equipment. As you can see we have no weapons and we meant no harm,” Daedo said.

”I understand,” Berko replied. ”The men said you had documents. Can you show me?”

Daedo pulled up the documents regarding the land titles, mining rights and licenses that Axelzero had procured from the Mauritanian Government and the EU.

”I see,” he said unconvincingly. Daedo was sure he had no idea what he was looking at.

”Berko,” Daedo announced. ”We wish to be good neighbours. We wish to be friends with the Wadan.”

”This is good to hear, but your creds are not welcome. We cannot be bought young man,” Berko said looking at Daedo seriously.

Daedo smiled. They had not judged him a child, they assumed he was a young man by looking at his actions.

”We will never give you creds,” Daedo said smiling. ”Not unless we owed them to you for a good or service that you provided.”

”We are concerned with noise, with pollution and most of all we are concerned about desecration young Daedo,” Berko said sternly.

”I am concerned with security. With protecting our assets. I do not wish your people to break the law by sneaking into our base and damaging equipment,” Daedo replied.

”You accuse us?” Berko asked.

”You accuse us?” Daedo retorted.

Berko was confused for a moment before he realised the point Daedo was making. And he smiled broadly.

”If you meet our concerns. We will meet yours,” Berko said.

Daedo nodded. ”We can meet yours, Sir,” he said respectfully.

Berko held out a hand to shake which Daedo took.

”I have a question Berko,” Daedo asked, and the man tilted his head indicating he was listening.

”Do your children attend cyberschool?” Daedo asked.

”No our machines keep breaking, and the government does not send new ones. We cannot afford to keep replacing them,” Berko said.

”Would you be offended if I built a cyberschool venue. I could design it to reach the net and keep the machines from breaking. We could also power it and the entire village,” Daedo offered.

”It is possible this would be offensive to some. We will have a vote whether we will accept your gift and I will explain it has nothing to do with our bargain,” Berko said.

Cyberschool was free to all children. However, there was an issue if you could not access it.