You set about studying the Flowers. You find that, unsurprisingly, the Flowers love water, heat, and acidic soil. They appear to require very little nitrogen, but plenty of phosphorus and potassium. You do detect a surprisingly large amount of lithium, boron, deuterium, and helium-3 in the plant, however. You experiment with several Grains of Pollen - not enough to impact the total supply - and discover that while it is volatile and contains a lot of potential energy, it is not the biggest producer of energy. Your best guess based on the elements and structures in the plant is that it has a form of organic cold fusion.
You have no idea why. While the idea of "find out why" appeals to Us, We find it more important to consider potential applications.
Regardless, the conditions for optimal growth are all easy enough to solve. The plants aboveground are off limits for the time being, but you can certainly improve conditions for those indoors. You extract sulfur from the soil, and otherwise set about making a fertilizer with the assistance of the Repair Drone while We remove the old insulation, and replace it with the full Thermal Insulation, using a quarter of the current supply. The plants are given each a healthy dose of Improved Fertilizer in their extra-large dose of water, and We wait in the Flower Chamber for dawn.
The morning comes with the discovery that there are only two Queen's Flowers. Both are surprisingly large, and a brief analysis of the dead Flowers shows that the strongest two sapped all of the life and liquid from their weaker siblings. Outside, you discover half of the Flowers have wilted completely, while the remaining five are severely stunted. You order the Drones to water and fertilize the plants, and pull the dead Flowers.
You harvest six units of Pollen Fuel, and note its difference in color from the Queen's Flowers. You harvest three units of Food.
Your oldest egg is nearing its limit of growth. You can sense two stages left before it must be laid or reabsorbed.
Your estimate of time for potential courses of action:
- Pollinate Plants. 1/4 Day
- Mount Sensory Array / Integrate into Computer Network. 1/3 day
- Install Defensive Turret / Integrate into Computer Network. 1/3 Day
- Install Armor Plating. 1 Day
- Explore Structure. 1 Day
- Eggs and Larvae. 1/2 Day [specify which and how many, as well as any modifications you desire for the larvae to adapt]
- Examine Biped Test Subject corpses. 1/2 Day
- Insulate the Nest. Slightly less than 1/2 day
- Something else?
[You are:
1 Queen Alien (Full)
1 Level 3 Nurse Drone (Full)
2 Level 2 Navigation Drones (Very Hungry)
1 Level 1 Repair Drone (Almost Full)
23 Basic Drones (Full)
1 Flying Warrior (Hungry)
4 Basic Warriors (Hungry)
10 Drone Larvae
1 Small Fertile Flying Spy Drone Larvae, Generation 0
66 Eggs
25 Drone Eggs
12 Soldier Eggs
2 Flying Soldier Eggs
1 Predator Egg
2 Queen Flowers (Recovery Stage 2 / Mature )
6 Recovering Underground Flowers
3 Active Underground Flowers
5 Severely Stunted Aboveground Flowers
You own:
A Bunch of Spare Parts: (Computer, Mechanical, Fusion Reactor, Weaponry)
A Fully Charged Battery
2 Canisters of Queen's Pollen Fuel
6 Canisters of Pollen Fuel
Battery Schematics
Point Defense Laser / Smelter
A Lot of Damaged to Intact Metal Plating
Many Computer Parts / Wiring
1 Diagnostic Computer
A Kinetic Energy Penetration Warhead
1 Telemetry Computer
Display Panels
4 Dormant Flowers
Relevant Tools
A Light Experimental Defensive Pulse Cannon
A Queen-Sized Light Energy Machine Gun
A Soldier-Sized Light Energy Blaster
3 Soldier-Sized Light Pulse Blaster
3 Dead Biped Test Subjects + 1 Leg
7 Dead Flowers of Life
A Sensory Array
Earthen Insulation Materials
Glass Insulation Materials
Functional Greenhouse Glass
3/4 Ship Thermal Insulation
Iron
Water
Carbon
Nitrogen
Calcium
Phosphorus
Oxygen
Scrap Metal
Scrap Plastic
A Broken Biped Flying Mechanical Scout
A Barrel of Improved Fertilizer
Your Nest:
Queen's Chamber with A Flower Pit
Insulated Improved Flower Chamber with Nine Flowers of Life
A Level 2 Technology Lab
Fusion Reactor Chamber
Defensive Earthworks
Insulated Agricultural Earthworks
A Heating Tunnel]