Chapter 13: Moving into the Shelter
The reserved space was surprisingly spacious, comparable to a large apartment or townhouse. Three bedrooms had been designated: a master suite for Su Wu and two others for future occupants. Humans are social creatures. While this might be easy to forget in the bustle of city life, the quiet isolation of a refuge could amplify feelings of loneliness. Therefore, despite the potential risks, Su Wu knew he would eventually welcome others into the shelter.
The entertainment room, designed entirely around Su Wu's preferences, was his personal sanctuary. Game consoles, a high-performance computer, a large-screen TV, speakers, and a treadmill catered to everything from gaming and movies to exercise and fitness. If the world hadn't ended, severing internet access, Su Wu could have happily spent years in this room.
The living room and dining room were functional and practical. Beyond the living area lay the control center, the nerve center of the entire shelter. Su Wu's upgraded high-energy battery pack, comparable to a laptop with a small supercomputer, along with the control terminal for monitoring systems throughout the shelter and farmyard, would reside here. From the control center, Su Wu could monitor the surrounding environment and precisely control all networked equipment within the engineering team and shelter. When he had accumulated enough survival points, he planned to further fortify the control center, creating a refuge within a refuge.
Adjacent to the control center, separate from the living area, was the planned machinery manufacturing center. A small processing machine, a 3D printer, a dedicated engineering robot, and a rare materials warehouse were slated for this space, giving it the capability to produce most small mechanical equipment.
Currently, Su Wu could upgrade any desired mechanical equipment using survival points. However, this method was akin to manual construction – expensive and with limited output. A fully equipped machinery manufacturing center would eliminate these drawbacks. With design blueprints and sufficient raw materials, it could continuously produce affordable finished products.
Furthest from the control center and the machinery manufacturing center were the daily necessities storage room and the water storage tower. The storage room would house all essential supplies: food, medicine, sugar, fertilizer, toilet paper, detergent, clothes, shoes, and more, consolidating everything currently stored in the small building above ground.
The water storage tower was a large tank responsible for storing and distributing purified groundwater, also serving as an emergency water reserve. In the event of groundwater depletion or a lack of surface water, the tower could sustain the shelter's occupants for over a month.
The two-story underground level was designed to address most of the challenges Su Wu anticipated facing during a prolonged stay in the shelter. Its completion marked a significant milestone, with subsequent additions representing expansions and improvements.
Su Wu closed the window, the brief exposure leaving his forehead damp with the outside heat.
June 11th. The two-story underground shelter was complete. The two-story building in the yard, including Su Wu's original bedroom, had been emptied of all valuable possessions, which were now safely stored below. Su Wu himself had also moved into the underground living area.
A burst of white light, powered by survival points, emanated from the ceiling. The humid, stifling air instantly transformed into a refreshing coolness, reminiscent of a summer morning in the forest. This was the newly operational upgraded air circulation purification system and central air conditioning. They automatically monitored and maintained optimal air quality and temperature within the shelter.
The air Su Wu breathed was now virtually identical to that of an unpolluted forest. He could even customize it to simulate ocean or garden environments if he desired.
"This upgrade cost a total of 20 survival points," he noted. "The most expensive expenditure since acquiring the survival system, aside from upgrading the extreme drilling machine."
His survival points, painstakingly accumulated, had dwindled dramatically. Upgrading the shelter's infrastructure, even a single system, was significantly more expensive than smaller projects.
However, these upgrades were essential. Air circulation and central air conditioning, while seemingly minor, were critical for quality of life and survival. The recent wildfire, for example, highlighted their importance. A shelter without a proper air circulation system would be filled with toxic fumes, and without a robust, externally cooled central air conditioner, the internal temperature would become dangerously high. This combination could create a sealed, toxic oven, ensuring the demise of anyone inside.
After testing the purification and temperature regulation systems and confirming their reliability, Su Wu left the living area and entered the control center.
The control center was a sleek, silver-white hall. Four oversized screens covered the wall facing the door, displaying real-time feeds from 96 surveillance cameras both inside and outside the shelter.
In the center of the hall, facing the screens, stood a milky white operating table with a minimalist design. A 40-inch curved monitor sat atop a horizontal, glass-like operation panel, integrating a keyboard, mouse, fingerprint scanner, emergency switch, and other functionalities. Su Wu could connect to his upgraded laptop through this operating table and control all electronic devices within the shelter.
While the shelter's systems were not yet fully implemented, making the operating table more symbolic than practical at the moment, it was fully configured and ready for future expansion. The 5-survival-point price tag was a bit extravagant given the current state of the shelter, but it ensured he wouldn't need to upgrade it later.
(End of Chapter)