X-COM: Friendship Unknown

A blocky fist punched at a block tree. The tree block cracked and broke in a few punches, dropping a wood block as it did.

“You know you have an axe for that, right?”

“I know, I just like punching trees.”

Zossi had quickly found herself enjoying Minecraft, so much so that when Command woke up, he found her still playing it.

“Fair,” Command nodded once. “Plus you can never have too much wood, it’s used in most everything.”

“I need big chests.” The viper nodded as she punched away at the rest of the tree.

“Good on you for punching out all of the tree, leaving it hovering would be annoying,” the human pointed out.

“And the leaves will just break and drop stuff.” She nodded again, moving on to another tree.

“Like sticks and saplings to replant the trees and apples,” Command agreed. “Just don’t forget to make some tools before midday, that way you can get ready for nightfall.”

“Yep, more wood axes and mining picks. Not gonna do a sword till I get some iron.” The snek finished with another tree.

“That may or may not be a good idea,” Command hummed. “I mean, it’s not like it’s rare or anything, but finding it in the earth could take some time for your first day. Not to mention smelting it up is also laborious.”

“Mmmmm.” Zossi pouted, popped open her crafting menu and made a wood sword. “Fine. Just in case.”

“Good call, you should make all the tools you need out of whatever you have to hand at the moment,” Command nodded once. “Not saying you’re going to need to defend yourself on the first day, but there is a reason there’s a wooden sword recipe in the game.”

“I know.” The viper rolled her eyes as she looked at her crafting menu and turned the wood she gathered into wood planks. “I’m gonna need more wood for a small house. Maybe I should find some sheep for wool so I can make a bed.”

“Also a good plan,” Command noted. “Sleeping through the night is the best way to survive the hordes of monsters that spawn at night.”

“I’m also gonna need torches, right?” She glanced at her human. “Light source?”

“Something like that to keep yourself safe at night, yes,” Command agreed with a chuckle. “But if you can’t find any coal, you can chop some logs and turn them into charcoal by smelting them in a furnace.”

“Cool.” She nodded. “How do I get a furnace though?”

“Eight cobble in a chest pattern on a crafting bench,” the human supplied. “Needs fuel to run, preferably coal, but wood works in a pinch.”

“Kaaay.” She said, returning to her work of punching trees.

“And on that day, the trees, knew fear,” Command intoned.

“Silly human, trees don’t have emotions.” Zossi stuck her tongue out at him.

“I have got to show you some movies I salvaged,” Command hummed. “You’d change your tune pretty quickly.”

Zossi narrowed her eyes. “I swear Sonata mentioned something about a bad horror movie featuring trees.” She blinked, shrugged, then went back to punching trees.

“Nah, I was thinking more of an adventure movie series,” Command countered. “Something to show you how some humans thought of trees in a fantasy setting.”

“Huh.” The snek shrugged. “I think I should set up a house before I take a break.”

“Probably a good ide-” Command started to say, before pausing. “Wait. Turn back to the right there? Yeah, what’s that on the horizon?”

“I have no idea?” Zossi frowned and started for whatever it is.

“It looks like a wall for a huge build…” Command hummed. “Huh. I wasn’t expecting that.”

“What is it, and is it dangerous?” The snek narrowed her eyes at the screen.

“Well, it means...wait. Are you playing on the server I set up?” Command questioned.

“I dunno?” The snek blinked, shrugging.

“Well, it shouldn’t be bad to just go forward and see what that’s all about,” Command urged.

Which the snake did, moving her character to the rather large wall. “Yep, it’s a wall.”

“There’s a button over there, next to what...looks like a segment for a gate,” Command pointed out.

Shrugging again, she poked the button. There was several shifting noises, and the gate smoothly melted into the floor, revealing a small village beyond.

Along with another player.

Zossi blinked. “Hi.” She paused. “Wait, has there been chat that I’ve been missing?”

“Not that I can see,” Command pointed out. “But yes, it appears there’s a nice community here already, doing some things. Make friends with them.”

“How do I do that?” The snek quickly looked between the screen, Command, and back.

“Try typing ‘Hello,’” he offered. “Um. Hit the T button to talk first and then type it in. That opens chat up.”

She hit T and a chat window did indeed pop up. And it was already full of people. ‘Hello.’

She blinked at the amount of hi and hello messages that popped up. “They seem friendly.”

“They’ve built a nice little town here,” Command noted. “And seem to be working on a huge castle as well. Why not ask them how far they’ve gotten in the game?”

Zossi chewed her lip and typed at the chat. ‘Hello. Nice town you’ve built. How far have you gotten?’

There was a moment while the people on the other end were silent, probably typing as well, and then…

‘Well, we’ve raided the Nether for some quartz, but turned back before the Piglins could show us why it’s hell in there.’

‘Yeah, but Observers make farms soooo much easier.’

‘We’re setting up all the little things to automate resource gathering before trying to find a fortress. You’re welcome to some of our infinite iron.’

Zossi blinked. ‘I’m new. I understood none of that.’

‘Orientation?’ One typed.

‘No. Don’t you dare. You’ll overwhelm the poor girl.’

One of the other characters jumped in front of Zossi’s screen. ‘Follow me, I’ll take you to a bed real fast, then we can run you through the basics.’

She nodded, paused then typed. ‘Okay.’ Then proceeded to follow the character.

“Huh,” Command observed as they walked through the village. “It’s like an old-time city in there. Buildings looking like thatched huts, periodic torch poles. They really went all out.”

They stopped in front of a house. ‘Here, you can stay here while you figure out how you want to do things,’ the character nodded.

‘Thanks.’ She typed. ‘But what stuff needs doing?’

‘Well,’ one person typed. ‘You can always pull up your achievement menu to see an abridged guide of the game.’

She looked up at Command. “Achievement menu?”

“Hit the ESC key,” he offered.

Which Zossi did, only to find the Achievements button in the menu. She clicked it. Her eyes bugged out a bit.

“You don’t have to do them all,” Command chuckled, patting her tail a bit. “But it does help you find your way early on. Like, you need stone tools to get at iron tools, and iron tools to get better materials.”

“Uh huh, I think I saw you using stuff like that.” The snek returned her attention to the screen and clicked on the bed.

‘Everyone to bed, we need to get the newbie’s spawn set,’ someone sent out.

‘Fortunately I always bring two beds with me when I go adventuring,’ someone else typed out.

‘There’s being prepared, then there’s that,’ a third person noted. A moment or two passed, and then the night was skipped.

‘Okay, so, what’s your next objective to learn about?’ Zossi’s guide questioned.

‘Iron.’ The snek typed out.

‘Okay, the farm is over here,’ the guide led her to one side of the village. There was a...device. Huge constructs of iron were spawned, washed away, and then iron bubbled up and was placed in a chest.

‘What is that?’ Zossi blinked.

‘Iron farm,’ the guide said. ‘Couple of villagers put in a module, zombie in a minecart that runs back and forth and scares them into making a golem appear. Golem gets washed into the lava down below, iron comes up.’

‘Huh.’ She blinked again. ‘And there’s iron in the chest?’

‘Unlimited supply of both iron and red dye,’ her guide agreed. ‘I tend to turn the flowers into bonemeal for the farms, but you’re welcome to some of the iron.’

‘Thanks.’ She took a stack of iron from the chest. She got a popup for new recipes.

“Huzzah, you have achieved the next gear of stuff,” Command noted. “These guys are pretty nice.”

‘Working on the infinite slime farm,’ one of the others typed into the chat. ‘It’s not easy. You have to NOT be next to it for it to work, so you don’t know for ages if you did it right or not.’

‘That sounds frustrating.’ Zossi nodded. ‘And I think I might take a break for a bit, but I might be back on. It’s kinda fun.’

‘We’re working on farms for everything that can be easily farmed, to make life easier,’ someone noted. ‘We’ll have quite a few done soon enough. I think kelp is next.’

‘Cool.’ She looked at Command. “How do I save and exit?”

“Escape menu again,” her human supplied.

“Duh.” The viper tapped Escape and found the exit button. “Right.”

“Well, I guess that people finding the server and playing on it is exactly what I’d hoped to have happen,” Command chuckled. “So, that’s good.”

“Yep!” The snek leaned back and stretched out, only to flop back onto the floor. She’d been “sitting” on her coiled up tail.

“Silly snek,” Command teased. “Maybe I should read the console more to see what’s been happening in the game while it’s been running,” he mused.

Zossi rolled over and uncoiled herself so she could “stand up” properly. “That sounds good.” She nodded. “In the meantime, want some dinner or late lunch or something?”

“That sounds great,” Command nodded. “Food is always good to have after a gaming session.”

“True.” The snek slithered over to the kitchen. “So, what are you in the mood for?”

“Hmm...what do we have for ingredients?” Command asked, flopping more horizontally onto the couch and staring at the kitchen from his new headrest: the arm of the couch.

She checked the fridge. “We have… Oooo! We have steaks!”

“That sounds great,” Command noted. “We have any spices to rub them down with?”

“Mmmm. Lemme see…” She bent over and checked the little cabinet next to the fridge. “A couple dry rubs, some Misses Dash, and a couple specific steak seasonings.”

“Well, those last two sound promising,” Command agreed. “But sometimes you have to experiment to find a mix you like.”

The viper pulled out the various spices and seasonings, popped the tops, and flicked her tongue over each one. Seeming to pause to think between each one.

“I trust your judgement to figure out what will taste good,” Command called from the couch. He sort of just...laid there for a bit. “Man, this couch is comfy.”

“Yes it is.” She agreed before picking a couple seasoning and putting the others back. She pulled out the steaks from the fridge, pulled them from their packaging, and set them on a plate, before shaking a bit of each seasoning on each steak. She then set the plate to the side as she pulled out a large enough pan.

“We’re also going to need something to serve as a side dish,” Command noted. “Can’t just eat meat and have that be healthy.”

“Lemme see what else we have.” The snek said as she put the pan on to heat. She checked the fridge. “Mmmm what goes well with steak?”

“Well, some sort of noodle dish would probably be a good idea,” Command suggested.

“We do have quite a bit of ramen.” Zossi nodded as she checked the cabinet again.

“That could work, as long as you make enough of it,” the human agreed. “I know your appetite.”

“Two ramen packets then.” She nodded, pulling out a pot and starting to fill it with water. “And be thankful I’m hungry for food and not… other things.”

“Hey, as long as it was you making the first move, I wouldn’t have any objections,” Command teased.

“Always the sub.” She stuck her tongue out at him.

“Hey, you saw Miss Applejack’s muscles,” Command pointed out. “I don’t want to be on her bad side.”

“I know what side you want to be on.” She snickered.

“Hey!” Command called indignantly.

“Am I not wrong?” She raised a brow as she turned to put the steaks on the pan. They sizzled before she put a lid on it.

“I’d die in the attempt, and you know it,” the human answered, rolling over on the couch to look at the ceiling.

“At least I’d give you a chance to breathe.” She nodded, still giggling. “Want to cuddle before I have to do more stuff with food?”

“I’d rather not distract you from the cooking,” Command replied. “Oh, you could also make your own stock with a bouillon cube for the noodles and throw some fresh vegetables in with them. Maybe even some hot pepper spice for flavor. Ramen as it should be, not with the prepackaged powder and dried veggies.”

“Oh fine.” The snake pouted as she rummaged through the fridge again, intent on cooking “proper” ramen.

“Gotta have a full meal,” Command teased. “Proper nutrition is important~”

“But meat is so good though.” The viper whined as she tugged veggies out of the fridge and pulled down the cutting board.

“I’ll make a proper chef of you one day,” the human promised.