A replicator's life is quite boring, I think, as I randomly observe another bug-like machine walk into the nest to mine like the little drone it is.

  Yeah, so about 40 meters away from me is a rather large nest full of replicators. It looks a bit like a termite mound from the surface but is built with replicator blocks, so it's nice and silver.

  I gave them orders to start excavation underground for more materials, like a Minecraft player looking for diamonds. Then, as the Chinese would say, I act like a filthy capitalist and have them split half with me while the rest goes into making more of themselves to increase my free labor workforce by way of a queen. She's much larger and builds and programs the blocks herself.

  I'm very satisfied that they've grown up so well. But now it's time for the fires of industry to take over. I need better materials like rubber and glass, so I do as any leader would and send pairs of replicators to investigate the island while I start building a makeshift furnace with stone the replicators dug up and my nanites to glue it all together.

  Now you must be wondering why I didn't explore the island much before, and to this I say: a five-year-old is prime meat for predators. It's why we have stranger danger, and I'm not the kind of transmigrator who seeks death and adventure at every turn. It's why I wanted an island to develop in safely in the first place.

  During the afternoon, while fishing and gathering leaves, the replicators brought back samples of sap, bamboo, limestone, quartz, and other interesting goodies, including two unfortunate-looking large wild cats (very dead ones). Poor things must have attacked my cute little replicators and got jumped.

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  "Three, two, one, fire!" The replicators sprang into action, jumping on the makeshift bellows, pumping air into the fire. Hardened nanite tools were used to produce my first lump of unimpressive goop. I know it doesn't inspire much, but I'll get better; I just need to look for the right formula for glass.

  It is now day unknown. My glass-making ended up working eventually, and I now had goops of it drying on rocks nearby. The swarm of replicators has grown big enough to now be self-sustaining, so I've pulled back the lava nanites and reused them to help my garden with watch worms and tenders to the strange plants I eat. My attention was drawn to the piles of resources the replicators stacked up.

  It's time for upgrades! I command the replicators and nanites to build the first coal generator and then a new, more complex ancient computer. This all takes about two slow and boring days, but when it's done, I see a small cloud of smog rising from the replicators' nest. They should be able to sustain it as long as they keep mining coal deposits.

  I look to the new computer and sigh. The ancients had no sense of taste; it's just more buttons and a fancy-looking chair. With my new setup, I take control of the replicators much better, having them set up sub-hives evenly all around the explored parts of the island, usually near good material resources. My main goal is expansion and stockpiling resources for the human-form replicators.

  Hello there! It's been a while, my friend. Look, my white hair is now long and tied in a ponytail, and my eyes are covered with a black cloth made of silicone. The base now consists of several buildings and walls made of replicator blocks. I even have a bed and everything, still eating fish and leaves though, but replicator number 560 found berries and nuts, so it's a bit better now.

  To the side of the main base is a huge ant nest spewing lots of black smog like a volcano in Mordor. The replicators have expanded to cover a fourth of the island in a mechanical swarm, but enough about that; you're about to see life being born. In the lab is a human-shaped table device and several ancient computers. I've spent months just on the programming. I was lucky to have the memories to go on, but I improved it where I could because what I wanted was a society, but the original was designed to be a weapon in the form of people. I added in a more advanced personality matrix and better reasoning skills.

  Obviously, I also improved the defense for their base code and instilled a good sense of awe for their maker so they won't become terminators and will mostly follow my commands subconsciously. I still need to be somewhat commanding, though. With all that said, I hit the big red button on the creation device.