00.12.23 – 1200 – Log – Elbert
The buildings are complete. There are several greenhouses, a barn, and a chicken shelter.
The main building has two stories above grade and two below grade. There is also the cavern containing the solid units. It has a large courtyard in the center and meets all of the specifications. I was transported in and instructed to perform an inspection. Upon completion I messaged the Builders that all was satisfactory, and in return was told to expect the colonists in three days at the mid point of the day.
00.12.26 – 1430 – Log – Elbert
The colonists have arrived.
I greeted them from the upper level of the courtyard and presented the goals of the project. No one had a response or questions so I returned to my office.
Immediately after arrival there were two that vomited; several people were holding their heads, one stumbled about and fell. Most sat down. After I returned to my office I turned on the monitors, the behavior has changed somewhat. Some have leaky faces and are clutching each other. Another group has begun pounding on walls and shouting.
I have assigned them nomenclature to record differences of behavior. M for male and F for female followed by a number. M7 has activated the entry to the sleeping quarters. F13 has discovered the sanitation facilities. The remaining exits are locked, I don’t want them roaming around until I am sure all have formed bonded pairs.
They have begun drinking from the water feature.
It is meal time and none have activated the food replicator, I have sent a droid with food items.
00.12.26 – 1730 – Log – Elbert
F11 scaled the water feature wall and achieved entry to the second floor. This was unexpected. Others attempted to do the same. M10 fell and clutched his left ankle. I believed he was injured and sent a droid to assist with first aid. F11 surveyed the floor quickly and found the stores room. She selected several items and returned to the courtyard walkway. She tied a length of rope to a column near the water feature and threw the remaining coil over the rail to the ground below. She also dropped a hammer down. M14 used the hammer to crack the shells of the nuts that Droid7 left. Apparently the outer covering is unpalatable. Some of the group ate the nut innards. Others used the rope and climbed to the second floor. F11 is encouraging dangerous behavior! F11 led them to the stores room, and showed them a science room. They also did a quick scan of the remaining rooms. M3 and M7 found several other items in the stores room and transferred them to the courtyard below. I have locked all exits to the outside.
M1 clutched his chest, fell to the ground and disappeared in a flash. I have requested Droid10 start a search of the building and surrounding area for him.
Droid10 has reported that M1 was not found.
The group has mostly settled for the night. Several are sitting up and chatting in the courtyard.
00.12.27 – 0630 – Log – Elbert
The sun is up, the group that stayed awake last night is now sleeping. Food has been provided again. F4 has activated the water hand cleansing system; the group has all washed their hands and faces, and then drunk from that instead of the water feature. This is preferred if they refuse to use the food fabricator. Perhaps I should request they be presented with cups and pitchers of water.
00.12.27 – 1830 – Log – Elbert
The climbing group has moved their beds out into the courtyard and located them under the overhang. This is an easier way for them to get to the second floor. So far only the small group that went up yesterday has gone up.
There was yelling from several of the group, M6 attempted entry to the sanitation facilities while F4 was in there. M3 shoved M6 and yelled at him. M6 doesn’t seem to be injured.
F11 has climbed to the second floor again and has questioned the interface in the science room. She requested tablets, most have just entertainment items, but several of them have the full set of records. The group has spent considerable time referencing them.
I appear to have three bonded pairs.
00.12.28 – 2030 – Log – Elbert
Chicken was offered as a protein source today.
The parts of the building that were not locked have been explored by the climbing group.
There was yelling again today. I am unsure as to why.
F11 has operated the replicator in the science lab, and then again the food replicator in the sleeping and eating room. The group seemed pleased by the addition of foods.
The group spent a great deal of time looking at the tablets.
00.12.29 – 2030 – Log – Elbert
The climbing group went up there again. They pulled one of the single transports out of storage. All of them have taken turns riding it around the courtyard opening.
In the cleansing room, F6 approached and touched F11, F11 then struck F6. F6 was taken to the medical suite and received treatment. F11 was escorted to the upper floor. They have spent considerable time on the tablets again today.
00.12.30 – 2030 – Log – Elbert
The climbing group went up to second floor again. The interface was questioned. A tablet was linked to the large fabricator and items were requested. Fabrication is in progress. A group went to the lower stores room and items were inspected, bags and some small items were taken. Clothing items were placed in the bags. F11 has moved one of the transports in the upper stores room to the science room and has partially disassembled it. She has installed items created from the large replicator in it.
Chickens have been discovered out of the enclosure. Droid4 was sent to collect them.
00.12.31 – 2030 – Log – Elbert
F11 has reassembled the transport minus several parts. She has operated it around the upper walkway, which surprised me. Apparently the parts removed were not essential. F11 has taken one of the bags and some of the clothing items from the lower stores room, put some more items in the bag and put the bag in the storage area on the modified transport.
The chickens are missing from the courtyard; I missed the eating of them.
00.13.01 – 1830 – Log – Elbert
I have an odd feeling. There is no description for it in the manual.
The climber group went to the second floor again. F11 went into one of the larger gathering rooms and overturned a table and rested one end on the balcony ledge. This is odd behavior. F11 is unpredictable. Several of the men went to both the upper stores room and lower stores room and inspected equipment. Nothing was removed. They napped twice during the day.
The climber group went back up to the second floor after the evening meal. F11 manipulated the settings on the transport console. The men went to the lower stores room, mounted transports and traveled towards the droid bay. The power went down! They attempted to leave through the bay door. I restored power in time to keep them contained. The men yelled and gesticulated wildly then returned the transports to the stores room and went back to the containment area.
00.13.01 – 1833 – Log – Elbert
F11 is unaccounted for; she is not on the second floor or in the containment area. I have asked Droid10 to conduct a search of the building for her.
00.13.01 – 1845 – Log – Elbert
Droid10 has reported that F11 is not in the building, and also that the transport that was on the upper level is also not in the building. He suspects that she used the overturned table in the meeting room to launch the transport into a brief glide. The transport units are capable of it. She glided, landed and was out of sight before we even knew she was gone. This seems logical. I have asked Droid10 to start searching with both the droid transports and the drone units.
Droid10 has reported back that 6 of the 8 drones can achieve no higher than six feet of elevation above the ground. The droid transport units have been speed restricted to 15 mph. This will severely hamper our search efforts. I went to the containment area and asked where F11 is and was told ‘we don’t know an F11’. The sun has set, the droid units have returned and the malfunctioning drones have been recalled. Repairs will be started tonight. F11 is lost out in the wild. I have a sensation that is unpleasant. The manual says that it is anxiety. Droid10 has suggested making additional replacement drones. I have approved the request. Six of the eight should be ready by dawn and the remaining two by mid morning. F11 will have to stop for the night as well. Droid10 has suggested inspecting the logs of the computer terminal and fabricator and the storage rooms for the types of items requested and taken. Perhaps they will offer a clue as to her intended destination. I approved this review, and also requested that the equipment removed from the transport be checked as well.
00.13.01 – 2045 – Log – Elbert
Droid10 has reported back with a list of items fabricated and removed from the storage rooms, and also of the transport parts removed.
Items removed from the transport: speed restrictor, tracking beacon, communications device.
Items taken from the stores rooms: 3 personal transports – 2 are returned, clothing and footwear items, flash lights, fire starters, magnetic directional devices, multi-tools, transport tool packs, small shovels, night vision goggles, a bow and arrows.
Fabricated items: food items, a water bottle, cup, bowl and cutlery, toilet paper, a hand trowel, nano cutters, a paper map with protective cover, projectile devices, rope, blankets, tents, tarps, a ring device, a small modified fabricator with independent build wands, a small excavation device, a small refiner unit, a communication device with adjustable transmitting frequency.
00.13.01 – 2801 – Dialog – Jackson and Kate
Jackson – They called it a night, and recalled most of the drones for repairs. Elbert came down and asked where you were. He calls you F11.
Kate – Little guy is a bit out of touch. How far did they get?
Jackson – About half a mile, they did pick up a trace of an energy signature from the transport and something they are calling an eddy wake though. They plan to start there tomorrow. You have an almost eight hour head start, plus a couple hours if they wait for sun up.
Kate – I see the stream, I’m going to crash for a couple of hours. Wake me before sunrise if I’m not up.
Jackson – Will do. How are you feeling?
Kate – Good, hopeful, a little hungry.
00.13.01 – 2805 – Log – Dakota
Kate made it to the caves today. Elbert’s drones are almost eight hours behind her. I can’t imagine riding all night, she must be exhausted.
00.13.01 – 2810 – Text message – Camden to Kate
I didn’t want to wake you. Kate, I have to laugh, we got the crazy droid for a server today. Droid4 said that the others refused because of our stunt last night. We offered to repair his left grasper and ended up fixing some continuous tracks and doing fluids changes for several more droids. They have us lined up to come back tomorrow to do more maintenance. Elbert hasn’t been back, but is in communication with the droids. They have picked up what they are calling an eddy wake. They are planning to funnel the drones towards it. Jack, Tyler and I have looked at their scans and it is the faintest of disturbances in the air movements. The technology is wild. I think we can use this to our advantage. I think you should stay at the caves tomorrow instead of traveling on. We’ll have a conference in the morning to discuss. Everybody says ‘Hi.’
00.13.02 – 0450 – Dialog – Jackson and Kate
Jackson – Kate, are you awake?
Kate – Yep, having some breakfast. Cam sent me a text last night. What’s up?
Jackson – Cam thinks we could capture some of the search drones and use them as decoys, scanners and help with your route management. Tyler likes the idea. Dakota just wants you to haul ass, get the metal, make the part and come back to us.
Kate – She said that?
Jackson – I interpreted.
Kate – What do you think?
Jackson – I think it should be your choice, but having a few drones would be useful.
Kate – I’ll do it. What’s the plan?
Jackson – You would stay there, let yourself be seen, or park the transport at the mouth of a cave. Maybe lure one into a cave and take it out. Cam has plans for the nanos, array and cameras if you can do it. We are thinking Elbert will send several to the area and land them at sundown. After the droids settle in for the night you can pull the array connections so they are inoperable. Cam has mods for you to make to them and is writing code now. You would have to work through part of the night to get it done. Maybe take some naps during the day. If you leave a camera at the entrance to the cave we can keep an eye out for visitors. It will set you back a day, but it could be helpful later on. I think Cam has another idea that he isn’t sharing. He’s excited about something.
00.13.02 – 1100 – Log – Elbert
Droid10 reports that the transport has been spotted. The drone is several miles away. All drones have been rerouted towards the cave.
The drone has approached the area where the transport was seen. F11 was briefly seen moving it into the cave. I have requested that the drone enter the cave so that I may use the communication system to speak with her.
Droid8 piloted the drone into the cave slowly. F11 was spotted. I asked her to return to the settlement. She moved into the shadow. There was movement and the drone abruptly lost altitude. There was a brief image of F11 and then nothing. Droid8 reported that a flying stick disabled the drone, and then the connection was lost. The next closest drone should arrive in an hour; it can see the cave opening. We will know if she leaves, six more will arrive before dusk. I am relieved she is safe.
00.13.02 – 2200 – Dialog – Tyler and Kate
Tyler – Eight drones Kate! Cam is ecstatic. He has plans he isn’t sharing, I suspect he hasn’t worked out all of the details yet, or he doesn’t want to startle Dakota. How are you doing?
Kate – I’m good, sleeping in the cave was surprisingly restful. I should have the mods done in about an hour. Elbert is in for a shock when he finds out half of his fleet is gone.
Tyler – More will be fabricated. Droid10 is the strategic thinker. I suspect the new ones will have ring devices. That will make them much more mobile. Maybe we should add one to the decoy. We’ll see, the droids seem to like us. I think Droid10 suspects something is up but doesn’t seem to have mentioned it to Elbert.
00.13.03 – 0830 – Log – Elbert
The drones landed near the mouth of the cave are not responsive. The next closest drone should have a visual of them but they aren’t where we left them. Droid10 has suggested fabricating new drones that have ring devices. This will enable an immediate start at the caves.
The closest drone has arrived at the cave; the drone pilot refuses to enter the cave. There is imagery of what could be part of a drone. Most of the equipment is in the shadow. Droid10 has instructed the operator to scan for an eddy wake.
An eddy wake was found, the drone is following. The next drone is about two hours behind.
00.13.03 – 1041 – Log – Jackson
Cam has been monitoring the eddy currents to see how long they are ‘visible’ to the scanners. The range seems to be from minutes to a day or two, it depends on the wind. The eddies also seem to be disrupted by rivers and streams. We want to set Kate up so that she isn’t being followed. Tyler has suggested moving her to the coast for the wind or traveling over a river or stream. Cam is extra anxious, I think he has figured out what he needed to and wants to suggest it now. I think it involves cannibalizing the captured drones. Tyler wants to keep them as long as possible, we both like having the extra monitoring. Cam’s mods were great; they allow the drones to operate at a higher elevation than they did originally. The cameras are still fixed but we can work with that and now they have rear facing ones as well. Anyway Elberts drones can’t see them, because they don’t look up.
00.13.03 – 1211 – Log – Dakota
Cam is off the rails anxious. I think he has figured out how to make the transport fly. I think he is holding back because he doesn’t want to upset people. Kate is doing well. If we weren’t trapped here I think she would be having fun. To be fair Jack, Cam and Tyler would be too. We have been scanning the area to find a good spot to swap Kate with a captured drone. We have several picked out. I think our best shot is to run her down a river to the ocean. The guys want to use one of the captured drones as a stand in. They want Elbert to think he is still following her.
00.13.03 – 1615 – Log – Tyler
We made the swap. We ended up running Kate upstream and then down. We landed the drone near the spot where Kate crossed into the river. We now have to pilot a drone at ground level. We brought Levi into the know about Kate’s trip, there was a concern that he tends not to be discrete, but he has better video game skills than the rest of us. We need him to help pilot the decoy drone.
00.13.03 – 2510 – Log – Levi
I knew they were up to something! Kate is out on a mission. Something about needing a special metal for a special machine. They were worried that I would slip and say something. Whatever. Blah, blah, blah no filters. I won’t let the secret out. Elbert is tracking her with drones and the crew has set up a decoy to throw them off. They need help piloting the decoy. It’s a challenge because they need to leave an eddy wake, but the drone can’t be seen. We switch out the decoys when Elbert’s get too close. Straight up and out of sight, or we hide it in a cave or underwater, and the new one comes down on the same trajectory several hundred yards away. Apparently they are used to seeing breaks in the eddy trails; it doesn’t seem to raise any red flags. Kate is making good time now, they have her out at the coast and she is just about flying. Dakota is concerned about the speed. She is just about to the most dangerous part of the trip. We are on a peninsula; she is heading towards a jungle that is on the main part of the continent. The wild side. There are predators there. The signatures for the metal aren’t too far into the jungle. We are hoping for a quick in and out.
00.13.04 – 2400 – Dialog – Kate and Jackson
Kate – Do you think Droid10 would give you a chicken?
Jackson – Why?
Kate – It would be good to know if its safe to use the ring device. Just in case.
Jackson – I’ll ask.
00.13.05 – 1800 – Dialog – Kate and Jackson
Jacskon – Droid10 gave us a chicken, no questions asked.
Kate – Any luck?
Jackson – Good news and bad news. The ring device didn’t kill the chicken or even hurt it, we’ve run it through the medical checker. It was a trick setting it for chickens.
Kate – Great, what’s the bad news?
Jackson – It doesn’t enjoy the process. Dakota volunteered to test it, and Cam freaked out, really freaked out. It surprised both of them.
00.13.05 – 1810 – Log – Tyler
Kate has made it to the wild side. There is an odd gap between the peninsula and continent. It is about twenty feet wide by twenty feet deep and at the ocean has a giant stone structure that juts out into the water. We were going to send her around by the ocean, but Dakota found an area closer to the ore deposit where the ground is raised enough that if she hit it fast enough she would glide over it. Cam did the calculations. Kate is bold enough that she did it.
00.13.05 – 1815 – Dialog – Kate, Jackson and George
Jackson – Dino doggo at your 7 about 100 yards off.
Kate – Do you see the watcher at my 2? It’s airborne.
Jackson – It isn’t visible on the transport camera, Cam is switching to your body camera feed.
Jackson – We got it! It looks like a dragon!
Kate – Is there a good spot to take out my stalker?
Jackson – Affirmative, ease to your right 15 degrees and in about half a mile there is a smallish clearing with a mound in the center. That’s the best spot.
Kate – I see the mound.
Kate – Got it!
Kate collects the arrow from the animal.
Jackson – Nice! Barney is maintaining.
Kate – Barney is a dinosaur.
Jackson – Same thing, the next critter is about half a mile off, Cam is trying to distract it with a drone, your watcher is slowly creeping in.
George – You are Kate.
Kate – A talking dinosaur. You have me at a disadvantage. What’s your name?
George – Jrj-Krk.
Kate – Can I call you George?
George – You always do. (owl-like circular head bob) We are friends in all times.
Kate – That’s a happy thing.
George – It is. Doeya said that you would show me how to kill the nahna and you did.
Kate – Who is Doeya?
Jackson – That thing is called a Nahna?
George – Your runner talks.
Kate – That’s Jackson’s voice through a speaker.
George – Jackson is a friend too. Yes, the animal is a nahna and they are virtually unkillable, they live forever. Doeya is the clan seer. She sees into this time only. The nahna smells wonderful.
Kate – You’re welcome to it.
George eats the heart.
George – Thank you. Delicious. Another approaches, you should get on your runner. If you would let me kill the next one I would appreciate it.
Kate – Sure, do you have a plan?
George – There’s a large downed tree 249 trees to the left of the great tree. If you let the nahna chase you there it is a good spot.
Jackson – Found it Kate. Take off to your 1, Cam has the nahna at 200 yards to your 8. Let it get close enough to chase you or it might just eat the rest of that nahna.
Kate – K, I’m ready, tell me when.
George – I will prepare at the tree.
Kate – See you there.
Jackson – Its picking up speed about 15 seconds. 3 – 2 – 1 go!
Kate – Saw it. This one is bigger!
Jackson – do you trust him?
Kate – I do, his heart is pure. I think he can help.
At the tree, George has impaled the nahna with his tail.
Kate – are you ok?
George – yes just a little stuck.
A couple of good tugs frees him. He quickly eats the heart.
George – This one had 3 the other had 2. I will call my clan to feast, they will be happy to meet you.
He makes a whistling hoot sound.
George – It will take them some time to get here. Is there any way that I can repay the favor?
Kate – Actually there is, my navigation went wonky shortly after I crossed over the gap. We are trying to get to some caves that are not far from a large field of crystals surrounded by giant trees.
George – I know the place. We don’t go there, the sound changes there. But I can take you to a spot where you can see the caves, the journey should be easy from that place. I will take you there after the feast.
00.13.05 – 2305 – Log – Jackson
Georges clan was wildly happy when they saw the nahna. The atmosphere was like a big family picnic, only slightly messier. He sent them to the second nahna and took Kate within sight of where she needed to be. Levi got the decoy drone in a good enough place so that we could temporarily free up the replacement drone. We got it close enough to use for triangulation to get her out.
Kate is back on the safe side of the weird gap. She made a ramp of downed logs and launched herself over the gap again. The transport doesn’t require an even terrain to function. Neat machines. She has set camp in a sheltered area and started fabrication of the device. Cam has presented us with a mod for her transport. He has designed a set up that will allow it to fly. It will get her here in hours instead of days. We would need the nanos and arrays from all but the decoy. Oddly enough Dakota wasn’t opposed to it; Tyler and I are on the fence. Levi said to let her decide. So we did and of course she wants to do it.
00.13.05 – 2511 – Log – Levi
Kate is a bad ass. She shot one of those plated cat/doggos in the mouth with an arrow, and lured another away so that one of the flying lizards, George, could kill it. He called his clan and they had a party. It was just like at home, lots of congratulations, happy faces, and youngins darting here and there playing tag, screeching and laughing. They had fun. George took her to a place where she could see the caves and then went back to the party. She traveled through a field of giant crystals and then a place that was loaded with these jumbo sized albino flying fox looking things perched in trees. The caves with the metal were just past. She got what she needed and we used three of the drones to triangulate her out.
Elbert is happily chasing the decoy on the west side of the peninsula. I almost feel bad for him.
There are loads of deer and turkey and cattle here. Its a pretty place.
00.13.06 – 0500 – Log – Jackson – We sent Kate the mods for the transport. She’s going to need all of the nanos and the arrays from all but the decoy.
00.13.06 – 0711 – Dialog – Kate and Jackson
Kate – I’m ready, are you all set there?
Jackson – We’re good. There is a good spot to take off in about a quarter mile. As soon as you see clear area hit the gas. You can use the lift at 115mph.
Kate – It’s beautiful!
Jackson – You’re at 300ft they can’t see you. You did it Kate! We have a homing beacon set if you want to use it. Cam recommends that you follow the coastline, but stay away from the open water because of the wind.
00.13.06 – 0732 – Log – Tyler
Kate is on her way back. The group knew something was going on, but didn’t have details. Jackson filled them in on most of it. I have suggested that the majority of the group be armed, just in case. The idea was received well. Not everyone armed up, but everybody is ready for freedom.
00.13.06 – 2205 – Log – Elbert
I have failed. F11 has returned. That part is good, but she has separated me from my remote control unit and freed the colonists from the holding area. They have questioned me about who brought us here. I have told them all I know about the Builders, which isn’t a lot. Some of them have gone outside. They all came back in. They are looking for other people. There was a discussion among them about flying a transport to scout the area. They are mistaken, the transports can glide a short distance but they can’t fly. They have modified some of the drones to fly higher.
It never occurred to me to check for other muhans. I stopped the survey when a suitable place was found.
What I can’t understand is how she managed to get here while she was traveling around the upper left side of the peninsula. While she was only spotted the one time, there was always a solid eddy current on the scans.
The colonists insist that I call them by names and not the nomenclature that I assigned. F11 is Kate. She keeps me with her most of the time. She leaves me with her climber group people when she uses the sanitation facilities.
Droid10 requested a meeting from the one called Jackson when he lost contact with me. I have instructed the droids to comply with reasonable requests. Droid10 was satisfied that I wasn’t terminated.
I had to request a data pull for my logs because my transfer port was removed during the decapitation. Kate and Camden are designing and building a better charging station for me, it will have several of the ‘non-essential’ elements like the transfer port that was removed.
00.13.06 – 2300 – Log – Tyler
Levi and I borrowed Kate’s transport to take a look around from higher up. Cam and Jack modified some of Elbert’s drones to fly higher like we did with the captured drones. They actually got them to go twice as high, but they really started to get jostled by the wind up that high. Kate said something about beefing them up a bit. We didn’t see any signs of muhan habitation. If there are people other than us around here they are hidden underground. We plan to search farther out tomorrow.
Kate has mentioned that she didn’t see any signs of muhan life on her trip – other than the gap.
Elbert was questioned off and on all day. Little guy has a sense of humor, he reminded us to eat. To be fair we were about an hour and a half past our meal time.
00.13.07 – 2000 – Log – Jackson
Tyler and Levi tried out the flight mode on Kate’s transport yesterday. All the guys want to try it out. Levi didn’t get to pilot yesterday so he is out on it again now. I think he is playing just as much as looking around. He was trying to get Edie to go up with him, but she claimed to be afraid of heights. Kate has put the speed restrictor back on it for flight mode. It still goes plenty fast. She wants to test it unmanned at its fastest. Some have claimed their own transports from the stores rooms and have started to modify them. Harris snarked at Kurt about him claiming a transport to modify, so Kurt had another fabricated to replace it and he complained about that too. He went on about using up units. Elbert said that the unit’s usage is significantly under what was expected and planned for. Apparently there is a massive store of the stuff in a cavern. Enough for generations to come. A group will be sent down to check it out. Anyway we are working on half a dozen transports to take out and have a look around the peninsula. The rest of the continent will be done with modified drones.
We have started learning about how this place works and have been taking on some of the chores. There have been several requests to update the horrible bathrooms. Kate has started working up a design. Maci and Edie want a kitchen when she is done.
00.13.07 – 2300 – Log – Camden
We have sent out search parties and drones daily looking for muhan life. We seem to be it, unless they are hiding underground. The continent has been scanned. This is not Thearn, the landmasses don’t match. The shock of that is still jarring, even with the method of our arrival and the level of technology around us.
Kate has redesigned the lower bathroom into private areas with actual locks on actual doors. We used the new style fabricator with independent build wands and it went together quickly. That stress has been reduced. She is working on a kitchen design for Maci and Edie, and then will go back to a bathroom design again for the upstairs one. People are looking to get them installed in their ‘apartments’ too. ‘Apartments’ is a generous term. They aren’t even studios. They are large rooms with beds. People have claimed their rooms and are in the process of installing locks; closets or closet options are being reviewed. A couple of people have selected dressers and night-stands and have those items in the fabrication queue.
00.13.10 – 1000 – Log – Maci
Kate has designed a kitchen for me and Edie. She sent the models to a holosuite on the ground floor. Everybody was in awe of the technology. The kitchens weren’t bad either. Edie and I picked one and gave her a couple a minor changes. The fabricator should have it done by tomorrow at mid day. Harris has fussed about the units usage and demands that we all eat from the fabricator. That food tastes fine, but it isn’t alive. I think it would keep us going in a pinch, but it can’t have everything that real food has. The gardens here are limited. A small group went fishing and brought back enough for all of us. Jack and Tyler cooked it on a grill in the courtyard. They wrapped it in something that I hope didn’t leach into the food and seasoned it with fabricated spices. It was delicious. Tyler brought back orach too, so we had real greens to go with it. Olivia fussed about eating weeds and wouldn’t touch it. Neither did Gwen. They ate out of the machine.
00.13.12 – 2100 – Log – Edie
The kitchen is done and it is the nicest one I’ve ever cooked in. Maci likes it too. We each have our own side, so we don’t get in each others way. Kate did a great job.
Small groups of people have been going out and fishing, Tyler has been bringing back greens. Some I don’t recognize, but most taste good. We have eggs from the chickens now too. The droids were throwing them away before. Kate has been nudging Finn and Tyler to check to see if there is any good hunting. She has been working her can off or she would do it herself. They are hesitant because we have a couple of angry vegans, and they don’t want to deal with the toxicity. I have nothing against veganism. I worked with one once and she worked hard to meet her nutritional needs because she didn’t want to go down the angry vegan road. Ours are ‘ethical’ vegans. It’s nonsensical to value the life of plants less because they don’t have a face and can’t scream. It’s a very patriarchal world view. Anyway our vegans have assigned their value ranking scale to the rest of us too. Most of us aren’t their kind of people and they have made sure that we know that.
00.13.12 – 2115 – Log – Levi
The fishing here is great. Edie came with the group today. Best day ever!
00.13.12 – 2200 – Log – Kate
I miss my babies.
The mood in most of the group is better now that we are out of that room. Now to find the way home.
00.13.12 – 2220 – Log – Elbert
My new charging station is done and works quite well. People go out during the day, but all of them come back to eat and sleep. This is good. My biggest fear was for them to leave and not return.
The bathrooms have been modified to contain several small rooms. Kate took me in to view them. Some of them have hieroglyphics on the doors; I haven’t located the meaning of these symbols in the build specifications. The new space has enclosures of water cleansing with a wet washing area and a dry area to dress in. Other enclosures have the liquid and solid waste removal units with a hand washing station. There is also a row of hand washing stations just inside the door. There are currently seven liquid hand soaps all with different fragrances. There is one ‘crud removing’ paste as well. I was told this one is used after fishing, foraging, some of the messier chores and working in the soil.
Someone has placed flowers in vases in the kitchen and eating areas.
00.13.15 – 1800 – Log – Edie
I was in the kitchen making bread from fake ingredients this morning and Julianna was keeping me company. Kate left Elbert with her today during her shower. We were explaining the need for the separate areas in the bathrooms to him. It’s a cultural thing. We were well into a discussion about public baths or lack of them in different cultures when Harris and Ethan came in looking to start trouble. Elbert has been on Harris’ hit list since he shared that we have more than enough solid units to use. Harris is a bit of a control freak. He started in on Julianna. First teasing her and ended it by grabbing Elbert and playing keep away with Ethan, and Julianna trying to get him back. Kurt and Cam were across the hall and heard the yelling. Kurt is a hundred and twenty pounds soaking wet, Cam has some muscle and height though. Neither wouldn’t normally say boo to anyone. Cam is a sweetie, Kurt has more street sense. Kurt was the one to confront Harris. I’m fairly sure he has been on the receiving end of being bullied before and was ready for some retribution. Harris is bigger than him by thirty pounds, but was totally surprised to be physically confronted, and backed down real fast like the coward he is. Cam was the one that caught Elbert and took him to the med bay for healing. The little fellow was messed up.
00.13.15 – 2000 – Log – Elbert
I received some damages today. Kate had left me with Julianna during her shower. She and Edie were explaining hygiene and bathing practices during different times and in different cultures. It was a fascinating conversation. We were discussing the etiquette for Napajese onsens when Harris and Ethan came in. Harris conversed with Julianna briefly and then picked me up and threw me to Ethan. There was yelling. Julianna tried to get me back. After that it was jumble of sounds and images. Kurt grabbing Harris by his shirt front. Camden holding me steady. Rushed travel to the med bay. Kate with damp hair working by Camden.
I am of mostly mechanical construct, but I do have an organic organ that is integrated into my mechanical system. One cannot function without the other. The organ was damaged during the jostling.
Kate is working on something she is calling a dampening system. She says that it will protect me should I fall, or if something falls on me, or if I’m used as the ball again in another game of keep away.
00.13.16 – 1500 – Log – Kate
Harris and Ethan hurt Elbert. They played keep away with him and the jostling bruised Elbert’s biological organ. The organ has muhan DNA. He is a he, though it isn’t an organ that a standard muhan has. I have asked Camden to check to see if the droids have something similar. We believe that it produces hormones that transmit information to his mechanical system. Cam and I suspended him and treated him with nanos to repair the damage. We replaced some of his biofluids too. I have started work on a dampening system for him. I’ve robbed the technology from the transport elevation and propulsion systems.
00.13.19 – 2000 – Log – Elbert
Kate has finished the design for the dampening system and tested it vigorously. Fortunately I didn’t have to be in it when she did. She was satisfied with it and asked Camden and Jackson to come in and test it out. She put it under something she called soufflé. The soufflé was in a dish. She had it fabricated out of the food unit. The men came in and tried their best but it wasn’t ruined. Apparently it is a delicate item, much more than me. They ate it afterwards.
00.13.24 – 1600 – Log – Darcy
OMG! The toxic twins were picking on Maci and Ashley for having a bible study in one of the small conference rooms. They literally walked in on a discussion that had been going for thirty-five minutes and accused them of bible thumping at them. It was an interesting conversation before they showed up. I had to go to sunday school when I was little, but there was no talking about it. I got in trouble for asking questions. No thinking. I asked them to include me on the next one. I probably will only listen again, but they didn’t seem to mind me sitting in with them today.
00.13.28 – 2200 – Log – Elbert
Kate took me to the coast today. She took me outside! Her transport really does fly. The experience was not pleasant.
She borrowed a small excavator, a small refiner, the modified fabricator with independent build wands and a small pop up shelter. She excavated the ore for the solid units and set the refiner to work. Then she put me in a pouch that was suspended from her shoulders and sloshed along the shore. That part of the day was pleasant. She plans to build a cottage on the beach to ‘get away from the crazy.’
After our walk, she made sure the refiner wouldn’t run out of oar to process and we returned to the settlement.
00.13.32 – 2200 – Log – Dakota
We (Cam, Jack, Levi and I) confronted Kate in greenhouse 3 today. She has disappeared three days in a row after chores and we demanded to know where she was going. Surprisingly enough she said that she was working on a cottage hideout at the beach. She invited us out there two days from today. It would be completed then. They (she and Elbert) were going out again today to connect the array, food fabricator and water supply.
00.14.01 – 2000 – Log – Elbert
The cottage is finished, all of the systems are functional and the solid units are stored. Kate also fabricated an excavator, a refiner and two moderately sized fabricators with independent build wands. She has set the fabricators to work in the basement on a large type of drone that will operate high in the atmosphere. It will be used to map the rest of this world and the sky. It has scanners that the traditional drones don’t have. It also has a ring device. This will start her active search for Thearn. I trust that the Builders would have placed us in a location that makes this difficult if not impossible. During the build she stopped one to fabricate a set of continuous tracks for me. The tracks allow me to navigate the cottage (even the stairs) and firmer ground. They worked well on the pebbly parts of the beach, but were not so good on the loose sand. She said that I would need a more robust set for that. I believe that this set up is intended to stay at the cottage. There is still a concern about my safety at the settlement. At the cottage I have more freedom.
00.14.02 – 2000 – Log – Elbert
The group came to see the cottage today. There must have been a misunderstanding in the greenhouse about who was invited. Dakota called Levi a ‘blabber-mouth’ because he told the rest of the settlement. On the plus side Dakota and Maci said that they would not fly on the transports. It didn’t occur to me to ask to travel overland. Becca organized the expedition and Maci and Edie packed a lunch and snacks. The group was mostly pleased to get away from the settlement. Harris left his sunglasses at the settlement and fussed about it. He also complained about the units usage until he was told they were sourced locally. Gwen and Olivia got sand in their shoes and grumbled about having dirty feet. The three spent the day in the cottage kitchen.
The rest of the group enjoyed the day. Becca requested several items from the fabricator for the outing. There was a flying disc that they flung back and forth to each other. Camden can make it go farther than Jackson. There was volleyball, which is a game that involves an elevated net and a ball that can’t be allowed to touch the ground or go out of bounds. The players can’t grab the ball, but must only strike it with their head, arms or hands. Reading material was brought, also towels, chairs and umbrellas. A kite was flown, and Dakota made a sandcastle with Camden. Several people went in the water. Muhan recreational activities are non-productive.
Kate started a design for a larger home. She plans to construct it at a lake that is about a mile and a half from the settlement building. She is calling it a decoy and hoping that the more disagreeable people in the group will be drawn to that one because it’s faster and easier to get to. The beach cottage is a simple building like the settlement building. It isn’t ugly but it is more practical than aesthetically pleasing. She was aiming for assembly speed over beauty. She plans to make the lake house nice to look at and a very pleasant place to be.
I didn’t get to use the continuous tracks today.
00.14.11 – 2000 – Log – Elbert
Kate planned to start working on the lake house today. Levi found out and was a blabber-mouth again. A large number of the group showed up to help. Maci and Edie brought food. Camden brought the settlement excavator, refiner, two fabricators and an array to power them. It is interesting to note that those who regularly participate in the chores also came to help, With the exception of Lindsey and Brody who don’t usually help but did come today.
Kate, Becca and Jackson doled out assignments from Kate’s to do list. There wasn’t any solid unit ore in the area so it had to be collected from a pocket about a mile away. By the end of the day all of the materials were collected, including the needed metals and the processing of the ore was about halfway done. The refining machines will continue through the night and finish before we return in the morning to continue working. There was a discussion about whether or not to start the fabricators. It was decided to start in the morning. It didn’t occur to me to make two or three more refiners to speed the processing of ore. This step of the process took a great deal of time. I am curious to see how quickly the build process will go with four fabricator units operating simultaneously.
00.14.12 – 2000 – Log – Jackson
Today is day two at the lake house build site. I think Kate is building it so that the crazies stay away from her beach cottage. We have way too many people here helping. The technology requires minimal input after the process is initiated. A lot of people are out hiking, foraging or fishing. Brody hung up a rope swing out over the lake. A bunch of people have tried it out. Elbert just about had a stroke when they did. Cam and Dakota are building a fire pit. Tyler and Zane anchored a raft to swim out to in the lake. Levi is spreading out the waste product of the refined solid units. It will make a nice ‘sandy’ beach area. There is a glider swing and a gazebo remaining to be placed. Becca is looking for the perfect spots for them. There are tables and outdoor seating to locate too. Kate has designed a shed for them to be stored in case of an off-season time.
The build time for the main structure with all four fabricators should be done by the midday meal. It’s amazing how fast the building is going together. The appliances and furniture should be done by sunset. We should be able to come back tomorrow and hook up the array and the well, store the solid units and be done. We are planning an outing the day after tomorrow.
It feels good to be doing something.
00.14.22 – 1812 – Log – Dakota
We have planned a three day trip to the beach cottage, about half the group is coming. Tents have been fabricated. Kate even enlarged the transport design so that it that holds six people and has lots of storage room. A few of them are being fabricated. Some people rode on following sleds last time, it isn’t practical, and people complained about the nano protection (a seatbelt equivalent) not allowing for much movement. Becca is helping with the planning. There is a small waterfall down the coast within walking distance that a bunch of us are going to go see.
00.14.26 – 1620 – Log – Maci
A bunch of us have come to Kate’s beach cottage to stay for a few days. It’s so peaceful here. Kate has given me and Dakota our own rooms to come and use anytime that we want. Ashley and Ryan slept on a pull out couch. Everyone else is sleeping in tents. We walked a couple of miles up the beach and inland a little ways to see a waterfall that Jack found on a map. It was a pretty area. I had a nap when we got back.
The subject of first aid came up on the walk and Elbert offered to teach about the use of the technology and first aid. I’m not interested in learning about the technology, but a first aid refresher sounds like a good idea. A bunch of us are going to sit through the refresher course and Kate, Dakota, and Camden are going to learn about the technology. They have already used some of it.
We are going back tomorrow after the mid day meal and I don’t want to.
00.14.31 – 2000 – Log – Elbert
It has been four days since we came back to the settlement. It has rained all four of them. The group has responded to being cooped up negatively. Jackson is grumpy. Edie has baked all day for the past two days. Levi and Neil have eaten what Edie baked. Kate has worked on her tablet and workstation almost continuously.
This morning Kate checked the settlement weather monitor and remarked that it snowed in the mountains. Jackson grumbled. He doesn’t talk a lot normally, but lately he has started grunting and grumbling. He is unpleasant to be around right now. I got an odd sensation. I had this sensation before Kate disappeared. There was no reference to it in the manual. Kate said, ‘You could go snowmobiling’, and Jackson looked at her. Kate said ‘you could make an afternoon of it. You could go skiing, snowboarding, snowshoeing …sledding.’ ‘We could modify the transports or just fabricate the machines. If you use all of the settlement fabricators and all of mine they will be worked up in no time.’ Then Harris piped up ‘You can’t be wasting so many units. And then Darcy interjected ‘Oh you tyrant! The units can be reclaimed!’ That ended that conversation or those conversations and a new one started with. ‘Well I don’t want to be cold, what are we going to do?’from Gwen. Kate said ‘Spa day.’ This elicited a bunch of ‘ooohs.’ So, all but Harris from the male population and about half of the women went to the mountains. I did not go. The rest of us had spa day. Or a sort of a spa day. Kate participated enough to make sure the program ran correctly in the holosuite. We got a call about two hours after the group left from Camden asking where the med kits were put. Becca told him, and Camden after instructing someone where the items were (because they were sent with a back up med kit as well), responded with they aren’t there. He asked for aid to be sent after that. Kurt had fallen and broken a leg. Kate asked Dakota to get three hypertubes ready in the droid bay, and then she asked Camden for landing coordinates for the tubes. The tubes don’t fly, but they also can’t be directed while in transit. You give them a destination and they go there. She asked me and Dakota to be ready in the medsuite, she said she would be back in five minutes. She grabbed three medkits while Dakota got the tubes ready. She was back in four minutes with both Kurt and Camden. Both Kate and Camden looked a little pale. Hypertubes aren’t calibrated for muhan travel. It was probably a lot like my keep away experience. Kurt was suspended for the ride and only partially unsuspended when he was asked about a preferred treatment approach. He requested the nano treatment over a traditional cast. Kurt had a compound fracture. This could be approached two ways: one they physically set the break and then apply a nano dressing and then let the nanos knit him back together. Or two, just set the leg in the nano bath and let them do it all. That process would take a little longer, but would be less stressful for everybody. Kurt chose the nano bath.
The group got back a little after Kurt was fully unsuspended. He was sitting in a wheel chair with a leg brace waiting for them. The chair and brace were to remind him not to use his leg. The nanos encourage muscle growth, so tomorrow after the growth activity has settled down he will be given a balancing treatment for the other leg and then they will have physical therapy until he gets comfortable with the new muscle tone.
00.14.31 – 1900 – Log – Becca
I loaded both of those med packs, Kate handed them to me. I remember it distinctly.
00.14.31 – 1950 – Log – Tyler
We had a quiet search for the missing medpacks when we got back. Becca was freaking out about it, she remembers loading them. She said Kate handed both to her. Kate remembers the same. The missing packs, a helmet, an avalanche kit, goggles and some mittens were found in a small conference room closet.
00.15.01 – 2000 – Log – Elbert
Kurt had his balancing treatment after breakfast, and the therapy started two hours later. Kate asked Kurt several questions, some of them I found odd. First she asked him what happened. Kurt said he had been snowshoeing and taking pictures of the view. He was 10’ from the edge of about a 15’ drop off. He was taking pictures when one of his feet started sliding. He fell and then slid over the edge. Ethan must have heard him yell and was the one that found him. Kate asked how far from the group he was, and was he out of sight? Kurt said that he was about 50’ from several people in the group, but there was a stand of trees between them. Kate asked if the camera was digital or ‘old school.’ Kurt smiled and said he went with the old school version. Kate asked if he was listening to music. Kurt responded yes. With earbuds? Kurt said yes. The pictures he took were beautiful.
The trip to the mountains seemed to wake Jackson up. It was still raining when they got back, after a quick hunt for the missing items, he started looking at the geological scans for ‘a nice place to visit.’ He found a place about two hundred miles away. There are caves to explore and about a half mile from that a wide and ‘hopefully slow’ river that he also hopes will have good fishing. There are wooded areas. He proposed a five day trip to the group and all but eight people decided to go. Becca was happy to start planning it.
00.15.01 – 2112 – Log – Becca
We’re doing stuff now! Jack has suggested a five day trip to see some caves and maybe go fishing. I have started my lists. It’s nice to be doing something.
00.15.01 – 2120 – Log – Kate
Jack has proposed a five day trip to explore caves and go fishing. It sounds nice. Becca is in planning heaven. Most of the group is going. People are making up their own lists of stuff they would like to bring and adding to Becca’s list. Somebody asked for a small motor boat. Grace wondered if we could bring a poop-closet. The idea was seconded by Maci and thirded by Ashley. I asked Tyler, Jack, Dakota and Cam if they thought we should go with a composting toilet or a standard one, and they surprised me by saying the standard one would probably be appreciated by most of the group. Most of them aren’t campers. So I’m designing one that is sort of a combination. It won’t smell and we won’t have to use wood chips, but it will use less water than standard. If we are going to have access to water we can have showers too. I may build a pop-up type camper for the couples. Ashley is preggers, not so far along, but I would feel better if she was sleeping on a real bed, so her back doesn’t get messed up.
00.15.03 – 2100 – Log – Ashley
Kate designed a camper for me! She’s so sweet. There were requests for several more. I think Kate is working on a larger dorm style model for those that don’t want to sleep on the ground.
00.15.03 – 2115 – Log – Camden
Kate is designing a portable dorm room that we can also use for storage on the trip up and back. Becca is beside herself with glee. People want to bring kayaks and small motorized boats, and she was planning to make a bunch of following sleds and strap the stuff on but this is a much better solution. She is asking for two dorm units ‘just in case.’ I’m not sure how many of the guys will use it, but you never know. Part of me is cringing from how much stuff we are planning to bring with us, but another part says the people that don’t camp will be comfortable.
00.15.03 – 2117 – Log – Dakota
Scope creep. It started with the potty, continued with the couples campers, and reached full escalation with the dorms. We are going glamping. Kate is having fun designing stuff and Becca is having fun planning stuff. Maci has increased the cooking equipment she is requesting now that there is room. She’s planning on people finding food and maybe hunting. It’s out of control. Everybody is happier than I’ve seen them since we got here.
00.15.09 – 2117 – Log – Darcy
There was a settlement wide announcement today. It freaked people out. First the building has never spoken to us before, and second it was a medical announcement. Somebody surrendered a fetus and the building (the settlement computer) wanted to offer the father custody. Apparently the mother was supposed to tell him and he hasn’t gone to claim the baby. Dad was given twenty days to put a claim in. After that it will be open to the community for adoption. There was some heated questioning of the system computer and our medical people. Apparently there is a machine in the med suite that you can step into and have anything fixed without needing a doctor or technician. Someone tried to terminate a pregnancy. We discovered that Kurt is not the father. Apparently the computer took a sample of his DNA when his leg was treated. When asked the computer started listing a shocking number of things that it monitors. It wasn’t done when Harris told it to stop, both listing monitored items and the monitoring itself. Maci tried to reason with him that maybe we should decide on each item. He and the terror twins won through sheer volume. She, Kate and Dakota took off to the cottage. I can’t say I blame them. We are days away from from our trip.
00.15.09 – 2500 – Log – Elbert
Kate built a portable incubator for the fetus. We took it with us and came to the cottage. There was a concern from most of the group that it could be terminated if left unprotected. Tomorrow is departure day. The staging area will be at the lake house.
00.15.10 – 0700 – Log – Jackson
Its departure day, we are staging at the lake house so that there are fewer sticky fingers around. I’m kind of surprised by how much stuff we are bringing. I guess it’s better than not having something and needing it. Originally we were going to fabricate all the food and bring it with us, but when the dorms came into the equation Kate added a larger array and a fabricator because there is room for it and the solid units. Droid10 is going to send eggs and vegetables via hypertube. The dorms are a neat set up. The end opens downward and makes a ramp for easy loading and unloading. Both sides slide out, the bunks fold out from the sides like Murphy beds and there are pull out noise dampening curtains for privacy. She picked a nice mattress to use. I was planning to rough it on an air mattress, but I may swipe one of those. With the beds folded up the storage area is huge. There is a standard door in the side with a screened window. Each bed has its own window. It has an awning off the side with the door and another at the back over the ramp. Both can be set up with screen mesh to keep the bugs out.
00.15.10 – 1200 – Log – Elbert
We are traveling. It’s like they have done this before. They are using a drone to get a look ahead and the personal transports riders send images back to the lead group transport. The data is combined and routes are suggested. The suggested routes are sent back to the lead personal transport driver who then picks the best route. The remaining transports and following sleds are set to following mode and are linked to the lead group transport.
00.15.10 – 1630 – Log – Darcy
We have arrived. The trip took us about six hours with several potty and stretch breaks. There was a flurry of unpacking and because Maci won’t cook today people grabbed food from the fabricator. A bunch of groups are exploring the area.
00.15.10 – 1740 – Log – Grace
Tyler has come back with greens and mushrooms, he used a suspension unit from a med kit to preserve it. Levi brought back wood for a campfire.
00.15.10 – 2040 – Log – Kate
Tyler is brilliant; he used a suspension unit to preserve greens. We gave no thought to refrigeration. Droid10 is going to send out food daily, but not delicate food items like greens. The plan was to eat stuff before it has time to go bad. But Maci isn’t cooking tonight, so he preserved it. We will have greens with breakfast, and if the traps are successful fish too.
00.15.10 – 2200 – Log – Dakota
We had a campfire tonight. People sat around it and told stories. I was happy tired; I had fake hot chocolate. It reminded me of the campground at home, though that group is usually only half a dozen people. It made me think about the people we left behind. Most everybody has someone that they especially miss, but all of my people are here. Though it would be nice to have Ella, Grady, Emma, Pete and Audra.
00.15.11 – 1000 – Log – Maci
Kate and Dakota brought back greens and a couple of quail this morning. They dressed them out for me. That is a plus. They will be part of the evening meal either today or tomorrow. I’ll have to put them in soup so there are no battles over it. There will be fish too, but they are still swimming in the stream. I’m hoping there is bigger game around here and someone gets lucky, our protein has only come from eggs and fish so far. The quail will be a nice change.
00.15.11 – 1900 – Log – Jackson
We went into caves today. Two of them. The first was a dud. It was shortish, about a hundred and fifty yards long ending in a good sized cavern with veins of gold embedded in the walls. The second one was a lot of fun and went on quite a ways and had other side shoots to explore. That one ended in an enormous cavern with giant crystals. We got good pictures. There are a couple of other caves a few hundred yards further north. We may try those tomorrow or just spend the day fishing and exploring.
00.15.13 – 0800 – Log – Darcy
What a beautiful place! Hills, mountains, streams, and woods, we should build out here. The settlement is built on prairie. There are woods and the lake about a mile and a half from the buildings to the west and another patch three miles to the north, but most of the view is flat grassland as far as you can see. I asked Elbert why he built there and he said that is were the biggest deposit of ore for the solid units was. So it was a practical decision.
00.15.15 – 2110 – Log – Maci
We have had a lovely five days. We will pack up after breakfast tomorrow and then start the trip back. Several people want to build out here; others have mentioned that beach homes would be nice too. The urge to settle in a more comfortable place has hit the group hard. I know that Kate is looking for home, and I know that she will find it if it can be found, but right now we need to figure out how to make this work. We need to have more days like these.
00.15.15 – 2115 – Log – Levi
Three days in a row. Fishing with Edie! She caught just as many as I did. This is the best ever!
00.15.15 – 2200 – Log – Jackson
Levi wants to stay another week. I think more than half of us do, but nobody said anything because they didn’t want make anyone ready to go back feel bad about disappointing us. We have votes to make group decisions. It could have happened.
There has been talk about moving out here, or to the beach, a couple of people like the lake location. Wherever we end up choosing the others would have to come with us. It doesn’t make sense for us to be permanently separated given how few of us there are here.
00.15.18 – 1900 – Log – Kurt
We have been back two days and people are already looking for the next adventure. There is a group of five people actively looking for another spot to visit.
Elbert and Julianna got bullied again, though this time things weren’t so bad for him. Same culprits, same location, Edie was even there too. And they did the same thing. There were a couple of differences this time though. Elbert has a dampener now and he says it works well. Kate wasn’t in the shower this time, she was actually two rooms down in the science lab and she heard the yelling. Kate is not big, but she does parkour, she’s quite strong – she’s like spider man minus the radioactivity, and I know she has a black belt in tae kwon do. Its old, she got it in junior high school, but she could take them both at the same time. I was at the other end of the building when the yelling started, but I got to see her march them out of the kitchen by their ears, stuff them in the elevator and send them to the first floor.
00.15.18 – 2000 – Log – Elbert
My new dampener works quite well. Harris and Ethan came to the kitchen and threw me again and it didn’t bother me this time. Julianna and Edie were distressed, both yelled and Julianna tried to get me from the men. Kate arrived shortly after it started. She went after Ethan first. Ethan was holding me at the time, he threw me to Harris and she grabbed him by the ear. She pulled him towards her and down. She told him to march and pulled him towards Harris, who threw me at the floor. I bounced and Julianna caught me. The next thing I knew Kate had both Harris and Ethan by their ears and was leading them out of the room. She made them walk hunched over. Edie laughed so hard her eyes leaked.
00.15.18 – 2003 – Log – Jackson
Kate took Elbert (and the fetus) to the beach cottage. There was trouble with Harris and Ethan again. The little guy is fine this time. Maci and Dakota went with her. There’s a bunch of us that are packing tents again, we will bring the poop closet, half the camping stuff and one of the dorms too. We will follow them there. Most of the rest of the group is staying in or near the lake house and that place has six bathrooms (one for each bedroom suite) and two powder rooms. That place is crazy decked out with frills. I’m amazed something like that came out of Kate’s brain; it’s just not her style at all. It’s not garish, but it is over the top for us regular folks. If it was on Thearn it would scream extravagant wealth.
00.15.29 – 2003 – Log – Dakota
We have been at the beach cottage for ten beautiful days. Droid10 has been sending hypertubes with vegetables and eggs. We have fished to supplement our protein. There isn’t any hunting around here. There is talk again about finding a better place to settle. We obviously like the beach, but it would make a better vacation spot. We need a place were we can grow things. The lake group came by and we talked about it. There is no good place for what we want to do around here. We fall back to needing to convince the settlement group to move with us and they don’t want to.
The Great Experiment 