00.15.32 – 1900 – Log – Jackson
We got a video conference request from the settlement group today. Harris was rattled and said that Droid10 told him something had eaten two chickens last night. There were half as many eggs in the tube this morning, I wondered why. We asked if there were any animal tracks around the chicken yard. Droid10 offered to check and send photos if there were. Tyler suggested putting up trail cameras around the yard to see what was wandering around. There was also a suggestion to use an electrified fence, or move them into one of the barns at night. We ended the call after that. About fifteen minutes later we are all back on video conference and Harris was visibly upset, which really isn’t saying much, he is easily excitable. The photos were surprising. Droid4 (the fun loving crazy one) found tracks and was thoughtful enough to put a hand trowel on the ground next to them for size reference. There were some around the chicken yard and some around settlement building. Tyler said it was from a large cat. Elbert said that there are none on the peninsula and that the largest predator animal on the peninsula was a dwarf sized wolf variant that maxed out at about thirty pounds. Tyler said that it wasn’t canine; the animal that made it had retractable claws. Kate piped up and wondered if a nahna hadn’t managed to get across the gap. That thought was alarming. Harris asked what a nahna was and Tyler told him: ‘They are all teeth, claws, and armor like plating. Fast. They are rugged creatures. They look sort of like a doggo, but have claws like a cat. The ones that we saw were about eighty to ninety pounds.’ Kate asked for help doing a scan of the gap. ‘There is no point in getting excited about nahnas if it could just be an over sized mutant claw-less wolf looking for an easy meal.’ Droid10 got the drones ringed to the gap and a group of muhans and droids piloted. It was neat to see the groups work together. Three downed trees were found and dead animals and skeletons as far as the eye could see. Kate again. ‘How awful, it’s literally death valley! I wonder if that wind storm we had was bigger before it got here? We should put some live capture traps out too. Just in case. I’ll put them in the fabrication queue and move them to the top.’ Tyler suggested baiting them with fish and for them not to leave the settlement unarmed. Most of that group stays inside anyway, but the rest of us armed up. Harris asked Droid10 to send a crew to restore the gap and remove the nahnas. Droid10 hesitated and said that he would send a crew to the gap if there was a maintenance crew assigned and there was proper shelter provided. Some of them were in rough shape when we got here, I can understand the hesitation. He also said that they were ill equipped to capture animals and he wouldn’t ask his crew to perform that task. They would willingly relocate captured animals though with the proper assistance and instruction. I had to smile at that eloquent ‘we don’t know how.’
01.01.01 – 2000 – Log – Elbert
The settlement group has captured a nahna. There was only the one filmed and the groups are hopeful that it’s just the one. Camden and Kate worked on a plan to get the nahna safely back to the wild side of the gap. Hypertubes were considered because they would be the fastest, but they only travel so far before needing to be recharged. They ended up chaining power packs and programming them to discharge in sequence. Levi and Tyler volunteered, they picked the tubes over a transport. They were back within the hour. Both had motion sickness and napped after returning.
There was a vote on how to repair the gap. Kate and Tyler want to send a small group to clear the trees. Harris suggested explosives, it would be faster. There was a vote and the explosives won. The drones were used to deliver the explosives to the trees, and then moved off far enough to record the explosion. It was somewhat effective. Two of the three trees were relocated. One was still a good jumping platform. The third tree was unmoved. Part of the southern wall was damaged in the explosion. So a small group will go out to repair the wall and cut the trees back. Becca and Tyler are busy working up plans and lists. There have been rumblings in the group about going out to ‘fix’ the gap. People are upset about all of the dead animals in it. Levi has said ‘it would be easy enough to cut ramps into the wild side to give critters a place to climb back out if they fell in.’
01.01.02 – 0800 – Log – Kate
Planning is in progress to send a group to fix the tree situation. Levi, Tyler and Zane have volunteered but were asking for ‘a medic and a guard.’ Both Cam and I don’t want Dakota to go, so I volunteered before she could do it. I’m a better shot than he is anyway. There is interest in sending a larger group to clean up the bodies and cut ramps in the wild side. We could make a nice trip of it and have a good look around the peninsula on the way there and back. There will be a vote tonight to gage interest.
01.01.02 – 0911 – Log – Dakota
Kate volunteered to go to the gap to be a medic and guard. I think Cam wanted to go too; she is a better shot than he is anyway. She has seconded the gap trip proposal and said that we could make RV’s to make the trip more comfortable and possibly bring part of the chicken flock for eggs. Interest went from about 70% to 100% in the lake and ocean groups. The settlement group has no interest. Becca is gleefully planning all of it. The tree cleaners will take the dorm with the array and fabricator, and a six person transport. There will be a group here to help them navigate. The fastest route is up the coast, Jack is already planning it. He wants them back as soon as possible. I may put a speed restrictor on the transport so they don’t go too fast. Kate has asked me to keep an eye on Elbert and the baby should the group go back to the settlement. It’s doubtful that will happen. He likes it here, he has his mobility here.
01.01.02 – 1010 – Log – Jackson
Kate has proposed several RV variations all with slide out sections and pop up secondary living and driving areas on the roof. One has a kitchenette, tiny restroom with shower, small eating area and proper Murphy bed sleeping areas for four. The bed set up in the dorms opened out length wise against the wall, were twin sized and were set up like bunk beds. This set up allows for a small private bed room. The sleeping areas when they are slid out each have a little sitting area. The ‘bedrooms’ will be sound proofed, which is good because Levi snores. Another one has the sleeping area, a larger sitting area with a fold away table, and no bath area or kitchenette, but it does have a mini fridge, a fabricator and a fold away hand washing station. The third one has the sleeping area, sitting area, kitchenette and no bathroom. Most groups chose the second option. The poop closets and showers are far more roomy and easier to use than the RV version. A version for couples was made too. Their design got a bigger bathroom with a small tub/shower stall set up, a master bedroom, a sitting area with a fold away table and a mini fridge, fabricator, an instaheater, and a spot for a crib, just in case we are still out there when the baby comes. The slide-outs more than quadruple the floor space. I think Kate is also designing a sled for storage of larger personal items that people might want to bring.
01.01.05 – 1900 – Log – Camden
Elbert called Kate ‘F11’ the entire time she was gone. Dakota and I think it is anxiety. We checked his bio fluids and replaced some. The language went to F11-Kate after that. It’s an improvement at least.
01.01.05 – 2000 – Log – Elbert
F11-Kate and the rest of the group are back. They were only gone for three days but it felt like forever.
Items are already being fabricated for the gap trip, the solid units are coming from the settlement stores and Harris isn’t happy about it. Nobody else seems to care. The items are being stored in tents at the lake house.
Kate has finished the designs for the RV’s and is working on the designs for new sleds. A kitchen (with large refrigerators), one for science & medical, a chicken sled, storage sleds (one with an area that can be closed off and made into extra cold storage, just in case), and an upgraded poop closet and shower. I think she is trying to fit a laundry area either on the kitchen sled or the bathroom one.
01.01.05 – 2100 – Log – Edie
Kate is designing what Dakota is calling a portable town. We are going to be gone possibly for months; we want to have everything that we might need, or have the ability to make it. She couldn’t fit the washing machines on the kitchen or bathroom sleds, so she started a new sled. And she figured that if we are going to have to bring large amounts of water to yet another sled she went all out and has designed an ‘outdoor’ kitchen sled. This is actually a really good idea. Nobody wants a bunch of muddy shoe prints in the kitchen. It’s a better place to clean fish. The laundry area is enclosed with its own utility sink and has a nice folding area, there are even a couple of dryers for those rainy days we cant hang outside. In addition to having pop outs like the RV’s the rest of the sled has sides that open down like ramps, but they have levelers to keep them level with the sled floor. This sled will have roll out work surfaces that can be locked when placed where we want them. We could have really nice food prep areas if Kate can come up with a way to keep bugs out, and maybe offer shade somehow. She has given it two dedicated kitchen sinks, and a movable utility sink that is intended to be placed on a palette at ground level for general hand washing and cleaning of extra messy items. She has a power washer set up integrated into the utility sink connection. Kate has also designed a folding shower stall that will also be placed on a palette at ground level for those horrendous messes that we don’t want tracked into the bathrooms. This sled will be loaded with grills, portable fire pits, tables, chairs and other outside homey campy stuff while we travel. I may request an extra oven on this sled.
01.01.06 – 1800 – Log – Becca
There was a brainstorming session yesterday and all kinds of stuff has been added to the fabrication queue. Someone wanted something called a brush hog, it will be interesting to see what that is. I will have to consult Kate to make sure that we have room to store it all. We were going to reclaim the units from the dorms, but I think it might be useful just to keep them for storage. Jack has started a tsunami of mattress testing. He fell in love with the mattress style that Kate had fabricated for the dorms (which were extra long twin sized) and requested a larger version for this trip. People have discovered all of the variants available in the data stores, several have been fabricated and placed into napping tents for sleep testing.
01.01.06 – 2100 – Log – Kurt
Mattresses! There are so many different types. We have set up tents to nap test them and the newly discovered sheet options. Brilliant idea, don’t know whose it was. Some people are signing up for a full nights sleep test, just to be sure. Becca has made a mattress and bed sheet sign up list. About half the group has picked out what they want. The washer and dryer at the lake house are getting used often now. Sheet laundering has been added to the chore list.
01.01.06 – 2110 – Log – Maci
Kate has designed an outdoor kitchen/utility room sled. I love how the sides open out as well as extending out like the other pop outs. I almost wish she could do the same thing with the kitchen sled, but we need to be able to easily close it up at night. The intention with the utility sled was to leave it open while we are stationary. Food won’t be stored there so we don’t need to worry about animals.
01.01.10 – 2000 – Log – Elbert
Kate has designed solar clothes dryers for all of the RV’s and some of the sleds. People previously selected their RV roommates, the RV style and have now selected their sleeping areas. The fabrication of items will be complete shortly, people will soon be ‘moving into’ their RV’s.
01.01.11 – 1000 – Log – Elbert
The fabrication of items is complete, work is underway to distribute items to the various sleds and transports that they belong on. A second crew is working in tandem to label and record where items are stored, so that they can be easily returned to the same place after use. Maci is managing the kitchen item placements, Edie has the outdoor kitchen, Levi is managing the large equipment and utility equipment (like the water pumps and hoses, chainsaws, leaf blowers…). Dakota has retrieved three quarters of the chickens from the flock and placed them in their coop sled. Jackson is managing the general storage sleds; these sleds will receive recreation, hunting, fishing and overflow items that don’t fit in other areas. Finn is assisting him in sorting and placing. The science and medical sled was finished and locked days ago. Kate has fabricated a following sled of her own, she has solid units and metals stores because it was decided that we would source ore ‘on the road if needed’ and she didn’t want to risk it in an emergency. She has her own fabricator, and plans to use the remaining space to collect plant specimens and seeds. She has collapsed hypertubes to store the items in. Some have suspension units for preservation.
I have a new more robust set of continuous tracks. Kate fabricated them for the trip as we don’t know what terrains we will encounter. I like them, they feel quite stable, I sit higher up and they are large enough that they have a small array and don’t run off of my power stores. I can use the array to charge if needed.
01.01.11 – 1400 – Log – Becca
The packing is complete. It is mid-day, Maci and Edie have made us a lovely meal. The general consensus is to start traveling after we clean up and set the lake house in order. We will travel to into the northern woods about an hour or so and then set camp near a stream. We want to get a feel for items that we may have missed and still easily be able to come back and get them. We will stay for a few days; it will help us work out both our management systems and test the physical systems. It was a weird request but we asked and assigned several people in the group to bring dirty laundry with them so that we can test the washers and dryers right away. Initially we are going to try individual sign up for washer/dryer time slots, but I suspect that the washing will go on the chore list when people start to miss their time slots or are not able to get one. Kate put an insta-cleaner in the laundry area too, but no one uses them here, so it isn’t likely to be used much.
The Great Experiment 