01.01.11 – 2100 – Log – Dakota
We linked up the RV’s, following sleds and unmanned transports into a sort of train. Becca called it a caravan. Kate, Cam and Jack did rock paper scissors to decide who got to drive the caravan first. Kate won, Cam won lead drone duty. Jack grumped until Kate offered him use of her personal transport and he got to be the lead guide. A few other people rode with Jack. It went pretty well, I’m fairly certain that Jack had more fun on that transport than Kate did driving the caravan. The feeds from the drone and the transports went to the main computer. I offered suggested paths that would accommodate the caravan. Jack got to choose what he thought was the best route. It is a pretty efficient set up. Kate programmed the caravan to follow the lead car exactly and then added settings that allowed the following cars to drift from that slightly using the chosen path as a reference for the drift.
01.01.11 – 2102 – Log – Jackson
We stopped the caravan at a clearing near a moderately sized stream. The RV and sled legs were extended down, leveled and locked so that we can turn off the elevation/propulsion. It took us an hour to unpack the outdoor kitchen and arrange the grills, seating, tables and fire pits how we wanted them. We discovered that we need to mow or weed whack the areas where we put the furniture first. What a mess, the legs got tangled in the clumps of tall grass and people were tripping. We set up the utility sink, prepped the shower and attached the stairs, and extended and secured the awnings and screening. We also set up a large aerated tank to keep the fish we catch alive until mealtime. The sled is a thing of beauty. If we move the work stations to one end we can use it as a meeting room when it rains. We all fit and even have room for a couple of tables. There is a lot of excitement about this sled…Kate designed it so that it can be power washed. We don’t have to worry so much about tracking mud in.
All of the pop outs have been extended on the rest of the RV’s, they create a surprising amount of living space. The pop ups on the top look like they might make real nice sleeping porches. Kate has set them up with two twin sized beds that pull out of the seating and can be relocated. The seating can be relocated too. The pop up can be up while in motion, if there are no height restrictions. The pop up with the extensions out gives us a tremendous amount of semi outdoor living area. They are set up with canopies that can be pulled up out of the half walls, one side has a canvas top with screening and the other side has a full tent type covering for protection from rain and privacy. Slick.
The chicken fence has been put up and energized and the chickens have been let out. They are happily scratching for bugs.
01.01.11 – 2109 – Log – Neil
It was bedlam, we made it to the river and stopped to set camp. We settled all the RVs and sleds first and that went really well. The legs extended down and auto leveled and locked. The pop outs were popped out. The living spaces are bigger than expected. Then we pulled out all of the outside furniture from the outdoor kitchen. Furniture and equipment legs and wheels got tangled in the long grass and people kept tripping. So we moved the furniture off to the side so that we could mow. The weed whackers were packed behind the excavator so we had to move that off to get to them. After the area was cleared, the chicken area was done. The chicken sled had to be moved first because the egress for the chickens is through the sled floor and the mower wouldn’t fit under it. The design is clumsy for us, but good for the chickens on rainy days. They can go out and get bugs without getting wet if they don’t want to. A patch of river bank was done next. Finn said that there will be less worry about snakes with the grass cut. No place for them to hide.
01.01.12 – 1000 – Log – Becca
They are literally tracking mud into the outdoor kitchen on purpose so that they can power wash it later. Kate has fabricated boot brushes for her RV, the kitchen, the outdoor kitchen (both sides), the storage sleds and the science and medical sled. Jackson has requested a loan of units for his RV and wants one too. Tyler has put the units used on the chore list to be replaced and has requested boot brushes for every RV.
01.01.12 – 1600 – Log – Kate
The power washer on the outdoor kitchen may have been a bad idea.
01.01.12 – 2100 – Log – Levi
We caught enough fish for breakfast and part of lunch tomorrow. Kate fed the chickens some of hers, I didn’t think they would eat it but they did. The power washer is a lot of fun.
01.01.13 – 1600 – Log – Darcy
Kate is regretting the power washer. First they made a mess and then they cleaned it up and the area around it is now a muddy mess. We may have to make it a rule that the kitchen has to be moved off before before its cleaned. It was fun to watch them though, they had a good time.
01.01.16 – 1801 – Log – Jackson
Cam drove the caravan today and in effect said it was mind numbingly easy. The RV’s have the standard set up with steering wheel, accelerator and brake, and also a computer interface. Kate has programmed the interface so that it’s like aiming a running character in a video game; you select points on the chosen path, and then set the following accuracy. Lather, rinse, repeat. The speed can be determined by the speed of the slowest rider, or it can be manual. You can choose to use the interface or manually drive. We have added ‘learning to drive the caravan’ to the chore list so that we can divide up the monotony. The driving shifts will be made short as well. Every one will have to take shifts. The transports, on the other hand, are fun to ride. Kate has made adjustments to hers that the others don’t have. You can adjust the shielding in different areas to let the breeze in or not. It keeps the wind out of your eyes so you don’t need goggles. It has the capacity to operate at a higher elevation above grade than the others. It feels different in a way that I just can’t explain. Setting camp went much more smoothly this time. We planned out where we were going to settled and mowed the whole area, so there was no worry about snakes and other critters under the RV’s. The weed whackers were easier to get to this time too.
01.01.16 – 1803 – Log – Camden
I drove the caravan today. It was amazingly easy; I would be comfortable putting Kate’s niece or nephew at the wheel. It’s possible that piloting the drone and the caravan could easily be combined into a one-person duty. That said, Kate flew the lead drone, and had it going everywhere. She got the paths in to us, no problem. Dakota starting helping her with the cameras and logging points. They started sending the two mini drones to selected points. It took me a few moments to realize they were looking for food! I wonder if we can link the feeds to the flora records to find foods that we might not consider foods.
01.01.16 – 1833 – Log – Tyler
Kate and Dakota used the drones to find food today. They did really well. Camden is working on hooking up the drone feed to the flora and fauna database.
01.01.17 – 0804 – Log – Jackson
We had a ‘95% from the land’ meal last night and it was great!
01.01.17 – 0912 – Log – Becca – We had a beautiful salad with several types of greens, and tomato, also with that some wilted greens with caramelized wild onions and grilled fish fresh from the stream last night. The only thing from the fabricator was the dressing and spices on the fish.
01.01.20 – 1000 – Log – Becca
Kate and Camden set up the computer to process the data form the drones and find more edible foods. Kate has built a zillion mini drones for the food search.
We could have a few new sets of work assignments if this is successful. We would need search and collection groups (which will require some training for most people), cleaning and processing groups and a larger helper staff for Maci and Edie.
Kates units will need to be replaced. It would be an easy addition to the chore list and it would be a fun assignment for the more adventurous in the group.
I have started a list of suggestions.
01.02.08 – 1430 – Log – Haiku – Dakota
We stop at the stream. The ground below is lumpy. People are grumpy.
01.02.08 – 1600 – Log – Tyler
We stopped at the destination stream crossing and found that the ground is uneven to the point that it can’t be safely walked on. The next water source is too far away to continue traveling today. The outdoor kitchen won’t be unpacked so our meals will be limited while we are here. A transport is stationed at each RV egress. Levi was disappointed that it was impossible to get to the river without one. We will take up water, bury our waste, keep the chickens confined and move on tomorrow.
01.02.08 – 1610 – Log – Kate
I have to laugh, the ground is so uneven here, Elbert is the only one that can safely navigate it. We are using transports to move around so that we don’t turn our ankles. The RV’s leveled and the legs extended and locked real easy though. I thought it was a bit soft to make it automated, but now I’m glad it is.
01.02.08 – 1722 – Log – Jackson
Kate is busy figuring something in that wild head of hers.
Supper was partly left overs and mostly fabricated. We all ate on the RV roof tops. People are a little cranky without a proper stretch break. Levi is a whiny little girl. The fish are so thick in the river you could bail them out with a bucket and he won’t fish, because there is no way to cook them right now without breaking an ankle. He could still use a transport and fill the aquarium for us.
This place is beautiful, but we are all ready to move on. Need to ask Tyler what he thinks about the geology. It’s quite unusual, like boiling thearn. It looks like a bunch of balls covering the ground, but it’s all thearn. It’s an ankle turning nightmare, never seen anything like it.
01.02.09 – 1232 – Log – Maci
We stopped as soon as we found level ground and everybody got out and had a good walk around. There was some debate over setting camp and resting for a day or pushing on to the next stop. We have the water to do it for a day, longer if not everyone showers and no one does laundry. It’s a six hour drive (with pit stops to walk around and use the rest rooms.) Having fresh water won out 3 to 1 in the vote.
Kate is working on a lightweight decking with built in levelers. She wants to have it in the event that we stop at another area that has crazy terrain again. Only a few of us dared leaving the RVs at that last stop. I understand now why they use the riders when we travel, you just can’t see all that you need to from the air. Anyhow, if she can make it thin, we can make enough of them to be useful and still have room to store them. We will be able to park almost anywhere and be able to unpack the outside kitchen and prep areas, and have other outside living space. Levi is hopeful for a mat type set up to be able to get to water without fighting in muck or having to drive a transport. It will keep the hoses cleaner too.
01.02.21 – 1445 – Log – Becca
The foraging groups have been bringing back new foods. The foods are scanned for compounds that could make us sick, but there is still a hesitancy to eat them. Dakota, Camden and Kate have come up with a monitoring/auto suspend set up that they hook people up to, and have started having ‘tastings’. So far nobody has had to be suspended and detoxed.
They usually start out with raw foods and from there will try cooking them in various ways. The usual tasters are Kate, Kurt and, Levi. Two picky eaters and someone that will eat anything. Neil (the foodie) pops in occasionally when they start cooking. Everyone else signs up for it. They like to have at least five tasters.
01.02.22 – 0600 – Log – Tyler
Neil brought back an entire hypertube of zucchini yesterday. Maci has reassigned Kate from the foraging group to come up with ideas on how to use it all. This means we have to take Neil, instead of Kate, to forage again.
01.02.22 – 0602 – Log – Kate
I hate zucchini. Maci has asked that I find uses for most of a hypertube of zucchini. I’ll be cooking most of the day. I have Josh for a helper though, he’s the best.
01.02.22 – 1715 – Log – Maci
Kates zucchini experiments resulted in three trays of vegetable spaghetti with a hearty tomato sauce, twenty loaves of zucchini bread, two trays of thinly sliced strips sautéed with wild onion, three trays of sliced seasoned with garlic and grilled, two trays of mixed vegetable kabobs, a tray of mixed veggie quiche, two trays of zucchini boats filled with other vegetables and fake beef in a tomato sauce, a giant pot of everything soup and three dozen quart jars of sweet zucchini relish. The chickens loved the seeds. I am happy with the results, all but the relish went into the suspension unit hot so all we have to do is unsuspend it and eat.
01.02.22 – 1825 – Log – Tyler
Kate did her zucchini cooking today and Levi spent most of the day hovering. Maci shoos him off. Kate lets him taste test. I think she even made him his own quiche and bread.
Neil did better today, though he did collect poisonous mushrooms that we had to dump.
01.02.22 – 2025 – Log – Levi
What a good day. Kate let me help with food prep today and she made me my own egg casserole and bread. I got to taste test everything. Neil tried to eat my casserole.
01.02.24 – 1000 – Log – Elbert
Millet has been discovered! There is a great quantity of it; a good lot of it is ready for harvest. Kate has gone out with Levi to retrieve some for the chickens.
01.02.31 – 1627 – Log – Joshua
Kate designed self leveling deck plates to go on the ground after the non-rest stop that we had at the Lumpy Ground River. Maci has asked for them every time we unpack the outdoor kitchen. What a difference it makes. You don’t have to worry about that random dip in the ground anymore. Everything is level. We don’t even need to be too picky about where we park any more. Every RV has at least one that goes outside the door so your first step out isn’t into a mess if it rained. Levi is thrilled that he can walk down to rivers and stay out of the sticky muck. He has even used them as a sort of dock to fish from on the stiller creeks and streams.
01.02.31 – 1743 – Log – Levi
We had a tasting today and may have found an oil or butter substitute. Everybody is calling it the fat fruit. It has this odd tough stringiness and the fat just melts in the mouth. It actually tastes mildly nutty, that part wasn’t bad. The mouth feel with the stringiness was horrible. Everyone is excited; we are looking at ways to process and use it. Kate started the ball rolling by just melting some away from the fiber in a skillet and salting it. We dipped flat bread in it and it was delicious. Jack and Cam are designing a cold press machine and should have it in the fabricator to build in a day or so.
01.03.03 – 1912 – Log – Maci
We have a fabulous new food. We are calling it the fat fruit. Jackson and Camden have made a press to separate the fat from the fiber. The extracted fat has a mild nutty taste; the fiber has the most nuttiness. The thinner the fruit is sliced before it goes in the press the less nuttiness in the extracted fat, so we have versions with different levels of nuttiness. It is solid at room temperature. Kate has warmed the pulp to release most of the remaining fat, added salt and seasoned it with a savory herb and then let it cool and resolidify. The result is a pleasant spread. Levi has been using it on ‘baked’ fish. It has been used warmed as a dipping sauce for flat breads. Edie is planning to try using it to make pie crusts and in other baking.
01.03.05 – 1912 – Log – Becca
The spit cup is an official thing now at the tastings and even occasionally at the dinner table. Its frowned upon at the dinner table, but not everyone gets to test out the new foods before they make it into the menu. Spit happens.
01.03.11 – 1912 – Log – Maci
Neil has harvested two entire hypertube of melons. We’ve opened up five of them. One was under ripe, three were over ripe and one was ripe. The ripe one was delicious. Kate has taken the overripe ones and gave some of it to the chickens and is attempting to make vinegar with the rest. The chickens also got the under ripe one. They liked the seeds. I have asked if there is a way to determine if they are ripe or not before we open them. Tyler and Cam are working on a scanner setting that looks at enzyme levels. There are at least thirty melons left that are taking up precious pantry space.
01.03.13 – 2002 – Log – Kate
I started some vinegar from some over-ripe melons and the experiment seems to be going well, the jar is happily burbling. I may use the ring device to ‘age’ it quickly. We have about thirty melons to use. Jack and Cam have programmed a scanner to look for ripe ones. They have sorted through the pile and found five ripe ones, two under-ripe ones and the rest are over ripe. Some can go to the chickens, they like them. I may make a vat of vinegar with the rest. We can clean with it. It won’t be wasted. Maci was pleased to have them out of her pantry.
01.03.20 – 2002 – Log – Edie
Kate has made a melon vinegar that is a hit mixed with the pressed then melted fat fruit. We’ve had it on fish (we eat so much fish) and on green salads. There have been requests for Kate to work on other type of vinegars as well.
01.03.22 – 2000 – Log – Jackson
We found salt caves!
01.03.22 – 2100 – Log – Kate
Jack practically levitated with glee all day. We made it to some caves today; he had requested a three day stay here to rest and relax. There is a river close by so the vote went his way. Some of the caves have salt in them. We tested it. It is safe to eat. The group is ecstatic to have ‘real’ salt.
01.03.23 – 2105 – Log – Kate
We hit the jackpot for food at this stop. We will probably extend our stay here to process it all. Maci is a wee bit overwhelmed and has enlisted Becca to help her plan out helpers, final products and storage methods. Both of them donned warm clothes and spent about an hour in the cold storage rearranging and cataloging.
01.03.25 – 2400 – Log – Maci
The foragers have brought back loads of foods. We have new herbs! I can’t wait to experiment with them. Kate is already drying some of them we have so much. They found mustard, many have seed pods. The request is already in for someone to attempt making the condiment mustard. I am overwhelmed with the quantity and the variety foods coming in. It’s a good problem to have. I may ask Kate to let us use some of her unused storage area. She’s sweet enough that she will likely even offer to cool that area for us. Several tastings have already been scheduled.
01.03.27 – 2200 – Log – Becca
Maci has gotten into the habit of requesting Kate to do cook and prep days. Maci lists out foods that she wants made into something and lets her run with it. We have sample tastings after to work the dishes in to the meal plans. We use the suspension devices to preserve the food and that relieves some of the stress of planning. When other people are assigned she has to provide recipes and direction, its a lot more work for her.
Kate is one of the fought for workers in the chore planning. Tyler likes to have her on search and gather trips, because she knows what to look for and harvest, and Finn claims she has an uncanny ability to find fish and game. Kurt is our other high demand worker. He isn’t as knowledgeable as Kate, but he is a fast learner and willing to try anything. Tyler and Levi regularly fight for him to be in their crew. He is easy to work with.
01.03.27 – 2221 – Log – Levi
Jack is working on a setup to make charcoal. I never gave it any thought about what it was. From what I can tell, he’s mostly cooking the wood. He has quite a pile now.
01.03.27 – 2322 – Log – Kate
I have been enlisted to make some more vinegars, some mustard and ferment a brassica that looks to be a cross between a standard head cabbage and leaf cabbage. It’s tasty if odd looking. We found string beans and a cucurbitaceae that is similar to a cucumber, I may try some refrigerator pickles and dilly beans. We also found large amounts of a squash variant that appears to be edible. A tasting is scheduled.
Jack is attempting to make charcoal, he has a large pile of it.
01.03.28 – 1503 – Log – Jackson
Kate asked me and Levi to help her ‘organize’ stuff in her storage sled. Maci has asked for some space to store some of the extra foods. We have filled up most of the storage areas. Kate wants to be able to refrigerate or at least cool all or part the new food area if needed. It’s likely the root vegetables and maybe the winter squash types will be stored here. The salt will need a less humid area. We could probably find a home for it in one of the general stores sleds.
The stuff didn’t need to be organized, but we did need to relocate and condense.
01.03.28 – 1604 – Log – Levi
Kate asked us to help organize her storage sled. She had nine hypertubes of sunflower heads. Nine! And she had seven bins of millet still on the stem too! I knew that she had both items because we have gone out to collect it. I didn’t realize that she had gone back out for more. I asked Becca to round up some helpers to strip the seeds from the heads and stems. We condensed the millet down to four bins with a remainder in a hypertube and put the sunflower seeds in the other three bins with the remainder also going in the millet hypertube. The birds won’t care that its mixed, and the stock in the hypertube will be used up first. The unused hypertubes have been cleaned, folded down and stored.
Kate also has a supply of chopped frozen fish, which she says is for the chickens. Jack wonders if we dried it, if the chickens would still eat it. It would free up the freezer space for people food.
01.03.28 – 1654 – Log – Edie
Mischief is afoot. There is a smell of fish in the air, but no one has been fishing or cooking fish.
01.03.28 – 1708 – Log – Camden
Levi and Jack have asked if there was a fast and easy way to flash freeze dry something. Kate has fish that they want to dry so it frees up a freezer. We did it. The fish was already frozen, the whole lot was dried in about half an hour.
01.03.30 – 1802 – Log – Neil
Kate has made three types of mustard. One is a standard no frills ground mustard with vinegar. Its pretty good, she used a fruit vinegar so it has a hint of fruitiness. The second is whole seed sweet pickled version that is delicious. Used as is it has a nice bursting pop when you chew it or you can take a little extra time and mash the seeds. Kate has even taken some, processed it and blended it in a mayonnaise that we cant keep stocked in the fridge. The third is dried, and blended with other spices and a little hot pepper. We use it as a seasoning when cooking and at the table in a mill like pepper.
01.03.30 – 1906 – Log – Levi
We had millet bread with dinner tonight. I suspect that it was discovered on a food gathering mission in Kate’s storage sled. The bread is good. Edie is the culprit.
The chicken like the dehydrated fish. I think Kate sets it in some warm water to rehydrate it for them.
There has been talk of making another storage sled so Kate can have hers back. To be fair she was using a large portion of it to store chicken food, which should also be communally supplied and stored. She put a lot of time and effort in collecting that stuff. We need to keep better track of community contributions.
01.03.32 – 1604 – Log – Edie
Alana has used up the last of the melon vinegar cleaning the restroom today. Kate had made a big vat of the stuff with the overripe melons that Neil had picked. We use it to clean the toilet bowls, and diluted and mixed with soap for a spray cleaner. Maci had plans for that vinegar and was about to get mad about it being gone when Kate popped in with a quart jar that she had ‘tucked away.’ I’ve been all over that storage sled of hers, there was no melon vinegar tucked away. We will have to start keeping the food vinegars in the pantry or cold sled or marking them as set aside.
01.03.32 – 1726 – Log – Jackson
Neil has taken over part of Kate’s chicken chores. Now that he knows about her ‘stash’ he goes in there and feeds the birds himself. He hasn’t gotten to the point of fishing for them yet, but he will give them the dried stuff, and when we have extra he cuts it up and freeze dries it for them. It’s nice to see. He’s doing it because he loves the birds, but it helps Kate too and that feels good.
01.04.01 – 1400 – Log – Elbert
Turkeys were spotted today. Several big flocks of them. Tyler and Finn went and shot some from each of the flocks. There is excitement about having a protein that isn’t fish or eggs.
Neil has suggested that we could grow our chicken flock and have access to chicken as well as eggs. The experiment was agreed upon. There is plenty of room in the chicken sled. A batch of eggs will be set aside and incubated unless one of the hens goes broody and then we will let her have them.
01.04.03 – 1806 – Log – Maci
We cooked half of the turkeys that Tyler and Finn brought us. Kate made a bone broth from the turkey carcasses, it smelled delicious. Edie pushed to make turkey pot pie with it. We went with that because after Kate had strained it, covered it with a cloth to keep bugs out, and set it in the shade to cool, Levi started ladling out cups and drinking it straight. We have four birds remaining to cook, I may put them on the ‘Kate cook it up’ chore day to see what she does with them.
01.04.03 – 2000 – Log – Elbert
Kate has been designing Maci’s ‘dream house.’ It is a two story structure, with a basement. It has a large covered porch and a deck, a mudroom, I will ask if this is one of those names that means something other than what it sounds like, a pantry, a master suite with its own bathroom, several other bedrooms ‘because she wants a large family’, two additional bathrooms, a four season room, and a first floor laundry room. She wants woodstoves to heat the house, and in floor heating for when she doesn’t feel like having a fire in the woodstove.
01.04.04 – 1600 – Log – Neil
Someone made fruit filled juice ice cubes. Excellent! I’ve had them with plain water and fake iced tea.
01.04.04 – 2200 – Log – Finn
We had a talk tonight about work loads and making it more even. Some of us are putting in more time than others. It was decided to log hours per person and monitor it. Items on the chore list will be included. Gifts of time and product beyond the assigned chores will be considered too. We recently found that Kate has been substantially supplementing the chicken’s diet with actual food from the land. Apparently it was easier to do it herself than to get the gathering of the items put on the chore list. I do remember her requesting an extended stay at one place and help with harvesting the sunflower heads. It was voted down and we traveled the next day. She rode her personal transport back and loaded the hypertubes herself. Nobody knew she did it. She fishes for them in the morning. We knew about this. The chickens get minnows or even bigger fish when she can catch them. This has never been on the chore list, she just does it.
01.04.05 – 2000 – Log – Elbert
Maci has given the bible that she had been studying to Ashley and Ryan.
01.04.05 – 2301 – Log – Jackson
There is some weirdness going on with Kate. She won’t be anywhere to be found and all of a sudden she is right there. It happened again today, Cam was looking for her, and the whole camp was searched. No Kate to be found and then poof she walks around from behind the poop closet, with grease on her shirt and what looked like solid unit waste dust in her hair.
01.04.05 – 2712 – Log – Maci
Dakota had a dream, a nightmare, just now. She woke us all screaming. We made her fake chamomile tea, because we haven’t found that herb yet. Kate got her calmed enough to tell us the dream. Still crying she said she saw the caravan, it was at a river. We’re usually always are parked at some sort of flowing water. She said the caravan was blown up. Pieces went everywhere. Kate asked her for another land mark. She said there were mountains in the distance. That we don’t usually have, the closest mountains are hundreds of miles to the west and not visible right now and haven’t been for most of the trip. Kate asked her what direction the mountains were in relation to the caravan and magnetic north. Dakota said they were to the east. That would put the location on the other side of the peninsula. Kate made the odd comment that it would be taken care of. Dakota stopped crying, hugged us both, smiled at Elbert, and went back to sleep. I’m wide eyed and bushy tailed; I may pull out some reading.
01.04.06 – 1010 – Log – Camden
Kate called Jackson, Tyler, Levi and myself for a mini meeting. She told us Dakota had a dream about the caravan being blown up last night. She has been known to have prophetic ones in the past so we were all inclined to take this one seriously. Kate told us she wiped the more destructive technologies off of the settlement computer after we blew up the trees at the gap. She said she did leave explosives. The data is still on our tablets and on the computer in the science and medical sled. Jack said one of us should check anyway when we got a chance. She also said that she designed the RV’s and sleds to be ‘bomb resistant.’
01.04.06 – 2700 – Log – Elbert
I finished my data download to storage a little early tonight and decided to go up to the roof to take a scan of the night sky. On my way there she blinked! Kate blinked from her bed! Her room door was open. I started to exclaim my surprise and she touched my continuous tracks and we were gone from the RV. We went to a big place. She said it was going to be part an observatory and mostly warehouse. She pointed to an area that had domed ceiling above it and said the telescope would be there. She had piles and bins of raw and refined materials. Metals, ores, stone, solid units. There were hypertubes stacked four high. She said they were suspended plant and seed samples mostly, but she also had rabbits, several different types of eggs of wild chickens, and a species of duck too. She said that she is concerned about living with the other group back at the settlement and wanted to have a back up plan. ‘Just in case.’ I had put them out of my thoughts; they do make for hard times. Some of them bullied me.
01.04.07 – 2314 – Log – Levi
We confronted Kate today. Cam, Jack, Dakota and myself tag teamed her on our search and collection trip. She brought Elbert with her today, which is odd. He prefers to stay near the RV’s. He isn’t a big communing with nature kind of guy. Dakota took the lead. ‘Soooo, what you been up to Kate?’ Kate gave an innocent look ‘What do you mean?’ Jack pipes up ‘you go missing and then turn up in the thick of things milliseconds later.’ And Kate, cool as a cucumber, smiles and looks at Elbert and says ‘Can’t hide anything from the besties.’ She told us that she has been working on a second site. This got her a bunch of questioning stares. Jack comes back with ‘Where is it? How are you getting there?’ And then she said it. ‘I’m using a ring device.’ Jack’s, eyes got big and quite alarmed, he grabbed her by the upper arms and shook her. She grinned, and Dakota laughed out right. ‘It’s fine Jack, it’s how they brought us here. Do you want to see it?’ Jack gave her another gentle shake ‘No! Yes!’ She brushed him off, touched Elbert with her foot and then touched a button on a bracelet, popped out with Elbert and then back again without Elbert but with rings. She set them all to a landing pad that she had set up at the second site. She put them on the ground and told us to hold our breath when we stepped on them and maybe close our eyes. She said ‘you can see stuff sometimes when traveling.’ Cam wanted to know how it worked before he used it. And she said ‘It changes your frequency, you slip into a different dimension, and then back into this one at the programmed location.’ ‘So why do we hold our breath?’ ‘It reduces or eliminates reentry symptoms’ Camden with a sigh ‘What are reentry symptoms?’ ‘nausea, vomiting, vertigo, headache.’ And Jack asked ‘So the stuff you might see is?’ ‘The energy or entities that live in the dimension that we slip into.’ That wasn’t especially comforting, but we went. We didn’t see anything or get sick; we were there in an instant. Kate has been busy. She has a huge building, materials, a protective shield around the building ‘to keep the critters out’, a new type of heavy duty power source, a refiner, excavation equipment, a massive fabricator with independent build wands. She has piles of hypertubes filled with who knows what. Jackson asked if we could borrow materials to make ring devices for the RV’s, and decoys made to look like the RV’s. Kate started the build right away for the ring devices. We decided to bring Tyler into the know when we got back, and planned to send a stealth party via rings to the settlement to verify that the computers have been effectively neutered. We will leave the explosive technology available, because they know about it. Kate gave us an extra ring for Tyler, and showed us how to program ours. Jackson got anxious to get back so that we weren’t missed, and Kate floored us again. ‘We can go back to the moment right after we left.’ Cam – ‘So it’s a time machine as well?!’ Kate – ‘yes we can go anywhere, to whenever we want. I haven’t hopped for more than a few hours. I would imagine there would be some calibration needed for longer spans especially if we manage to find Thearn.’ ‘Find Thearn?’ ‘I’m looking. With the sky scanners. I have five off world.’ She pointed to a substantial computer looking device. ‘It’s collecting star data.’
I’m pretty sure she wanted to be found out. Later Elbert said he caught her using the ring last night and she brought him there then. She has a ring device built in her shoes. He doesn’t like the ring; he can see the dimensional beings. He thinks it is how he got to the settlement, and assumes we got here the same way. Jack and Cam are excited to explore the area and to have a spot to work on projects that they can’t have while we travel. They want to set up a water supply there, a restroom and a meeting room of sorts. Kate has a space for us to run to, they want to make it ready. I agree it’s a good plan.
Just in case.
01.04.07 – 2400 – Log – Elbert
If they leave I will be alone.
01.04.08 – 2000 – Log – Elbert
We traveled through a prairie that had really high grass, and had to stop and modify the personal transports so that they ride higher. We put down some of the platforms that Kate made after the Lumpy Ground River stop that we had, and used them as working platforms. The group is quite pleased with them.
01.04.09 – 2112 – Log – Tyler
Zane has suggested that we consider placing guns with sedation darts on the driving platforms just in case we run into one of the nahnas. The suggestion was unanimously agreed upon.
01.04.09 – 2212 – Log – Levi
Tyler came back from a foraging trip with cherry wood. He put fabricate smoker on the requested items list. I can get behind that.
01.04.10 – 2001 – Log – Tyler
Kate has been busy working on a building on top of a mountain two continents over. The guys told me about it and she took me over today and I got a good look around. I figured she was up to something. For the time we are keeping the info to ourselves. We have commandeered some rooms that look to eventually become offices and have plans to make them into studio style apartments complete with running water and bathrooms. The fabricator is already in progress for one of them. We are making a meeting room too.
01.04.11 – 0901 – Log – Levi
Grace found cattle! They are a few miles off. She was instructed to hold the drone stationary. We stopped to discuss. The vote was almost unanimous to harvest a bull. Kate volunteered more space in her storage sled to keep it. We decided to set camp at the next stream. We sent three of the mini drones and parked them in surrounding trees to watch the herd; the main drone was called back.
01.04.11 – 0944 – Log – Tyler
Beef! Grace spotted cattle, now not to loose them. I spoke with Jackson, Camden and Kate about a way to tag them with a locater device just in case we loose sight of them. We found specifications for several versions in the data stores. There was an interesting one that is applied in gel form that migrates through the skin and then forms the locater device. Kate and Camden think we can encapsulate it like a paintball and then put it in a gun of some sort or just use a slingshot.
01.04.11 – 1843 – Log – Levi
Tyler and the group have come up with a tagging system that works great! Kate and Camden worked up the design and fabricated it, and then Tyler went out and tagged five of them. It took about twenty minutes for the beacons to form. The food storage space in Kate’s storage sled has been cleaned out and set up with proper refrigeration. We also put in racks to hang the beef from. I’m pretty sure she ringed some of the stuff she had in there to her observatory.
01.04.11 – 2053 – Log – Camden
The group had quite the discussion about which bull to harvest. Kate wants a younger one, about a year and half old. Levi wants the biggest one. Neil said just get both. After discussing it for about ten minutes the group voted to go with Neil’s suggestion. Finn chuckled at that, he thinks once the first one is shot the herd will scatter or stampede. They would both have to shoot at the same time. The processing equipment will be ready tomorrow, they will get the bulls then. We will see what happens. I hope Kate shoots first, the biggest one will be tough, it will end up as mostly hamburger.
01.04.12 – 0933 – Log – Jackson
The camp woke up this morning to find a young bull in suspension at the edge of camp. Kate plans to dispatch it while it is suspended and then unsuspend it. It was sleeping when she trapped it. There will be no stress on it, no fear, no pain. There is a debate in the group to do it now or wait for Levi to wake up and get his and process both at the same time.
01.04.12 – 1003 – Log – Edie
There was a request for bacon to be made from part of Kate’s beef.
01.04.13 – 1111 – Log – Maci
The guys are smoking some of the beef. They are cooking a couple of roasts. It smells delicious. There is very little of the animal that will go to waste. The chickens will eat parts that we won’t. The hide and brains to tan it are stored in Kate’s freezer. The bones will make wonderful stock. Kate already has plans to roast some. Lard, I have lard!
01.04.13 – 2333 – Log – Grace
I may be hormonal, I’m a wee bit weepy. It’s a happy grateful weepy. We have beef! They smoked some of it today. It smelled wonderful. I’ve tried diets that limit animal protein and I don’t function well on them. We eat mostly fish as a protein source and it’s rough; even with the fat fruit it doesn’t stay in my belly long enough. The young bull was beautiful. Kate didn’t wuss out and let one of the men kill it, she did it herself. I appreciate that she did it. It will feed us for quite a while.
01.04.13 – 2500 – Log – Neil
Jackson used the smoker today to cook some of the beef, Kate snagged some of the space for the remaining turkeys. She cut them up so they should all be cooked perfectly.
01.04.15 – 2312 – Log – Kate
The beef has drawn people into Maci’s kitchen for snacks. Dirty shoes and cutlery, and food put away partially uncovered have upset our tiny cook. I’m making a spot for an outside accessed snack fridge, insta-heater, a place to store cutlery and dishes and a fold down table. It will magically appear tomorrow morning on my storage sled. She and Edie will be more than happy to keep it stocked if it keeps people out of the kitchen. We should have harvested a second bull. I have to admit, the beef holds me over longer than fish. I have no idea how the big men are meeting their calorie needs and aren’t constantly cranky from not. Maybe they use the food fabricator.
01.04.15 – 1432 – Log – Becca
Kate has donated a large display screen with a gaming console and suggested that the outdoor kitchen would be a great place to keep it. This was met with some skepticism, only Levi and Zane seemed to be really excited about it. She suspended it from the ceiling and made it so that it flips up out of the way. …It’s water resistant.
01.04.16 – 1502 – Log – Jackson
We are coming to an massive area of high brush. The original plan was to cut a path through it. If we don’t, it will extend the travel time an extra twenty days. A couple of people have protested loudly. Tyler, Finn and Dakota have tried to explain agricultural and forestry management to them with no luck. Kate and I have been tasked with presenting alternatives. Kate has suggested an adjustable bridge of sorts. She has started a design.
01.04.16 – 2000 – Log – Elbert
I witnessed Kate altering the chore assignments today and asked why she did it. She told me ‘My badness is coming out.’ Dakota told me later, privately, that Kate will give me better answers sometimes if I wait until we can have a private conversation. She told me that Kate changed Grace and Tyler’s chore assignment from food prep to dishes. She said that Grace has a raging crush on Tyler and she gets stupid around him. I have noticed the awkwardness. She said washing dishes was safer than cutting food with knives. They plan to hide the knives and wash them later. She said that Kate didn’t want to expose Grace’s crush publicly.
01.04.16 – 2005 – Log – Tyler
Kate has a neat plan to get us over the high brush. She’s come up with an adjustable structure. We tested it out today in the field, first with a personal transport then with a personal transport towing one of the storage sleds. The deployment of the bridge is really ingenious. It starts out with two light rails that are telescoped out and can be placed on the other side with the small drones if necessary. Or fully assembled and then lowered across with the larger drone. The cross members are fed over the rails and as they go on they scissor open. The top rails are designed to be spaced between six and ten inches apart. After the cross rails are secured to the base rails the structure is put under tension with a bungee like material. It uses the same nano support technology as the propulsion system for the RVs, transports and Kate’s decking plates.
01.04.17 – 1944 – Log – Maci
I love the bridge, I hate the bridge. It saved us so much time, though we could have just cut through the brush. Two thirds of it is dead from strangler vines and it would have brought some air and light to the area. The bridge has no real bottom or sides, it looks like a giant arcing ladder, and feels like the RV will fall off. Kate says it doesn’t need either as the propulsion system on the transports and sleds ‘see’ the rails and the ends of them and that is all it needs to hold the vehicle up and on the bridge, also the follow path is set tight to the transport.
The snack fridge is a hit, we portion leftovers and put them in there. It saves space in the suspenders, and the leftovers disappear without a mess in the kitchen.
01.04.17 – 2000 – Log – Elbert
I hate the bridge. Kate says that even if the RV were to fall off the bridge it would have just gently settled into the brush. She said that they have a dampening system, like the one I have, that would be activated by a sudden change in level, direction or speed. It would keep people and objects from being tossed about the cabin. Even if it fell from a higher position it may bounce one or twice and then settle down, but the dampener would keep everybody safe.
01.04.23 – 2009 – Log – Becca
It has poured for five days, work has been stopped, we are eating mostly from the fabricator. The chickens refuse to come out of the coop because the ground is so wet. Most of the group has had rain gear fabricated. On the plus side people have been playing video games in the outdoor kitchen so moral hasn’t completely tanked. I’ve discovered that I’m pretty good at the racing game and have beaten everyone but Levi. We moved the outside tables in and dried them off and have been playing cards and board games. That sled makes a good rec hall. Kate thinks the rain will last another two or three days. I wonder if she saw this coming on her sky scanners.
01.04.26 – 1712 – Log – Camden
The rain has finally stopped. Jackson asked to borrow units from Kate and fabricated some hair clippers, and then went and asked her to cut his hair. She did it and five more cuts for people after him. Edie took over after that. All of the men have clean cool haircuts now. It feels good.
01.04.29 – 1800 – Log – Edie
Slowly the cast iron pans from the camp stash that we keep in the outside kitchen have made their way into the indoor kitchen. Partly its people on cleaning duty putting them away in the wrong spot and partly its Maci because they are really nice pans to cook with. Well I found one of them this morning squeaky clean, it had no seasoning on it at all. I knew exactly who did it and was staring at it in horror when we she walked in the kitchen. She snatched it from me and stormed out. She knew who did it too. Jackson saved Levi in just the nick of time. Somehow he managed to get the pan from her and get away before she turned on him. He told her he would re-season it himself. It took him and Cam all day to do it. Levi was scarce all day.
01.04.29 – 1946 – Log – Kurt
Jackson nearly died today. He wrestled a cast iron pan from Maci to rescue Levi. There was something about seasoning too. Kate is making space next to the new set up with the fridge to put a new set of cast iron cookware out there. These pans will be marked so they don’t migrate into the inside kitchen. An ore harvesting trip was put on the chore chart to replace Kate’s material.
We had target practice today, it was a lot of fun. The guys have given me gun safety lessons and we have had several target practices so far. I’m just okay at it, but it’s a lot of fun. Cam has built a collection device for the bullets after we are done, it runs around like one of those robot vacuums and we recycle them.
01.04.29 – 1955 – Log – Jackson
Kate has captured rabbits, a male and a female. She is going to see if we can add to our menu. She built a space for them in the chicken enclosure.
01.04.29 – 1957 – Log – Tyler
Maci has requested that we cross the next river using the brush bridge. Grace seconded it, and there were several more yes pleases, so we will try it.
01.04.30 – 1837 – Log – Jackson
Maci asked us to use the brush bridge to cross the river, this opened up crossing place options. We have to find areas that have gradual grades so that the RV’s can get across easily. With the bridge we can cross at points where one bank is significantly higher than the other. We did today and it saved us some time looking for a better spot, even with the assembly time.
01.04.30 – 2000 – Log – Elbert
Maci requested the brush bridge to cross the river. She advised me to close my eyes as we crossed it and the experience was not unpleasant. I suspect she did the same; she doesn’t like the bridge either or river crossings. The RV’s can cross rivers, but they rock and sway with the current. The sensation is unpleasant; I’ve been told it is similar to being in a boat on choppy water. I didn’t like using the bridge over the brush, but this wasn’t so bad. It felt like we were traveling up a gradual incline.
01.04.30 – 2101 – Log – Grace
Maci is a genius.
01.05.02 – 1701 – Log – Tyler
Today was a travel day. We saw deer on one of the mini drone cameras. Finn was so excited he asked for a quick stop to get his rifle and took off to go and try to bag one. Kurt grabbed a rifle as well (we trained him to use it) and followed for safety purposes. We always try to travel in groups of two or more. The rest of us continued on to the river. We were only about twenty minutes away from it. After we set camp Kate grabbed a blaze orange hat, her bow and arrows, a handgun and then messaged Kurt and Finn she was heading out to join them and took off with a following sled in tow, because they both forgot one in their excitement.
01.05.02 – 1803 – Log – Kurt
We got a deer! Becca saw them on one of the mini drone cameras. I went with Finn mostly to watch. I’ve never hunted before. Kate joined us about an hour later with a sled and its good that she did, Finn stepped on a ground hive of hornets and got stung. She got him fixed up enough to take back to camp without suspending him, though he looked miserable. We laid him on the following sled and set the restraint system to low so he can move around if he feels up to it. Kate made my transport the lead transport and set the others to follow. She then moved my drive control to her transport which was right behind mine. She said she had a feeling and to have my rifle ready, she said that she had a handgun ready if needed. She stood up to drive so that she could see over me. Sure enough we startled some deer on the way back to the caravan, probably the ones that we’d been looking for. One of them, a buck, thought about it a bit and then charged us. I nailed it! Dropped it instantly. We put it on Finns transport and strapped it down. After we got out of the woods, we decoupled the transports and raced to the camp. I love the transports, they are so fun. Kate maybe should have suspended Finn though, he was real cranky when we got to the caravan. We dropped him off with Dakota and Cam and then went and processed the deer. Tyler helped.
Joel would love it here.
01.05.02 – 2103 – Log – Jackson
The mighty hunters were successful. They brought us an eight point buck! It will be good eating. Kate and Kurt pulled out the equipment that we used for the bull and took it out away from camp. Tyler followed them out to help. They only did the primal cuts today. Finn stepped on a hornets nest and they wanted to get him back for medical care, so they didn’t dress it out while they were in the woods. He was a mess even with the emergency kit that Kate used on him. Dakota and Cam took good care of him. They got the swelling down, and Maci cooked him his favorite ‘mashed nutatos,’ but he was grumpy the rest of the night. I suspect Kurt, greenest of the green, bagged the deer. No one is going to ask.
01.05.04 – 1803 – Log – Kate
Kurt is a better shot than he gives himself credit for. He shot and killed a charging buck. Edie is making some of the scraps into jerky. That won’t last long. Everyone is looking forward to burgers and steaks.
Levi has whittled several spoons, a few spatulas, an oven shelf mover, trivets and a duck all for Edie. She blushes every time he leaves her a gift. Maci is disappointed that none of the items have made it to the kitchen. It looks like his current project is a bowl.
01.05.04 – 2000 – Log – Elbert
Kate has been working on her transport. She has made a setting that reduces the nano shielding, and adds a vibration and sound. I don’t understand why she would want to do this.
01.05.04 – 2230 – Log – Jackson
Kate is working on a dirt bike setting on her transport! It’s so much fun. She has the vibration, and sound, and is tweaking the responsiveness when accelerating.
01.05.04 – 2236 – Log – Tyler
We found a honey bee hive in a hollow tree. There is no way to get at the honey without destroying the hive, so we have decided to leave a standard hive in case the hive splits, hoping they will like it and make it home. Cam has a camera mounted to a nearby tree to monitor the hives.
01.05.05 – 1800 – Log – Kate
We are stopped a river with character. This one is wide at the bend where we are, it is not too fast and not too slow. Great for fishing. It’s a beautiful place. Like most of the other rivers that we stopped at, it has gold, but the gold in this river is big. There are nuggets the size of tennis balls. We collected some to use in the fabricators.
01.05.05 – 1820 – Log – Dakota
Kate has finished her dirt bike setting and decided that people need PPE in that setting. She is working on a suit and helmet system that will work like Elbert’s dampening system.
01.05.05 – 1902 – Log – Jackson
Kate has set up a requirement that if you use her transport on dirt bike mode you need to have a minimum of torso and head protection. She has a carbon fiber nano set up or you can use standard protection. Most people will go with the nano version, because it lets the breeze in. It’s a fun mod. She has been letting people try it out and wants comments on what can be improved. She got one comment of make it go faster, because she reduced the speed setting in that mode, but most everybody that’s tried it is happy with it as it is. The consensus is that people want to modify their own transports to match.
01.05.05 – 1952 – Log – Tyler
At the evening meeting Julianna mentioned that Lindsey is acting weird. Vague and spacey. She said they haven’t had a real conversation in days.
01.05.06 – 1432 – Log – Levi
Someone found a power washer in the equipment storage sled. It was stuffed behind a spare mattress. So we washed the RV’s today, it was quite the production. Lots of fun. Maci cooked us delicious fish for lunch.
01.05.06 – 1744 – Log – Kate
A group of us washed the RV’s today. We hauled them off before we did it so the mud wasn’t at the camp site. We got really hungry and devoured Maci’s lunch for us. No leftovers for the chickens. We even wiped out the snack fridge. I think we may have scared her a little.
01.05.06 – 1841 – Log – Edie
They ate everything. Everything! We made enough that there should have been leftovers for the snack fridge. Levi and Neil even ate the zucchini relish straight out of the jar. They polished it off. We’ve asked for an extra day before travel to restock the fridges.
01.05.07 – 2000 – Log – Elbert
We got a call from the settlement today. Harris shot himself in the foot and requested aid. Dakota was called into the video conference. She told him to call someone in to help him. He said there was no one there. Lindsey was heard speaking to someone else in the background. He demanded the group come back to help him. Dakota told him to go to the med suite. He managed to get himself there. I don’t understand why he didn’t call one of the droids to help him. Dakota told him he could use the cabinet or he could repair it himself. He chose to do it himself, so she instructed him on how to suspend his foot and lower leg, but he messed it up and fully suspended all of himself. We called Kate in from the search and gather she was on, and she called in Jackson. Levi came in with Jackson and suggested that we could just leave him like that. That got some chuckles, but Kate and Jackson worked up a plan to fly her personal transport back. They would go with her new protective dirt bike armor – the full body version, sedating guns and standard guns. Both even wore a body camera so that we could watch.
They found him in the med suite; Kate fixed up his foot, and then unsuspended him. They asked him what happened. He told them he was anxious about being alone, so he was getting his gun out and putting it in the holster, and it went off. He complained about pain and asked for a pain reliever. They settled him back into the bed and Kate gave him a sedative. She did the balancing treatment because they weren’t planning to stay the night to do it in the morning. She removed the nanos and then they went looking for Lindsey and whoever she was talking to. They found her and Brody in one of the upper meeting rooms with one of the view screens on. Nothing was playing on it. Both Lindsey and Brody were acting strangely, like Julianna had said at the evening meeting a few nights ago ‘spacey and suggestible.’ Kate and Jack asked Lindsey to go down to the med suite with them. Lindsey made the comment when she saw Harris laying there ‘Harris shot his foot; there was a big mouse on it. The mouse got away, all of them did.’ Kate ran scans on her and found a drug in her system that the computer tells them will make her suggestible. They used nanos to extract the drug and the real Lindsey came back. She was confused and said that she can’t remember much of the last two weeks, she only has fragments. She yelled for Brody and he came in. She told him to sit on the med bed next to her and he did. Kate extracted the nanos from Lindsey, and then ran scans on Brody and found the same drug in him too. Kate did the nano drug extraction and Brody came back just as confused as Lindsey. Kate explained that they both seem to have been drugged and asked if they could think of a way how it might have happened. They both thought about it and said they remembered Harris giving them something chocolate while they were watching a movie. After that is a jumbled blur.
After she extracted the nanos from Brody, Kate tested Harris for the drug, but didn’t find it. Jackson said that it doesn’t necessarily mean that he did it. It’s possible someone gave it to him and it just wore off. He was confused about being alone while Lindsey and Brody were close by and he did mess up the suspension instructions. Jackson suggested that they would be safer with the traveling group, and that there was plenty of room for them. Lindsey and Brody agreed.
They cleaned up the bloody foot prints, then collected build and camping items from stores, a stash of nanos, personal items for Lindsey and Brody, two personal transports and some PT sized following sleds. They spoke with Droid10 and gave a list of what was taken or used so that the items could be replaced and refreshed. Jackson linked Lindsey and Brody’s transports to Kate’s and the following sleds behind them. Kate’s transport goes faster than theirs.
01.05.10 – 1402 – Log – Dakota
The guys have been playing flag football to burn off some steam. Its amazing that a no contact game results in so many cuts and bruises. Finn got a nice shiner three days ago. No permanent damage was done and it wasn’t enough to stop him from playing again today.
01.05.10 – 2000 – Log – Elbert
Ruby and Maxwell requested use of Kate’s beach cabin. Kate agreed as long as it is left clean and the solid units are replaced. She told them how to get the units out of the stores and add it to the stores at the cabin.
01.05.11 – 1300 – Log – Kurt
Kate sidled up to me yesterday and asked if I wanted to play flag football. I have wanted to play. They play rough though, and I’m small comparatively. Cam is almost twice my size. I would be ground into a paste. She had a smile on her face though, so I asked what she was up to. She handed me a full body version of the carbon nano set up that she has for her dirt bike setting and told me to put it on under my clothes. There was even a piece to line my cap with for head protection. She had the setting adjusted so that when there was an outside force the nanos would firm up and also grip the ground. It didn’t make me any stronger, but it gave me a bump up in mass and protection from too much jarring. I’m fast, it was a good game.
01.05.11 – 1800 – Log – Elbert
The ladies had something called a baby shower for Ashley. It didn’t rain babies, but they did have fruit, cake and gifts.
01.05.11 – 1911 – Log – Dakota
Kate privately approached Joshua today and asked if he would like a check up. He said no. We are both concerned because he gets tired really easily and naps frequently. We aren’t the only ones that have noticed, Maci, Edie, Julianna and Becca have all mentioned it to us. Our current thoughts are that it is most likely depression but we would like to rule out other possible causes. This isn’t the lifestyle that he would choose for himself. It’s a different world for him.
01.05.12 – 1944 – Log – Jackson
We harvested our first batch of rabbits. There were some squeamish looks but everybody tried it. The little buggers were cute and we got attached. Maci and Edie cooked them a few different ways. I thought it was good. We will vote on it tonight to decide whether or not to have another go of it or have rabbit stew one last time.
01.05.12 – 2000 – Log – Elbert
Droid10 has messaged that there is an infestation of bugs all over the outside of the main entrance on the settlement building. He has requested advice on how to deal with it. Kate suggested using the garden hose with the gentle spray wand. She said the bugs will leave when it gets wet.
01.05.13 – 1440 – Log – Maci
Kate has lost her mind. We were walking to the science sled and she looked at me and apologized for jostling me. She hadn’t and I said so. The next thing I know she bumped me into Jack and kept walking. Thankfully he caught me.
01.05.13 – 2001 – Log – Kate
Camden has fabricated a guitar, he plays well. Its a nice end to the day watching the sun set, listening to him.
The young chickens are ready to harvest. The rabbit was good, but people were a little rattled by eating something so cute. Everybody loved on them, even the men would stop by for cuddles. The leftovers are in the snack fridge.
01.05.13 – 2202 – Log – Neil
The young roosters are starting to crow and be rowdy. Some of the ladies have started to lay eggs. Kate is surprised by how soon they are laying and how fast they have grown. They are happy, healthy birds. Kate says its time to harvest them if we want tender chicken. I wanted chicken, but they are almost like pets. We have spent so much time with them. The rabbits grew faster than expected too. Hmm.
01.05.14 – 2207 – Log – Kate
Joshua cut himself, Maci took care of it until Dakota got there. He chose the nano treatment over traditional stitches. She wasn’t stealthy enough to run a scan on him. I probably wouldn’t have either. It’s interesting because the six of us are trying not to hover like an anxious mom, but we are all watching him and keeping a food, activity and nap log for him. We told Cam about our concern and he said that we should let him have his privacy. We live practically on top of each other, no one has privacy.
01.05.14 – 2300 – Log – Elbert
Joshua cut himself. Kate spoke with Maci about it and asked if the knife he was using was sharp or dull. Maci said it was dull and that the knives don’t keep a sharp edge. Kate said that she would start working on getting them better knives.
01.05.15 – 2000 – Log – Elbert
Ashley had her baby. They named the baby Charlotte. She meets all of the requirements for good health. Everyone is excited to have a new baby. I have recorded the birth data and plan to keep records of milestones.
We are getting closer to the gap; there was a discussion in the group about having a protective fence around the camp like we have for the chickens. Nobody likes the idea of the new baby being a potential tasty morsel for a nahna. Jackson put the item in the fabrication queue.
01.05.16 – 1000 – Log – Tyler
Kate has made a new set of knives for the kitchens. She has put scissors and larger knives in the snack box too, so people don’t raid the kitchen for them.
01.05.16 – 1221 – Log – Camden
We need a more powerful array to power the new camp fence. Kate has offered one from her observatory. Jackson thinks we should stop relying on Kate so much and fabricate it ourselves. The problem is we don’t have all of the materials, and no one wants the baby unprotected.
01.05.17 – 1221 – Log – Jackson
We have arrived at the gap. The southern side has a slightly higher elevation. It looks like a plate was shoved against another and one side went up and the other slid underneath and then a path was cut down the line where they meet. At the ocean there is an odd mini mountain of sorts. There’s no other structure around that looks like it. It’s this huge rock at the end that has sheer faces. Looks like some giant just picked up a big rock and slammed it down in that spot. It keeps the ocean from entering the gap, and it is far enough out in the ocean that it would discourage anything from trying to swim around it. The gap itself looks to be a consistent width across for as far as we can see.
01.05.17 – 1422 – Log – Tyler
We are at the gap. We used the brush bridge to move the excavator down into it. Jack and Cam have put in a modified chicken fence to protect the work area. There is some anxiety about this. People aren’t sure it’s going to be enough of a deterrent, so while we are on-site working there will be an armed group keeping watch. The soil at the bottom is soft and loose. It has a lot of give like sand but is finer. It makes walking hard, even the excavator struggles a little.
01.05.17 – 1505 – Log – Levi
We put in our first two hours of work and it’s horrible. We need better tools and footwear. At lunch I commissioned Kate and Jack for working tools, and suggested stopping until conditions are better. Kate is good with the technology she should be able to come up with something to make walking down there easier. And Jack can design collection tools for the remains.
01.05.17 – 1903 – Log – Kurt
We worked at the gap two hours and Levi stopped the work for better working conditions. It was really dusty and worse than walking on loose sand. He has Kate and Jack on special projects. I have to laugh because I know for a fact he has spent the rest of the day fishing at the stream we have been going to for water.
01.05.19 – 2004 – Log – Jack
I gave Levi three designs for collection devices. Grace made a suggestion at the evening meal that there could be a scoop like device like the beachcombers with metal detectors use, only bigger. It was a good idea so they are based around that, with varying sizes and hole spacings, and rakes to push or pull. Kate has offered a smaller more portable version of the decking that we use (this will probably be used for the excavator), a shoe option that has mini directional nano elevation and works sort of like in-line skates (similar to a following sled, though the sleds are multi-directional), and a type of hoverboard (basically a really small modified following sled) that the skateboarders and snowboarders of the group are going nuts over.
01.05.25 – 1935 – Log – Kurt
We are plugging along on the clean up. It’s dusty and slow going. The weird shoes that Kate designed are the easiest to use. We have two shifts of six hours. Both shifts shower afterward, we are going through water like crazy. There have been extra refill runs added to the chore list. We have arrived at the working portion of this trip. The shoes are fun, you can adjust them to act like skates, we have been having races and there are hockey nets and sticks in the fabricator queue.
01.05.32 – 1748 – Log – Tyler
We got to the first of the downed trees today. They had been pushed to the north face and de-limbed so they wouldn’t be a good jumping platform. We are cutting them up for firewood. The group is getting grumpy. Its really hot here all the time. There has been some discussion about making a dedicated array for the work fence and moving the caravan to a nicer spot. There was some joking about having to commute to work. Kate has mentioned privately that she would be willing to donate the new one from her stash at the second site. It would save us from having to find the raw materials. Again.
01.05.32 – 1755 – Log – Becca
Kate has volunteered solid units and asked for more recreational items to be fabricated to counter the drop in moral. It’s hot, dusty and we are constantly exposed to death. It seems that this ‘gap’ was put here for our benefit to keep out the nahnas. It isn’t a natural formation. There is sadness in the group over the needless loss of life.
01.06.01 – 1955 – Log – Jackson
Kate volunteered her storage sled for the work site, we can power the nahna fence with the array on it. It will give us a cool place to take breaks. We have added a water tank to the roof and a tap, so that we have water to drink and wash with. We also fabricated a single stall poop closet with its own following sled technology built in, and another snack fridge to leave at camp. We will move the caravan tomorrow. After that we will commute to the gap, and bring the sleds back with us at the end of the shifts so that the fridge can be restocked and the water refilled, and the chickens can still be fed before we leave and after we get back.
01.06.01 – 1400 – Log – Elbert
We moved the caravan today and now we have a doggo. We scouted the area with the two main drones and found a pleasant spot a couple of miles off. The area has a stream fed lake, open areas and wooded areas. The group was excited to have access to running water and trees. It’s cooler here. There are decent places to forage around as well. While we were traveling, a doggo being pursued by a nahna, tried darting under one of the RV’s. It bounced off of the nano propulsion and hit a tree knocking it unconscious. Tyler had the presence of mind to stop the caravan, grab a dart gun loaded with a tranquillizer (we keep them at all of the upper driving stations) and shoot the nahna with it. The nahna staggered around but didn’t fall. Kurt grabbed a suspension unit from a med kit, threw it over the animal and suspended it.
The doggo was quickly inspected and believed to be just knocked out. Kurt was tasked with keeping and eye on him just in case he started having a seizure.
We decided to haul the nahna down the gap a way and drop it off on the other side. Tyler and Levi loaded the it on a PT sized following sled, the brush bridge on another and linked them to Levis transport. They suited up with nano armor and before heading out Tyler called over his shoulder not to feed the doggo. The timing was perfect. Kurt having taken advantage of being stopped went to the snack fridge and found a left over kabob, the doggo had roused and looked longingly at the meat. Kurt being a kind fellow had tossed a morsel to the doggo right as Tyler yelled his advice. The doggo caught it in the air and it went down so fast, I’m pretty sure he never tasted it. Levi shrugged and they drove off.
We moved off to the new camp site and the doggo followed. So we have a doggo now. Kurt has been put in charge of him; his job is to keep the camp poop free and to teach him manners.
Kate examined him again more thoroughly after we set camp and declared him in excellent condition. He is well fed, well hydrated, disease free and mostly clean. She estimates his age to be about nine months old. She has a concern that he is especially friendly with people. When I asked why she was concerned, she said it is because he has probably been around them recently. She believes that he was put here for us to find and is not a native animal.
01.06.01 – 1534 – Log – Becca
Kurt captured a nahna! Tyler tried sedating it first, but it didn’t take fully and the animal was still staggering around. Kurt managed to get a suspension unit over the animal and then get it activated, and not get bitten or scratched in the process. Everybody just about had a heart attack while he was doing it. There is talk about making an easier to manage net version. They want to be able to throw it from the top driving platform or shoot it out of a gun.
01.06.01 – 1811 – Log – Levi
Becca had a giant inflatable slide fabricated, I think Kate donated the units for it. They set it up with a spray of water at the top. Fun. We wore ourselves out sliding, even the new doggo liked it.
01.06.02 – 1501 – Log – Ashley
Kate has started borrowing Charley to read to her. Its sweet, they both pass out after fifteen minutes.
01.06.03 – 0805 – Log – Levi
Kate has been giving that new doggo all the fish she catches! She knows I love fish!
01.06.03 – 0903 – Log – Dakota
Kate gave Snarf his fish this morning and Levi was actually awake to see it. He offered to trade his breakfast for it! Maci was standing right there.
01.06.03 – 0921 – Log – Jackson
Levi had a melt down over some fish, I think the work at the gap is stressing him out. I’ve asked Kate to come up with an automated machine to pick up the remains. The less time we spend there the better.
01.06.05 – 0901 – Log – Camden
Kate has designed an automated pick up tool for the gap and has asked for help programming it. She had the majority of the code written or copied from somewhere; it just needed a couple of tweaks and additions.
01.06.09 – 1911 – Log – Kurt
Kate has designed a robot to help us with the clean up in the gap. It clears about 95% of the remains and bags them. We pick up the remainder and put the bags on the wild side. They get buried with the thearn removed from the excavated ramps. We are down to one shift that is usually four hours or less. We work until we catch up with the robot. It’s too dusty to hang around while it is running. We cover three times the distance that we used to with the manual machines and two shifts.
The nahnas watch us work. There is a flying reptile like creature that likes to attack them. They have barbed tails and use that to stab the nahnas in the throat. After that they eat the heart and then make this sound that is like a whistling owl hoot and a whole mess of them show up and eat the rest. They haven’t ever bothered us. If anything I think they like us for attracting the free buffet.
01.06.09 – 2000 – Log – Elbert
Charlotte can roll over now. It appears to be intentional. Ashley is proud; Dakota, Kate and Camden are all surprised. Apparently she is ahead of schedule.
01.06.10 – 2000 – Log – Elbert
We are approaching an area that the group is calling the mounds. We will go there on our next move. The mounds vary in size from three feet in diameter to about twenty feet in diameter and cover an area of about two hundred acres. Kate, Dakota and Tyler have done extensive review of the area with the drones to determine if there are any uncommon plants or animals and have found none. There is great excitement in the male population. When I inquired as to why Dakota told me that it’s because the men are all ten year old boys inside. Kate clarified that they will enjoy riding the transports on the mounds.
01.06.12 – 1203 – Log – Maci
We experienced some color today. Today was a travel day. We moved to the much anticipated mounds. When we travel we use a drone to get a far look ahead, and riders on personal transports to get a better lay of the land. The riders determine the possible paths for the caravan; they send back data to a processor. The caravan driver is provided with a map of outermost points of the suggested path with the occasional obstacles marked so that they can be avoided. Driving the caravan is usually very easy. You can drive it like a traditional car or you can select points on a touch screen that the lead RV will travel to. All of the RV’s are programmed to be both lead vehicles and following vehicles. It’s a setting that can be chosen. Grace was driving and Tyler was operating the lead drone. Both of them were in the lead RV. Catastrophe ensued. Grace apparently linked the lead RV to one of the riders, and when that rider took off at the sight of the mounds so did the caravan. We picked up some pretty good speed before Tyler got us decoupled. We hit a rise or a mound and the RV’s scattered everywhere. My kitchen ended up in stand of young birches. It took us about half an hour to collect and extract the RV’s and sleds. Nobody got hurt. Well, maybe someone’s pride.
01.06.12 – 1133 – Log – Jackson
Oh my goodness. We traveled to the mounds today, and arrived in style. I was one of the riders, when we saw it we all just took off. The caravan was literally within sight of the chosen camp area, it didn’t seem like poor judgment at the time. Grace linked the lead RV to one of the riders, and when he or she took off so did the caravan. Tyler sent out an automated distress call in time for us to turn and look at what was happening. He gave the order to decouple next and a ‘brace for impact warning’ immediately after. The lead car made it up the rise and was stopped as Tyler had nudged Grace over, put it in drive mode, and then hit the brakes. They scattered like billiard balls as they hit the lead car. Some of the cars behind them floated up the rise and past them and were eventually stopped as people took control of them. The kitchen sled, which is unmanned, ended up wedged in a stand of young trees, the science car ended up traveling quite a ways and the chicken car went missing. We found it about twenty minutes later caught by some trees. It had settled over a small but fast moving brook and gotten swept away. Neil was frantic to find them. Grace was in tears. Nobody got hurt and most of us are trying not to laugh. We settled camp and got in a little bit of riding before it got dark. It was a fun day.
01.06.12 – 1200 – Log – Elbert
Kate is a ten year old boy inside. Grace linked the lead RV to Kate’s personal transport today. It wasn’t set to dirt bike mode so it picked up speed pretty fast. We all went for a ride. Emotions in the group range from embarrassment, to irritation, to good humor. I reviewed the camera feed from Jacksons transport, it was funny to watch. The sensation as it happened wasn’t horrible, it was over so quickly and the car I was in was stopped gently by Dakota putting it into drive mode and taking control of it. A couple of other cars bounced off of ours but it wasn’t jarring because the propulsion systems acted as cushions and I suspect the dampening system may have at least partially engaged. We weren’t even jostled.
01.06.12 – 1330 – Log – Neil
We lost the chickens for a full twenty minutes today. Grace is to blame.
01.06.12 – 1444 – Log – Camden
I have been asked to make a remote control for the unmanned sleds. I may add location beacons too.
01.06.12 – 2000 – Log – Tyler
I kissed Grace today. It was the only thing I could think of to get her to stop crying. It worked.
01.06.13 – 1901 – Log – Levi
We are planning to rest for a few days. There is good fishing, maybe some hunting and the mounds to play on.
01.06.13 – 1930 – Log – Tyler
I borrowed Kate’s transport for an hour today. What fun! I felt like a kid again. Levi tried it after me and then needed a nap.
01.06.13 – 2000 – Log – Elbert
They are riding the transports on the mounds, most of the units still have full nano protection. That is a relief. Two have modified hover boards and are zooming around on those. Baby Charlotte is almost to the point of crawling.
01.06.14 – 1401 – Log – Levi
Jack crashed Kate’s transport! He broke both of his wrists too. Cam and I hauled him back to the science and med sled and Kate took care of him. He was green by the time we got him there.
01.06.14 – 1603 – Log – Dakota
Jack crashed Kate’s transport today. Levi and Cam carried him back to camp. He looked horrible, but said he was fine because Maci was watching. He broke both wrists. He chose the nano treatment over a traditional cast. Kate had to sedate him, he wiggled so much.
01.06.14 – 1702 – Log – Maci
Jack broke both of his wrists today he looked awful when Cam and Levi brought him in. Kate treated him. He looks so peaceful asleep.
01.06.14 – 1844 – Log – Kate – Jack broke both wrists at the same time, and bruised his right leg pretty good too. He fussed so much the nanos couldn’t mend him, so I knocked him out. Maci cooked him steak (the last of the steak) and baked nutatos, and then fed it to him. He is in restrictor sleeves until the morning, so he doesn’t hurt himself.
01.06.14 – 1915 – Log – Jackson
I crashed Kates transport. Buried the front end in the mound. The guys are all mad at me. Maci fed me the last of the steak. It was delicious.
01.06.15 – 0905 – Log – Camden
We helped Kate pull her transport out of the mound and found pretty crystals. We all took some. The front end of the transport is smashed. Jack is feeling pretty sorry for himself and so is Levi. Kate should have it fixed in a few days.
01.06.15 – 1505 – Log – Dakota
After the crash there were multiple requests for full body armor. Jack had the nano version but only head and torso. In addition to the broken wrists he had a nasty bruise on his leg. Nobody wants that. The nahnas are worse here too, there are fewer of those flying reptiles here to keep them in check. I think people are going to wear them to work.
01.06.15 – 1604 – Log – Levi
I put in for full body armor. The nahnas watch us and it’s unsettling, also Kate is going to get her transport fixed and I don’t want to end up like Jack.
Marta had a bad day, she was assigned to Tyler’s foraging group and had an ‘incident.’ The group came back early a little spooked and with Marta in a suspension net. Apparently she walked into a big spider web and totally freaked out. Tyler suspended her as she was running off.
01.06.15 – 1702 – Log – Tyler
Tomorrow is a travel day and the group is a little sad. This is a pretty spot and the mounds are fun. Grace is being made to take lead RV duty, to get back on the proverbial horse, so she isn’t afraid of it. It was suggested that I be somewhere else. I don’t think she is going to have that problem anymore, and I like traveling with her.
I suspended Marta today and feel a little bad about it. She walked into a good sized spider web and just lost it. She took off and I didn’t want to leave the others (who are also inexperienced) to chase after her so I used the net luncher on her.
01.06.15 – 1815 – Log – Marta
I walked into a spider web big enough to trap an owl today. I didn’t see the spider, Neil told me afterward that the body of it was the size of his fist. I sort of panicked and bolted when it stuck to me. Tyler rescued me with the suspension net. I was de-webbed when they unsuspended me. Kate and Dakota were real sweet they got me to the showers fast with hopes that it would wash away the heebie jeebies. I took three showers, Dakota has promised a sedative so I can sleep.
01.06.15 – 1925 – Log – Becca
Marta is being pulled off of the foraging trips for a little bit. She has a little PTSD, though in this case it could mean post traumatic spider disorder. To be fair Neil and Alana were both rattled too and didn’t want to go back out with Tyler either. Kate, Finn and Jack went with him and got us some lovely root vegetables, some berries, a mess of yummy greens, and some turkeys. I looked at the transport camera footage, the web spanned at least twenty feet, the spider was enormous. Fortunately it was on a branch with a couple of legs on the edge of the web to ‘listen’ and stayed with the tree when she ran away with the web. She was looking down when she walked into it, I’ve done it myself on forage trips, but the webs were much smaller. I seriously think that spider was catching birds not bugs. Kate said that the filament was ten times thicker than normal.
01.06.16 – 1341 – Log – Dakota
We traveled today, Grace drove the lead RV with Ty onboard and we arrived without event. We are at a happy little brook, it’s not really big enough to fish in, but it will meet our water needs. There is a mild case of the grumpies going around, the last stop was a lot of fun, well minus the giant spider at the end. We are just over halfway done with the work in the gap.
01.06.16 – 1401 – Log – Edie
Joshua is sick. I found him face down in the chicken car with Miss Henrietta sitting on his back. I called for help and Dakota came. She did a quick scan and suspended him right there. Everyone was alarmed when she did that. Kate was called in from foraging and Cam in from the gap. They both agreed it was the right thing to do. They all went to the science and med car to examine and test him further. Everybody was upset and work (other than the kitchen crew) was stopped. We still need to eat. They said he needs a complex treatment that requires materials that we don’t have. We are unprepared for this and it leaves me with a helpless feeling. I didn’t know him before we got here, but he is like family now.
01.06.16 – 1911 – Log – Jackson
Josh is sick. Edie found him passed out earlier today and Dakota suspended him after the initial scan. Kate, Dakota and Cam spent a few hours in the med sled testing and examining. When they came out they all had grave faces. We had a meeting to discuss what they found. Kate started off saying that traditionally in our culture health information isn’t shared with people without preexisting agreements. In this case he has no family here or a guardian or power of attorney, so they didn’t go into details. She asked if anyone was aware if he had a DNR. No one was. He is in bad shape, without intervention he will die and probably quickly. He is still suspended. They are saying he needs a full body fluid nano treatment, there is no traditional equivalent, it’s too late for that. The procedure itself will take seven days to complete. If we had all of the materials, and we don’t, it would take five days to fabricate all of the items needed. Its complex stuff and we have only Kate’s small modified fabricator and a small standard version. The nano treatment itself will require its own dedicated array. Kate suggested we could use the one from the jobsite. Someone asked if we could hypertube him back to the settlement and treat him there. Cam said no, it was too risky. If the chained batteries were to give out and he became unsuspended he could die.
The group had a discussion and someone suggested moving back to the mounds and just parking there while we did all the stuff. ‘We could send people out to refill the bags on the automated tool to keep that going and just catch up with it later.’ If we are going to need to be stationary that is a nice place to do it. The vote was unanimous in favor of returning to the mounds. We will move tomorrow. We have started work on the new chore chart.
01.06.17 – 1422 – Log – Levi
There are three parties on the schedule for materials collection. It will be nice to have actual material in our stores. We go through it fast and depend on Kate more than we should.
01.06.20 – 1533 – Log – Camden
We have collected all of the materials needed for the nano bath and started fabrication. We have been sending people to the clean up tool every day to replenish the bag supply and clean off the sensors. A second group has been going out to move the bags out of the gap. The thought is that the tool will reach the end and we can turn it around to see if it will pick up the 5% that it missed in the first sweep. If it does then all that we will need to do is cut the ramps and pick up the last of the bags.
01.06.25 – 1603 – Log – Kate
We have been back at the mounds for about 7 days and are waiting on the fabrication of the items. Out of curiosity, I scanned the crystals that we pulled out of the mound that Jack broke and found they were diamonds. I have to wonder if the mounds are all compressed thearn from the excavation of the gap.
01.06.26 – 1002 – Log – Jackson
Harris contacted the group today demanding that we mine the diamonds and send them back to the settlement. He received an emphatic no. Rumor has it Brody was the leak.
01.06.26 – 1441 – Log – Camden
Harris has asked the droids to come out here and mine diamonds. They have requested adequate shelter, and repair and charge stations. Harris requested plans for a droid RV from Kate. Kate said she could get the plans to them in a couple of days.
01.06.29 – 0901 – Log – Tyler
Kate has designed a droid RV that has 10 charging stations and 4 repair stations with charging outlets. She also designed a second RV that has another 6 charging stations, a small fabricator with independent build wands, a small refiner, a small droid operable excavator, 2 droid transport vehicles and four hypertubes (2 standard sized and 2 extra large with chained batteries for droid transport.) The vehicles are 50% longer than a standard RV. Both have shade sails and large arrays.
01.07.07 – 2000 – Log – Kurt
Josh is back among us feeling great and looking five years younger. He was always quiet and reserved, but it’s good to have him back.
The cleaning tool is about a day away from the end of the gap, we plan to turn it around to see if it will clean up the 5% it left on the first pass. We are moving the excavator to that end; we pulled it out of the gap today.
We travel tomorrow.
01.07.09 – 2010 – Log – Jackson
The group has decided to travel back the way we came for the return trip. The cleaning tool made it to the end of the gap yesterday. The bag crew turned it around and sent it off again. We are hopeful that it will pick up the remaining remains.
We pulled the excavator out of the gap and traveled with it to the end of the gap. We will work from the end back toward the middle, probably stop and spend more time at the mounds and then head back to the settlement. We will go back the way we came because know where food is along the way.
01.07.10 – 1010 – Log – Dakota
The fetus that Kate has been caring for was born today. She is a couple months early, but is a healthy weight and length of a full term baby. She seems perfectly fine. Alana and Zane claimed her and named her Savannah. The group is excited to have two beautiful, healthy baby girls. Both fabricators have loaded queues of baby stuff.
01.07.10 – 1810 – Log – Levi
The new baby was born, she is a pretty little thing. They seem to be growing at double speed here. Baby Charlotte is growing like a weed. She’s been sitting alone for a while now and is starting to crawl and pull herself up. Thank goodness neither of them has the derp.
01.07.11 – 2110 – Log – Tyler
The droids have made it to the mounds. Kate set them up with a sweet RV and fully equipped following sled that could accommodate all of them if needed. Harris also sent them with another following sled of the same design we used for the equipment and stores. He had it loaded with ‘mining’ equipment, shovels, pick axes and lights. She and I met them there to show them the diamonds. We showed them how to harvest them. She told them to only send about an ounce per droid per day, and to keep the weights somewhat inconsistent. She said that more droids would be sent because Harris and crew would want more. She said they could consider this a vacation site if they wanted. We left them with about twenty pounds of raw diamonds.
01.07.11 – 2200 – Log – Elbert
The excavator was put back into the gap today and work was started excavating ramps. The pick up tool is doing a great job of bagging the rest of the remains. There is probably only ten work days remaining. All that is being done now is maintaining the tool with bags, relocating the full bags and cutting the ramps.
01.07.11 – 2207 – Log – Tyler – We are to the point were we agreed that the group should be told about the second site. We have made lists of who will tell who. Lindsey and Brody won’t be told, it’s too much of a risk.
01.07.11 – 2215 – Log – Jackson
Moral is low today. We are almost done with the work at the gap and it reminds us that we will head back to the settlement soon. Maci started crying tonight, Kate took her to their RV, I’m pretty sure she is telling her about the alternate site. I want to punch something.
01.07.11 – 2245 – Log – Maci
That sneaky sneakerson Kate! They have been working on a place to go to just in case. It’s a relief. I think we should just go there now. I was the first to be told. The rest of the group with the exception of Lindsey and Brody will be told soon.
01.07.13 – 1245 – Log – Kurt
We are back at the mounds, and will probably stay seven days or so. The droid group here is up to twelve droids. They have actually been traveling around the countryside seeing the sights, but came back to visit with us.
01.07.13 – 1300 – Log – Elbert
We are back at the mounds. The droids are here visiting and I wish that they hadn’t come. The muhans are running the personal transports and the hover boards on the mounds and the droids want to do the same! I have told them that they can become damaged doing so, but they are doing it anyway. Droid7 is modifying a following sled to try out as a hover board. Jackson has advised them to use a nano dampener for protection and told them where to get the designs for it.
01.07.32 – 1303 – Log – Kurt
We are traveling again and it seems like we are flying over the miles. The trip back seems so much shorter. The group has been keeping track of the herd of cattle. It is about ten miles from our current position. We sent a drone to see it, it seems bigger than before. We are planning to harvest a couple.
01.07.32 – 1508 – Log – Jackson
We have stopped at a good place, the cattle herd is about a mile away. We sent a group to collect some. Two this time. They will use Kate’s method of stealing the sleeping animals away and bringing them to the camp. There was a debate over capturing some to start a small herd of our own. Maci and Neil are hopeful for butter. We have decided against it for now.
The Great Experiment 