After gaining a new housemate, Ted had settled into a new, albeit familiar, rythem. During the day, he'd work on developing his useful skills, such as parkour, improvised weapons, and crafting. Luckily, the school had...plenty of material. Unluckily, he didn't...really know what to do, now. At night, he mostly just slept. Which was nice, don't get him wrong: the nice thing about the end of the world was you could set your own hours.

Food was a solved problem, more or less. Shelter? He had shelter: he wagered that his current abode was the safest place he could reasonably expect. Entertainment? Eh, considering his former line of work, that was a distant non-priority. As far as skills went, his training had put him in a...mostly comfortable position. He had managed to acquire some levels in scrounger, a few ranks in unrelated skills, and even a level up for his primary when he had to go rat hunting after they had started to gnaw through his fence. He hadn't spent the resultant perk points, yet. He didn't know what was most useful to him now that he was in a safe-ish position.

Ted sat at his desk (that had formerly belonged to the principal), and pondered what to do.

To the side was the crystal he had stolen: the compu-core, floating in a metal cage, letting out a hum. It seemed that the cage nullified it, rendering it...not harmless, but neutralized for now. Of course, that could just be wishful thinking. For all he knew it was the sword of damocles waiting to fall. He had tried studying it through various means, but the results had been...inconclusive.

"What do you think I should do?" He asked Tortoise, who sat to his other side, eating some plant-matter he had acquired from outside. Briefly, he had worried about his pet being harassed by the Gorgon when it had moved in with them, but he had managed to communicate towards her that the bunny was not food or prey.

Tortoise huffed, and thumped his legs. "I'm sorry, that was a dumb question," Ted responded morosely. "It's just that...Well, I'm a bit lost. Is that normal? Managing to escape a life or death situation, getting comfortable, into a position where you don't have to deal with the next looming disaster, and just...not knowing what to do?"

Another stomp. "Yeah, you're right." Ted said, before pausing. Was he really talking to his pet rabbit. God, he had cracked. "Alright, I'll set a new goal. Or, better yet: several new goals." Ted stood up. "Come, Tortoise! To classroom A-1!"

Love what you're reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.

----------------------------------------

"So, my goals are thusly." Ted scribbled on the whiteboard. He could have used the classroom with chalkboards, but he liked whiteboards more: more modern. "First, the overgoal: all subgoals are an outgrowth of this."

In red marker, he wrote the words out. FIND SURVIVORS. "Because no doubt more of humanity survived. If I can find them, I can provide the immediate benefits of a stable location with which to survive better, to say nothing of my own skills."

A chirrup. "Yes, its likely they have skills of their own at this point," Ted admitted. "Still, I'd like to think I'd bring something to the group, if only an extra warm body." And this was assuming there were other survivors. The grim truth was, there might not be. At least not in the monster and death-trap infested city. Still!

"So, to accomplish that goal, there are a number of ways to proceed. I will, of course, be pursuing all of them. First, I need to explore of the city. Which requires..."

MEANS OF TRANSPORTATION.

"Either a bicycle or a truck of some kind. Luckily, there should be a number of abandoned cars I can work on, and finding a bicycle shouldn't be too hard." He hummed. "Ultimately, there are a number of practical benefits to either option. The former will require no additional resources and will be more manueverable. The latter would be much, much quicker and would provide more hauling capabilities. The downsides of each should be obvious."

A thump. "Right, both then. Emergency bike, and a vehicle of some stripe. Next, I need a means of communication with potential survivor pockets. I'll be honest, this is a complex one. I have two ideas. The first is to create some form of spotlight. I'll need to rig up more panels, and brush up on my morse code, but this idea is in theory not beyond my capabilities. The problem is that it paints a target on our backs, meaning I'll also need to improve our survivability. That, however, is a topic for later."

"The other idea," Ted said, noting the Gorgon wandering in, "is a radio. Technically, its illegal to operate a ham radio without a license, but I doubt the FCC is capable of actioning us at this point. I'll need to acquire a ham radio and work to boost its signal strength, but if it works, we'll be back on the proverbial grid without overburdening the power supply. So, thoughts?"

A litany of hisses, thumps, and chirps. "Duly noted, both as well then. Next, we need to make this place liveable. This one is...relatively easy. Through scavenging, I'll work on outfitting the various rooms in the building into proper bedrooms. Food will also be a concern: I'll get to work creating a garden. Not a greenhouse," he noted. "I don't know how to build one and, further, this plan is already going to require an absurd amount of work. Now, lastly..."

DEFENCE. "More people? More potential hazards. I'm going to revamp our defences completely. Traps and barricades out the wazoo. I'm also going to work on developing offensive and utility skills: the self is the first tool, after all."

Ted grinned, slightly manic. "So. I have a goal. Now time to get to work."