The crater stretched out before me, and I marveled at the way that the erg had continued to flow down from the forests surrounding it. The green grass rose higher still, creating a sense of lushness in contrast to the previous sense of desolation. The factory still stuck out from the space, but that would be changing sooner rather than later, of that I was certain.

I slid down the rim of the crater and landed on the soft grass below. For a moment, I wanted nothing more than to lay out and stretch amongst the blades, but I knew I had work to do first. First, I sent my ore to start processing into ingots, then opened my inventory and activated the walls from within. As with the erg condenser, I once again received a holographic wireframe which hovered in the air in front of me.

I first tested the range to which I could extend the hologram, and it seemed that line of sight was the limit. With that in mind, I set to work. I painted slowly around the rim of the crater, laying down the walls, following the natural curve of the geography. Slowly, the wall began to take shape, forming a layer of protection between me and the unknown, untamed world beyond.

I would need to build a gate at some point, certainly, if only to get access to the wood beyond. Plus, this ore deposit would only last so long, but I could simply build more walls to protect these expansions, and perhaps even link them up with corridors to assure safe transit. If I had access to some automation features, that would be even better. Being able to transport ore directly from their deposit into a smelter would speed up my throughline greatly.

My planning was halted, though, when I realized that I had run out of wall segments, and I wasn’t even half way through. The deployment interface was still active, though, and I continued to paint the wall, but with no segments in my inventory, no segments phased into reality. Judging from the percentage of completion, I figured that I only needed another thirty segments to complete the task. So, I slotted in another three screw joiners into the queue.

From there, it was a simple matter to finish laying out the wall, then all I needed to do was wait for the queue to empty out. At the moment, I was still waiting for the ingots to finish smelting, so I followed with my whim and took a seat in the grass, feeling the soft green beneath me, allowing my body to relax into it, the weariness of my exertions sliding into memories and liberation from my pain.

I felt the bruises forming on my sides from the fights with the deer-things, and felt at the components of my harness, testing their continued resilience. I wasn’t a fighter, never had been. Given the opportunity, I would always take the coward’s way out, seeking resolution through flight or fawning or just freezing up and hoping that I wouldn’t get noticed. It worked fairly often, most people making threats were happy for obedience and compliance. I still had gotten smacked around more than once, though.

I had never got hurt enough for anyone to care, but it had honed my desire to not get hurt again, which led to me being even more conflict averse. Yet, here I was, forced to fight for my own survival. These creatures would not back down if I gave them what they wanted, though it seemed that some of them at least were not particularly interested in fighting to the death, a small mercy.

I could become stronger, though. I could hone my mind and my body, to become capable of opposing these more powerful forces. It would be so much easier if I could just find someone else to carry the burden of battle, but that was a very unlikely thing. I would have to learn how to be strong alone.

At least I had the librarian to keep me company.

The screws finished, emptying my queue, and I slotted in three more sets of wall segments. Each one took ten minutes to build, so I still had a long wait before I could finish the wall. Now that I felt a bit more rested, I walked over to the deposit and resumed mining while I began that wait.

As the first set of segments ticked finished, I turned my gaze to see the holograms filling up automatically, draining the segments from my inventory to put them where I planned. Now confident in the inevitability of the construction’s completion, I focused on gathering more ore while the remaining twenty minutes ticked down. As before, I made sure to turn the new ore into the back of the queue for smelting.

Building a smelter would definitely be the first thing facility that I built once I had some material to spare.

Finally, the last wall segment clicked into place, securing the crater and providing me with a complete sense of relief for the first time since this all began. I let out a breath and flung myself back onto the grass, just stretching out and enjoying the feeling of it beneath my fingers. Before I relaxed too much, though, I needed a shower.

After a quick return to the bedroom, I unpacked my supplies from my inventory, putting clothes away and setting up a little shelf full of food. My computer got put into place on the desk, though I didn’t know if I’d get any use out of it. Meanwhile, my textbooks got put on another shelf and I suddenly realized just how few things I actually possessed. I endeavored not to think too hard about it as I stripped out of the harness and my blood-splattered clothes.

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The shower felt like heaven, the hot water hitting sore and stiff muscles and washing away the weight of my labors. I closed my head and leaned my forehead against the tile of the shower’s walls, just luxuriating in the moment. A small dispenser built into the wall had some sort of gel, which I assumed was a shampoo and soap combination, so I went to town with it, lathering up my body and hair, before rinsing clean. It had been days since I last showered, thanks to my road trip not stopping in any place with them, so this felt especially needed.

I dressed, picking out one of my favorite outfits, a red high-collared but short-sleeved button-down shirt and a pair of blue-green jeans. I tucked the shirt in and took a moment to fluff up my hair in the mirror, inspecting myself there briefly. I looked better than I had before my departure from college, my skin was brighter and clearer, my cheekbones more defined, and without the blood I look damn near presentable.

As I put on my battle harness, I called up my status to see my growth.

Name: Placid Wainwright Level: 3 Paths Skills Health: 100% Factory Manager

Refinement

17

Erg: 10/10 Path Points: 0 Joiners 11 Foundational Facilities 5 Attributes Path Perks Mining 43 Might 7 Manufacturing 1 Sustenance Farming 1 Coordination 10 Gathering 1 Logging 1 Endurance 6 Basic Combat Tools 1 War Drill 15 Intuition 14 Battle Harness Proficiency 20 Structure 18 Battle Harness Customization 1 Flow 12 Erg Sight 16

On the plus side, I was finally out of the hole in terms of path points. Next level up, I’d be able to pick up a new perk, which would hopefully open up some new avenues of progression. For now, I needed to focus on completing that quest. With its completion, I might even gain another level, but I’d at least gain another facility.

I pulled up my inventory.

INVENTORY

Tier 1 Battle Harness (equipped)

Tier 1 War Drill (equipped)

Kia Forte Koup (Broken)

Tier 1 Ore x10

Tier 1 Metal Ingot x30

Focus Crystal x5

Good, I had enough to make the next condenser. I queued up the pipes, waited for them to finish, then started the condenser going. Then, I went out into the crater to survey for a good place to put it. With the condenser being built, though, I couldn’t precisely judge the distance necessary for the condenser to be most efficient so I decided to examine the wall further.

The wall was solid metal, steady and thick, approximately ten feet tall, and also descending into the ground. Building a second layer on top might be a good idea, sooner or later, a sufficiently large creature could simply step over the barrier. Judging from the transformations to the birds and the deer, stranger things were certainly coming.

I couldn’t help but feel some sense of mounting tension, some feeling that the world was going to get worse before this was all done. Shaking the thought from my head, I knocked lightly on the wall and concentrated on it further. Something clicked in my thoughts and a system message appeared.

[Turn wall segment to gate?

don’t open it don’t open they’re waiting they’re coming we]

Yes. Despite the note’s warning, I had to be able to get in and out. At the very least, I’d need to get access to wood, and the trees were waiting right there. Part of me wanted to just head out and start logging now, but also I was really lacking in appropriate materials for the task. I looked at drill and shook my head, no way was this thing cutting down a tree.

The wall segment blurred slowly, becoming hard to look at for a moment, before suddenly snapping back into full clarity, now with a large set of double doors built into the metal. I stepped forward and gave them a pull, the metal proving to be quite heavy, but the joints of the door were efficient enough to let even me open them. Perhaps my position as the creator gave me some special privilege here.

The woods expanded, wild and deep, untamed now thanks to erg’s boost. Humanity was on the back foot for a change, and perhaps that was for the best. The cruelty we had inflicted onto the world was without recourse and beyond forgiveness, our penance had to be paid in blood. How many had died already? Millions? Billions? How many monsters stalked the streets of our cities? Would anyone survive the horrors to come?

I suppose it was my job to assure that they would, though I had no idea how I would from here.

The ergon condenser pinged me as it finished building, and I stepped back in, shutting the gates behind me, before barring them shut to keep the dark at bay.