I leaned against the metallic hull of the Congestoga's cargo hold, watching Darcey drum her thick gloves against her leg as she stared at Fii, a contemplative look on her face.

It's been a several days since my talk with Sullivan, and today I decided to check in on Darcey to see how she was doing with Fii. After she got over being surprised about the SCAV's ability to talk, she had immediately gone off to study its capabilities. Now, she seemed to be examining its shell while muttering to herself, probably to try and find out more about what its capabilities are.

Fii stood a meter away, its central camera spinning and refocusing, mimicking human indecision. As I watched, Darcey reached out and patted its shell, muttering, "If only there was a manual," before turning to regard me with an incredulous look on her face. "Wait," she said slowly. "You repaired it, right? Do you remember how its sub-systems and circuitry work?"

I shook my head and replied, "No. I followed what the System told me to do during the repair quest. After I got my Advanced Mechanics skill, I sort of understood its mechanical components a bit more, but as far as I'm concerned, Fii's a mystery."

Darcey huffed and folded her arms over her chest. "Well shit," she grumbled, shaking her head. "This thing is interesting though," she said, gesturing at Fii with one hand as if to emphasize her point. "It's like a factory on six legs."

Huh, a factory? That's an apt description. I scratched my chin in thought before responding. "Yeah," I said after a moment. "I suppose so."

She sighed and leaned against the wall of the cargo hold, propping herself up with her arms behind her as she stared at Fii, seeming to consider something as she tapped her lips with a gloved finger in thought. After a moment, she turned to look at me again, seeming to have come to some sort of decision. "Mind if I play around with it?" she asked, a look of excitement on her face. She had that 'mad scientist' gleam in her eyes.

"Darcey, let me make this abundantly clear. Fii isn't your new toy." I crossed my arms, feeling like I needed to reinforce my point as I regarded Darcey with a stern look.

"Come on!" she whined, clasping her hands together in a pleading gesture as she leaned forward and turned to look at me with the most beseeching look she could muster. "Please?" she added with an exaggerated pout and puppy-dog eyes. "Think about the potential! There's a lot we can learn from its mechanisms."

Well, she makes a fair point. Fii might have some sort of sentience in its code or whatever it is that runs it. But still, I didn't like the idea of someone tinkering around in Fii's insides without its consent. I didn't even know how it would feel about that, though it would probably just be a mix of curiosity and indifference if anything. This wasn't like having someone ask me to tinker with my bike. Fii is...well, Fii.

"Sure, but not at the expense of dismantling my friend." I shrugged and continued, "If you need help to figure out its functions, you can ask Fii, but you're not taking it apart."

Darcey opened her mouth as if to say something else before closing it and nodding slowly. "I wouldn’t say ‘taking apart’, Connor. More like… exploring his interior structure." She grinned and waved a hand dismissively before adding, "Seriously though, you have nothing to worry about. Fii is way too advanced to be damaged by little old me."

"Sounds like 'taking apart' to me," I argued, giving her a pointed look as I held up my hands defensively. I glanced over at Fii again and added, "Unless Fii says otherwise."

Fii clacked its claws a few times before replying with its synthetic tone. "Probability of survival after disassembly: low. Conclusion: advised against."

I gave Darcey a look as if to say 'I told you so'.

Darcey waved me off again and let out another huff. "Oh come on. A bit of harmless tinkering never hurt anyone. Plus, wouldn't it be interesting to know what makes Fii...well, Fii?"

Fii's camera swiveled towards Darcey, then back to me. It emitted a low whirring sound, which I had come to understand as its version of a sigh.

"Intervention unnecessary," it said, its metallic voice echoing with a note of disapproval. "Fii operates at maximum efficiency."

I laughed, pointing at Fii. "See? You heard the bot. Maximum efficiency." I turned to regard Darcey with an amused smile and added, "So don't mess with Fii's insides."

Darcey let out an indignant huff as she leaned away from the wall and placed her hands on her hips. "Alright, alright. But if it ever has any mechanical problems, it's on my workbench. Deal?"

I shrugged and reached out to shake her hand, responding, "Fine by me."

She grinned and pumped her arm in triumph, turning to Fii before addressing it, "Yay!" she said, jumping up and down and clapping her hands with an excited smile on her face. "Best day ever."

Fii made the clacking sound again and tilted its camera slightly as if giving her a curious look before turning to me. "Best day?" it repeated, its tone quizzical as it looked at me again before turning to Darcey. "Best day?" it asked again, its voice conveying a note of confusion this time. "System: unclear."

Darcey turned to Fii again, reaching out to pet it on the head. "Aww, Fii's so cute," she cooed, her tone suddenly becoming sweet and girly, completely at odds with her gruff appearance. "It's like a cute little puppy."

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

What is with girls and dogs or cats? More importantly...Fii is not 'little'. It's almost as big as a minivan.

I chuckled and shook my head. "It's a metal spider, Darcey. But whatever works for ya." I pushed off the wall and began heading for the spiral staircase leading up to the upper level, calling back over my shoulder, "I'll see you guys later. Try not to break anything."

Darcey waved a hand in acknowledgment, still too distracted with petting Fii to respond properly. I turned to Fii and said with a wry grin, "Fii, take care of Darcey," before turning to head up the stairs.

Fii turned to Darcey again and replied, "Affirmative." It leaned down slightly as if to better examine Darcey. "Instructions: ensure safety," it added before turning to watch Darcey again.

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

The rest of the day passed by in a flurry of tasks. The Conestoga wasn't a self-maintaining entity, and even with Darcey's techno-kinetic prowess, manual labor was still required. The crew worked in their respective areas, each one doing their part to ensure the vehicle ran smoothly and efficiently.

Being the new guy, I was left with doing Brice's previous job—janitorial work. I cleaned up the main cargo hold, moving aside crates and bags before pushing them into a storage room next to it, and sweeping up the dust and debris that littered the floor. As I swept, I made mental notes of where I would need to clean next, and if there was anything else that required my attention.

The place had a couple of bathroom stalls, and oh boy...talk about luxury. Dipton had said he and Darcey had figured out some way to install the toilets they've scavenged and hook them up to the vehicle's existing water recycling system and waste disposal. It wasn't anything fancy, but it was a hell of a lot better than squatting in the bushes or doing what I did on the first night when I arrived in Nexus.

Now...cleaning toilets, although not exactly something I thought I'd be doing since getting dumped into this world, was actually a nice change of pace from everything else that had happened to me so far. It was a familiar task, a welcome comfort—albeit a smelly one. It helped calm my mind, giving me a moment to process everything that had happened over the past few days.

The Conestoga had no showers or baths though. Water was still a premium, so what we had stored in the tanks was reserved for drinking, cooking, and maintenance purposes. If we ever met someone that could create water out of thin air or something like that...yeah, they'd probably be the most valuable member.

Outside of my janitorial work, Ludvig and I had worked together on one of the segmented tracks, his quiet efficiency complementing my eagerness to put more of my mechanical skills to practical use. I found that his silence wasn't indicative of disinterest but instead, that he was more than willing to offer his opinions on how things were done.

Dipton kept had us entertained with anecdotes from his ranching days back in his world, some of them hilarious, while others were more informational and filled me in on a few key tidbits about his experience with raising livestock and farm work. I found that he was a natural storyteller, and his way of retelling his stories left a lasting impression on me.

Vera often went out on a scouting mission whenever the Conestoga wasn't in motion, though she would keep in contact with us via the Interface's comms channel, reporting back with any information she's uncovered as well as potential locations for salvage and resource retrieval.

I witnessed firsthand what her psionic power was when she vanished from the Conestoga's cargo hold without warning one day, and then reappeared in a different spot a minute later in a burst of psionic energy, holding an armful of salvage she had picked up from a different room. Freakin' Teleportation? Damn...not gonna lie, I kinda wish I had that power instead.

Brice, the youngest of the group, was more than willing to tell me about anything and everything regarding his favorite hobby—bug collection. He explained to me how Nexus had some crazy insects and critters and he was interested in collecting all of them. This led to a day of the two of us in the Conestoga's hold, Brice showing me his collection of bugs and insects while Darcey yelled at us to get the 'bugs off the damn workbench' after Brice forgot to clear off the surface for her to work on, much to her chagrin.

And Sullivan...well, he just did his thing—being the group's unofficial therapist, offering an ear when we needed to vent about our problems, but also giving us a friendly smile and a quick pat on the shoulder whenever he passed by. Most of the time, I saw him meditating at the observational deck with his astrolabe at hand.

His divination of me being important to the group still lingered in my mind. I didn't know what to make of it, but I decided to keep it to myself for now, keeping it in mind as I continued my day-to-day tasks as a crew member on board the Conestoga.

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

I headed back to my room, intending to have an early night. It's been a busy day and I was pretty beat from everything that had happened. As I got changed into my sleeping wear and climbed into bed, my mind began to wander. I found myself thinking about everything that had happened up until now, trying to process everything that had changed since my arrival at Nexus.

I closed my eyes as my mind recalled my time with Aubrey, how she had taught me the basics of surviving in Nexus, and the important details that were paramount to getting stronger. Her instructions to me were still fresh in my mind—earn experience points, gear up, use my powers, and improve my combat skills.

Even after we parted ways, that was all I did—day in and day out as I repeated that routine, trying to figure out what my next move should be. I thought that was just the way this world worked. You survived by acquiring power, and you gained more power by ranking up in a Server. Then you stayed there and continued to acquire more power and gear until there's nothing left to do there, then you move on to the next.

I opened my eyes again as my mind returned to the present. As much as I was starting to be okay with that way of life, it just didn't feel right for me—at least while I was alone. I was tired of being by myself, of doing things on my own all the time. It wasn't that I was lazy or incompetent...it was that I felt more comfortable with having others around me, especially those who I could trust and rely on.

Dipton and his crew... seemed different from what I expected other players to be like. Their non-aggressive stance and pacifism aside, they didn't seem like people that actively sought out ways to increase their rank or power. They seemed to have no ambitions to advance beyond surviving in Nexus, and if that was their only goal in life...well then, I guess that was another way to live in Nexus.

So why did players like Aubrey or the other groups that I encountered so hell-bent on acquiring more power and rank? Why did it seem natural for them to fight and kill each other? What was the point of doing that? Was there some sort of reward for 'winning'? Was the prize at the end of the carrot stick the promise of being able to return to Earth? What if some players didn't want to go back?

My mind kept going over those questions, and as it did, I felt myself begin to doze off. My thoughts continued to drift, the events of the day slowly fading into a haze as my mind started to drift off into sleep. Tomorrow, we were bound to make a pit stop by a river to replenish our water supply before continuing our slow trek towards the next Server. Maybe I'll find the answers to those questions there...