Chapter 35

Really good call with building more pathways to and from the water. Without that I would’ve had to draw from the source direct it towards back towards the log and then distribute it where it needed to go.

Of course I still did that while the things were getting grown.

But now I wouldn’t have to.

Though it’s kind of weird the fire hasn’t reached me yet. All this preparation, while great that it’s getting within the time limit, took some time to get done.

I half way expected to get maybe one of the plans done with by the time the fire came, but I’m just about finished getting my first two ideas up and running.

Has the wind changed direction? Am I just not in the direct path of the fire anymore?

I think I can answer that first question at least.

I’ll grow a very thin and stalk-y mushroom that will easily bend in the direction the wind is blowing.

As I got started on that, I finished getting the extra pathways set up and now water was now being efficiently distributed to my sensory network.

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Within a couple of mushroom growths all of my preparations will be complete.

Done.

And still no fire…

… have I overreacting? Just because I’m not sensing any animals within the vicinity, it’s automatically fire? Couldn’t it be a bigger and badder predator hunting?

No.

That wouldn’t make sense. If a top predator was hunting wouldn’t it roam, trying to find prey? And the prey itself would hide and then skedaddle when the predator left. And I’m just not sensing that. That kind of behavior would be hard to miss with my sensory network.

No, what I’m sensing is a complete absence of animals. Heck even the bugs that brush up against the network while not completely absent are less in number.

Let’s not doubt ourselves.

Even if a fire wasn’t coming, these preparations are still badass. I don’t think I would ever come up with stuff like a raining mushroom or heck a water-bursting mushroom. Those types of mushrooms can definitely be repurposed to accomplish other things if a fire really isn’t coming.

The wind detecting mushroom was done growing.

Normally it would have taken not that long to get it done growing but I’m not exactly under ideal conditions. The nutrients from the hub are fluctuating, the log’s nutrients are flagging, and I’m also focusing on a slew of different things.

I waited for the mushroom to bend.

Not that long into the wait, it bent and showed that the wind was blowing in a … well I can’t use the cardinal directions now can I?

I could find out in the future. Some plants like the sunflower follow the direction of the sun and if I could somehow detect their movement I’d have the starting point. From there finding out the other directions would be cake.

Thats not exactly important right now. Suffice to say I know where the wind is blowing and it isn’t towards me.

That must mean the fire is moving somewhat away from me. But that’s the thing with wind you never know which way it’ll blow.

If this thing misses me great but it’s not gunna catch me off guard.

I settled in for waiting.