Dropping the box down, I sigh and stretch my tired arms, looking around at the room that I had all but locked myself in for the last month. What had been once filled to the brim with boxes of machinery parts and components is now a clean, spotless room with just a table in the middle.
“It’s official, we have no more materials or supplies left. Gods I don’t want to grind for this long ever again.” Planting my butt down on the chair, I looked at a stack of fresh paper and a certain book. “Well, I have five minutes…” Staring at the book, I felt a sense of excitement overcome me as I slid it over, eager to start studying. Gazing at the title, I smiled.
‘Machinery for Dummies. Vol 1’
As I reach for the cover, a knock rings out from the door and instead I throw my forehead at the book.
“Why…”
Getting up, I opened the door to see Aerith standing there, clipboard in hand and seeing me she smiled brightly.
“Midnight! Can you come and help me? I want to make sure the machines in the water room are operational.”
Rolling my shoulders, I simply nodded. “We’re connecting everything tomorrow, right? Sure, I’ll check everything over.”
“Thanks! Everything is built, we’re just laying down the last of the piping to the houses and we’ll have everything operational!” Aerith excitedly talks as we exit the building. Looking at the sight of the base, I found myself once again impressed by the staggering amount of progress we have made in the last month.
Where the well once stood by its lonesome is now a giant building. A wooden exterior that reminded one of a simple building would deceive anyone who gazed at it. This building is perhaps our most fortified building here, an idea given by the group of military guys who have assisted us for the last month. On the top are dozens of solar panels that feed into the building itself.
Since the water, and by association the well, were vital to our survival, a lot of resources went into ensuring it wouldn’t be destroyed by a swarm. Beyond the wooden exterior lies a concrete and steel reinforcement. You could fire on it for days and barely make a dent. The door is a mechanical door, one of the first blueprints I learnt in this world, with a keypad, a password would be set and only a select few would be able to enter it. Currently both are unpowered as we hadn’t connected the grids yet.
Pushing the door open, we walk through two more of the same door and arrive before the well. Three pipes came out of it, leading to three water pumps, all built by me. These pumps lead to three large water filtration machines, which were basically bigger and better water purification machines. These then lead to the back, protected by mechanical doors, and into ten huge water tanks, all of which were half buried in the ground to save materials on making the building bigger.
Those tanks then led out to the grid, and from there would supply us with water. To the right is another large room, this time filled by lithium batteries which are charged by the solar panels on the roof. They have been filled for some time and would be ready to be connected at any time. At first I had been worried about placing them with the water supply, but Aerith and her team of military guys had reassured me that the concrete reinforcement along with the draining system would prevent any damage in the case a flood happened.
“It’s impressive everytime I come in here. Those military guys know their shit.”
“They have names! But yes, they designed a lot of this and because it still counts as a building I got Job points.” Aerith looked at her clipboard and I could see a checklist thanks to the dim lights inside. Her Job points allowed her to learn new buildings along. At first I had been confused since eventually there would be no more buildings to learn, but that cleared up when she learnt one for an elven-style building, which had no other function but to look the part, indicating she’d learn different styles of buildings rather than functionally different buildings.
Crouching, I checked out the water pumps and told Aerith there were no problems. She ticked a box. “What about the piping from them?”
“Ask Lemon, I have no idea.”
Aerith scribbles something down, presumably a reminder to drag Lemon in here, as I move to the water filtration system. After an hour of checking every machine in the building, she nods happily.
“Thanks! It’s good to know nothing is wrong. Oh, and Ghost wanted you.”
“Okay, I’ll go see him. Hey, Aerith?”
“Mm?” Ruffling her hair, I give her a smile.
“Good work.”
“O-oh, it’s n-no problem…” Seeing her try to hide her smile and blush, I pat her shoulder and leave the building. Aerith had pushed herself beyond her limits designing everything, ensuring that there were no instabilities and working with strangers who she’d made fast friends with to build this base. I wanted to reward her for pushing herself so hard, but I didn’t exactly have anything that an Ice Magician would find useful. Perhaps I should think of a machine that could help her…
Looking around once I’m outside of the wellhouse, I couldn’t help but grin at the sight. Eight houses stood, all reminding me of simple wooden cabins one would find in a forest that a hermit would love. The appearances were deceiving however, as the inside is massive. All eight had a large basement, intended for our various Jobs, with three of them having a larger basement then most. These houses were reserved for the couples of the groups, namely myself, Winter then Ghost and Melody and finally Diana and Sheep.
The insides were relatively simple. A dining room, kitchen, toilet and bedroom. The rooms were already furnished, the kitchens had ovens, microwaves and fridges all built by me. The furniture for the other two rooms came from the System, ranging from fifty Prime Coins for a chair to five hundred for a queen sized bed. We had discussed it at length and decided since we were settling down here we would at the very least buy ourselves some level of comfort.
The showers were public, in another well constructed building a bit away from the houses, separated into three lots. This is mainly to control water and for the sake of privacy they too had mechanical doors that could only be locked from the inside. While we all trusted each other, if we ever had another group come by we wanted to avoid any creeps.
Greeting those that I walked past, mainly the military guys, I soon linked up with Cass and Geralt, who were busy repairing their bullet damaged car.
“If you guys need, we can let you have one of ours, it’s my fault for shooting it.”
“Oh no need, Ruby. You guys have provided us with so much more than you can imagine.” Cass slaps me on the back and looks at the car with a grin. “We’ll be heading out the day after tomorrow. As it turns out, no one wants to stay behind anymore, your team has given us hope that there are more friendly faces out there.”
“Ah, you’re leaving that soon?”
“We told ya last week, but you’ve been cooped up in that workshop, so busy that you didn’t even hear me!”
Looking at Geralt, who had his head in the engine while he spoke, I crossed my arms with a frown before turning to Cass.
“Can you two come find me tonight? I have a proposition for you guys.”
“Oh? Well, we can’t say no to that. We’ll see you tonight then.” Waving to the pair, I walked along the path and continued for about twenty minutes before the farm entered my eyes. Ghost and Dawn had gone all out and no longer kept it as a simple farm under the sun. There were glasshouses, huts and even a pen, where several chickens clucked away, the reward that Ghost had received. Currently he was breeding them, thus the eggs and meat were off limits and he aimed to have an open field for them at some point too.
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A large wooden fence surrounded nearly five acres of ground here. It wouldn’t stop a horde of Husks, but it sure would stop a few. Opening the gate and closing it, I spotted Dawn and walked over with a wave. Seeing me, she waved back and walked over.
“Good afternoon, Midnight. Good to see you’ve finally left that room, are you here to see Ghost?”
“Mm, and stretch my legs. How are you, Dawn?”
“Can not complain. It’s been a rather busy last few weeks and I am looking forward to my own bed. It is a shame we can’t use the houses yet since Aerith wishes for everything to be connected first.”
“She has her reasons, plus it’ll be a good celebration to be able to finally lay in a soft bed.”
“It will, now I think about it. Come and find me tonight, you have only been eating those protein bars you bought back, but you need a big filling meal. I will cook up something big for you tonight.”
“I look forward to it. Where is Ghost?”
“I believe he went into that greenhouse over there, he has been putting the finishing touches on several things today. Keep yourself well, Midnight.” Parting with Dawn, I walk over to the greenhouse and open the door, finding Ghost tinkering with the watering system in here.
“Ah, Midnight. Just who I’ve been looking for.”
“What’s up?”
“Yea, one of the power tools you gave me stopped working, it still charges but when I use it nothing happens.”
Ghost hands me a solar powered drill, I looked it over and fixed it. These drills had been marked as experimental in our world and I knew why, they were very prone to breaking suddenly. Even though I knew how to make them, I didn’t know how to improve on them. Wishing I could spend time reading the book I’d left behind in the workshop, I test out the drill and hand it back.
“Thanks. Are you finally out of your cave?”
“Yes, I have no materials left.”
“Figures, you’ve done nothing but make machines all month. I think I haven’t seen you for that entire time.” Chatting with Ghost a bit more, I head off and leave the farm, deciding to point my feet towards another location where Sheep had set up shop. Looking at the desk set up outside, I couldn’t help but chuckle, but I knew why he’d done this.
Sheep has spent the last month keeping everything in order, issuing out orders, keeping everyone busy and making sure Winter, Melody and I were fed. With Diana helping him, they had basically ensured the base had been built smoothly, even with the trips to the town to salvage what was left.
“Yo, Mid. You’ve finally escaped the room?” Looking up from the various piles of paper around him, Sheep gave me a nod before looking down again.
“You make it sound like a prison.” Sitting down opposite him, I look over some of the paper and find it to be mainly plans for expanding the base, future proofing our needs. “I need to speak to you.”
“Why else would you have come here?” Placing his pen down, Sheep straightens up. “Shoot.”
“What do you think of Cass, Geralt and the military guys?”
“Completely trustworthy, all of them. They’ve contributed so much here and haven’t tried to rob us, even with the lack of weaponry on anyone. They’ve been very resourceful with building everything as well, you’ve missed a lot but those guys have gotten along with everyone. Their ideas for building accelerated Aerith’s Job progression by a lot. I had asked them about weaponry. It seems their old division never focused on researching or developing weapons but rather using weapons during combat, with the aim to conserve ammo and durability.
“Geralt and a few of the soldiers gave me a few lessons on guiding combat flow and it’s been extremely helpful. They’ve also helped design the grid completely, teaching Lemon everything about how the flow should be and he’s taken it all in. Overall, I would completely trust them to join us though it seems they are looking to continue looking for their friends and family.”
“In that case I want to offer a proposal to them. A partnership if you will. I’ve asked Winter to make enough handguns and ammo to give to them, so if they stayed they would be armed. If not, I wanted to make a deal with them.”
“I’m fairly sure I know what you’re planning, but go on.”
“Basically a business partnership. We provide weapons and ammo and allow them the use of this base, food and water. In exchange, they head out and find supplies, materials and so on, bringing them back here.”
“Along the same thoughts I had. I approve easily. If they can bring back survivors here it’ll be a lot better too.”
“Are we accepting survivors that easily?”
“Yes and no. We have plans to eventually fortify the entire base with a wall around us, but as you know we would need a lot of materials, but it would mean protection. With the wall in place, we’d have rules in place like no weapons within the base.”
“Nah, I don’t like that. I think each survivor should have their own locker that can only be opened when they leave or unlocked during an emergency.”
“Hmm, not a bad idea. We’d need to iron it out…along with everything else. Did you need me for anything else?”
“Eager to be rid of me? How’s Diana?”
“Adjusting still, but happy. She’s become somewhat of a support to everyone, bringing them refreshments. Same with Melissa, she’s been helping her brother mainly and is still adjusting.”
“Good to hear. I saw the others earlier, and it seems like they’re all doing well. Sheep, after Cass and Geralt leave…”
“I know, you want to obtain Lvl 3. I already have a plan, if you can call it that, for you to do so. Mid, I want you to reach Lvl 3 first. As our leader, you alone should be above the others.”
“You sure?”
“Yes. We’ll be behind you, of course, but in this world the strong will dominate while the weak follow. Since you’re our leader overall, you should be presented as the strongest. Considering how the System announced our victory over the dragon, it will not surprise me if there is one for reaching Lvl 3 as well, and if they announce your name then that’ll set you as one of the strongest, especially when meeting with others.”
“That’s speculation, there was no such announcement for Lvl 2.”
“No, there wasn’t, but it’s not out of the realm of possibility. I know what you’re thinking too, Mid, that you’d prefer for all of us to reach it together. Don’t worry, we’ll obtain Lvl 3 right after you do.”
I had been concerned about that, and speaking with Sheep for a bit longer, I left and made my way through the camp before resting for the next two days. Cass and Geralt easily approved of our proposal in the meantime. When it was time, Aerith excitedly called me over.
Seeing everyone gathered before the wellhouse, I saw that lights had been put up like street lights. Winter, who had been busy when I had gone to see her, made her way over to me while we waited. Only Lemon and Aerith weren’t present and as the sun set, we waited patiently. Smiling because I knew Aerith wanted to put on a spectacle, I grabbed Winter and we both found a roof to watch from.
“Oh, I know! Let’s film it. Once it’s all set up, we can charge our phones again and Aerith would love it!” Seeing Rebecca dig through her bag and pull out her phone, she started recording.
As darkness crept over the base, no light shone, darkness washing over the group and buildings. I could see Jupiter and his group huddled together next to mine, everyone waiting. A floodlight on the front of the wellhouse started to warm up, turning on as lights throughout the base sprung to life, light shining through the darkness illuminating our new base, giving rise to the cheers for everyone as the base turned its lights on for the first time.
Feeling a bit speechless at this sight of the houses with lights, the cheering crowd and our team happily smiling, I could help but feel happy at this point. We’d gone from hiding away in a small, dark police building to finishing our first base.
“Lux In Tenebris.” Rebecca mutters.
“Mm?”
“It’s Latin. It means ‘Light in the Darkness.’ A fitting name for our new base, don’t you think?”
“It’s good…Though we might need to shorten it.”
“Well Lux means Light so we could use that as a nickname.”
“I don’t mind either way…Lux In Tenebris it is.” Looking over the base, I held Rebecca’s hand, taking in the sight. I didn’t have much say in the overall build and while I had contributed the machinery, Aerith, Lemon and those soldiers had worked extremely hard to bring life to the buildings here. Sheep, Jupiter and Silver too had helped them out along with getting supplies from the town.
Ghost and Dawn’s work on the farm meant we would soon have renewable food coming in, while Melody had contributed a vast amount of gunpowder and draughts that alleviated fatigue. Everyone had contributed to the base, it’s because of them all we now had a place we could call home in this dangerous world.
“So, what’s next?” Stopping her recording, Rebecca puts her phone away and leans her head on my shoulder.
“Mm, so much.”
“So much?”
“So much.”
Both of us chuckle before telling her our next plans.
“Oh, so it really is ‘so much’.”
“I didn’t lie. I want to see what Lvl 3 has before deciding on what to do with Machinist.”
“You still haven’t spent the points?”
“Mm, I’ve grinded up to seven hundred and fifty now.”
“Well, I can make Green Grades consistently. Alright, let’s go check out our house then find Aerith.” Getting up, we headed towards the house that Aerith had told us was ours. All it took was a different world for us to finally move into a home together.