5 Fun Will Now Commence

They set out early the next morning, and Three got to work while they traveled. The first thing he did was make his own spear and set up permissions for the A.I. to interface with his cerebral cortex through his cybernetic connections in life threatening situations. He trusted his A.I. not to get distracted or freeze up just because a monster was strange looking, and it enabled him to use the various martial art forms without spending decades practicing them. It was doubtful that he would be a match for someone that actually put in those decades, but at least he wouldn't drop the spear or stab himself with it.

Once that was done it was time to work on the difficult part. The level of intricacy needed for his desired long range armament would require an extreme level of concentration even with the A.I. enhancing his ability to control the nanites. He couldn't even wait until they stopped for the night either, since he would ultimately run out of power before he accomplished much of anything. The first and hardest thing he had to do was produce the batteries he would need, and He was forced to rely on Steve to guide him around the trees while he worked due to their complexity. Since he lacked access to more exotic materials, he was forced to use a more experimental type of battery than he would have preferred.

An iron-air battery possessed a great deal of potential energy storage, actually surpassing the more widely used lithium-ion. The only reason it had never caught on was because nobody had managed to extend the number of charge cycles they would last beyond fifty or so. Nobody wanted their expensive piece of technology to need a new battery every month. Fortunately it suited his needs almost perfectly, and had the added benefit of being composed of one of the most abundant elements on the planet. With the A.I.'s help it only took him five hours and three stubbed toes to complete a pair of them. He had the nanites shift some of the solar power to them to get them started, then moved on to the thankfully easier part of his project.

He just barely managed to finish creating all of the various components he needed by the time they were ready to stop for the night, and it was fortunate that they hadn't encountered anymore strange monsters while he was preoccupied. The others were practically dying of curiosity. They had gotten accustomed to him continuously peppering them with questions, and desperately wondered what could keep such a talkative person silent for so long, not to mention so distracted that he was nearly running into trees and tripping over roots all day.

While Kayla cooked their evening meal he assembled his first advanced prototype weapon. No doubt it would need a great deal of refining, particularly the rail system. Maintenance was going to be a nightmare, and the sooner he got his hands on some platinum and gold the better. He slotted one of the batteries and a magazine before taking it outside the barricade around their camp for a test firing. He took cover behind a tree and flicked a switch on the side of it. A nearly imperceptible hum filled the air as the capacitors charged, and he took aim at a tree about two hundred yards away.

When he pulled the trigger there was a loud crack and he was slammed back by the recoil hard. He rubbed at his shoulder, deciding then and there to improve the recoil reduction before anything else. When he looked towards the tree he had been aiming at he was shocked. He had missed the one he was aiming for, but it didn't matter since he was just testing its destructive power, and hitting a tree in the forest isn't particularly difficult. The tree he had hit though, was sporting a large hole through its trunk.

He realized that the others had followed him when Aspen couldn't bear it anymore and finally asked the question everyone was thinking. "Three, what is that thing you made?"

Three waved them back towards the camp. "It's called a helical railgun. I miniaturized the much larger version my people had made as a proof of concept before the invasion." They just stared at him. "It's a metal-thrower." He pulled out one of the specialized rounds he had made and showed it to them. "It throws these very, very fast at whatever I point it at. We shouldn't have many problems from monsters anymore. Is dinner ready?"

He spent the rest of the evening teaching them math. It was best to start with the basics after all, and math was the backbone of every scientific achievement mankind ever made. Sure, sometimes the math came after the achievement was made, but nobody had ever accomplished anything that wasn't later proven to be mathematically sound. It also marked the beginning of his true mission, accelerating the development of mankind. Unfortunately the attentiveness of his students waned alarmingly fast, leaving him with just Aspen inside of two hours. He was bewildered by this outcome, who didn't like math? They called it a night not long after that. With any luck they would reach Haven tomorrow, and he would learn a lot more about what he was dealing with.

They were rather rudely awakened early the next morning by something crashing into their stone barricade with enough force to crack it. Three scrambled for his railgun, hurriedly switching it on so the capacitors could build the necessary charge while Gaius coolly collected his spear and set himself to receive the other kind of charge. The wall shuddered under another blow, this time sending a few shards of stone flying free of it.

Three shouldered his railgun and fired at where the cracks were forming, hoping that whatever was hitting it was there, but mostly just making a hole they could see through to identify their assailant. He was rewarded with the strangest sounding roar of pain he had ever heard… which probably didn't mean much given his particular circumstances in life. He also got much more than a hole, the weakened wall was practically obliterated by the impact of his shot, and when the dust started to clear they finally got a good look at their breakfast hating opponent.

"It's a dung beetle." Three muttered. "Since when do those get chest high? An exoskeleton shouldn't be possible in a creature that big, it's cheating!" It started to charge at them again, only this time they didn't have a big stone wall to stop it. Gaius planted a foot behind the butt of his spear and leveled it towards the charging beetle. "Don't do that! That spear doesn't have a crossguard!" Three took aim at its head, but had to wait for the charge to build back up to a level that would be lethal.

[anomalous power source detected]

A fist-sized ball of fire suddenly splashed across its face, blinding it and causing it to stumble and lose momentum. Three was able to fire a second later, and the .50 caliber equivalent helical railgun round tore a watermelon sized hole clean through the monstrous beetle, killing it instantly. The hole revealed that the beetle had both an internal and external skeleton, which had to be terribly inefficient but also why it could get so big without having its internal organs get crushed under its own weight.

Of course the presence of a giant corpse meant that they had to set out immediately, and that breakfast was going to be strips of dried meat while they walked. "So what is everyone going to do when we get to Haven?" Three had asked before, but he was bored and hoped the others would be more open now that they had gotten to know him better. Except Zahir, who he rather suspected had taken a vow of silence or something. He had managed to learn absolutely nothing about the man over the last few days beyond his name. It was actually rather impressive in an annoying sort of way.

"We have to check in with the garrison and tower to report the destruction of Calcedon, then we will probably get a few days rest before they find us another assignment." Aspen answered for him and Gaius.

"I'll have to see if I can find another butcher to take me as an apprentice, I can't afford to open my own shop yet."

"It depends on how much we get from the herbs I've been collecting, If I get enough I might be able to open my own apothecary. If not I'll probably have to do the same as Steve. What about you? Will you go enlist at the tower?"

Three thought about it. "No, it would take too long to reach a position with enough power to enable me to accomplish what I have to accomplish. First I'll learn as much as I can, then I will probably start my own city so I can teach people without having to worry about too many others interfering. Besides, I can't stop imagining how beautiful a crystal city would look out in that desert."

The others all stopped in surprise. "You intend to live in the Desolation?!" Aspen seemed more shocked by this than anything else Three had ever said or done.

"I don't see why not. It was a beautiful place and there were a great deal of very useful minerals there. Given time I can make anything needed for safety, survival, and comfort. The only thing I need to make it a reality is people that are willing to learn a better way of living."

Aspen shook his head slowly. "I fear you may have to go back alone to build your new city, then return to find people willing to move. Even then you are likely to only get the poorest and most desperate of souls. Even the bravest of explorers and hunters refuse to go beyond the top of the first dune."

Three shrugged. "I still have to learn more about your people anyways, it might turn out to be best to stay here for a long time or go to another city. The only thing I know for certain is that I will be establishing my own city eventually."

Gaius spoke up from his position at the front of the group. "Speaking of cities, We've arrived! Safety is just on the other side of the cropland!"

Three stepped out of the treeline and saw the city for the first time. He stood and stared at it in awe for a while. It wasn't as impressive as he imagined a city filled with towering skyscrapers of course, but it was well ahead of its time. Even surrounded by a forty to fifty foot tall wall some of the taller buildings were visible, stretching remarkably high considering they didn't have access to modern materials and architectural resources. Hopefully they were also advanced enough to have at least rudimentary plumbing and knew not to throw buckets of poop out their windows onto the street.