10 Chapter 9

The tension in the air was palpable as the two men squared off, fists clenched, and eyes narrowed. A young woman stood off to the side, her face contorted in fear as she watched the altercation unfold.

The cause of the fight was a simple one: a spilled water ration. With tempers running high in the chaos of being transferred to this new planet, it didn't take much to set off an explosive confrontation.

The first man, a burly construction worker from Chicago, had accidentally bumped into the other, a slender computer programmer from Mumbai, causing him to spill his precious water. As soon as the first punch was thrown, the artificial intelligences (AIs) in the area all glowed various shades of red, with the AIs belonging to the two men glowing the darkest.

In this new world where resources were scarce, every drop of water mattered, especially to the programmer, who had experienced water rationing in his village because of a toxic spill in a factory upstream. Sanjay knew firsthand the suffering caused by dehydration.

The programmer had exploded in anger, shouting and accusing the construction worker of being careless and selfish. The construction worker had responded with insults and threats.

Other people's AIs were instructing them to distance themselves from the altercation, prioritizing the safety of their users over other humans. Thanks to Adewale, they were also recording the situation in case an altercation occurred to help determine the cause of the incident.

The young woman, Yuka, had tried to intervene and calm the situation down, but she was quickly shoved aside. As she stumbled and fell to the ground, her arm struck a full crate of water rations, letting out a bloodcurdling scream as she heard a terrible cracking noise.

Adewale, who seemed to be the security of the colony, rushed over to break up the fight. He grabbed the two men by the scruffs of their necks and separated them, his deep voice booming with authority.

"What the hell is going on here?" Adewale demanded, his eyes blazing with anger.

The two men sheepishly looked down, their aggression dissipating in the face of Adewale's stern gaze.

Meanwhile, Yuka was cradling her arm, her face contorted in pain. Someone who ran in beside Adewale knelt beside her, concern etched on his face.

"Can you move it?" he asked gently.

"I-I think my arm is broken," Yuka stuttered, tears streaming down her face.

Adewale cursed under his breath as his anger towards the two men turned to worry about the female colonist. He quickly called for Jacob, his mind racing with the implications of this injury. They had no medical staff yet, no ability to help her if this injury had complications. Every injury had the potential to become a major problem in this new world.

Jacob ran out, having been notified of the situation by Genesis. He immediately felt a sense of responsibility to deal with the situation quickly, or else people would think he was not capable of leading. He also didn't want to let himself down.

Adewale turned to the two men who had caused this entire ordeal, his face grim as he spoke.

"This is exactly the foolishness that we can't afford right now. We're all under a lot of stress, but this," he pointed to Yuka, "could cause serious complications. We're not on Earth anymore. We don't know what medical supplies we have. Even a cut could kill you, let alone a broken arm!" The square was dead silent. Adewale's presence was extremely intimidating.

Taking a deep breath, Jacob spoke up. "You two, this fight took two. It may have been caused by an accident, but you had a choice in how you reacted. I understand that this whole situation is messed up, and the stress is beyond what people should have to deal with. But we don't have a choice, we have to act like civilized people!" He yelled the last part with passion.

Since he was young, Jacob had often been bullied and dealt with physical violence, so when he saw these people reverting to violence as a solution, he felt his blood boil.

"Since I'm able to, I will ask my AI to force yours to show the new colony guards your location at any moment. Once we have a proper judicial system set up, you can go through the processes necessary to prove you are no longer a threat to the colony. You will also both be confined to your houses for a day. Use this time to ask the AI how to behave properly when everyone's lives are at risk!"

He looked at Adewale and Akiko, who had approached the scene from the other side of the square. "Do you two think this punishment is appropriate, given the situation?"

They looked at each other, surprised at Jacob's sudden burst of confidence.

Akiko was the one to answer him, after looking at the crying woman on the ground and shaking her head. "I think these punishments are appropriate, as this does constitute an assault in my home country. Does anyone else here have any issues with the punishment?" Akiko asked the crowd in a soft but stern voice.

The colonists looked around, nobody saying a word. It seemed nobody cared to speak up for the two men, and their punishment was decided.

Adewale's AI notified him that the two men would be added to the map containing his recruits, showing up as red markers if they did anything against their sentence.

Akiko ran to the woman and comforted her.

"Jacob, we need to deal with this woman's injury for more reasons than one," Adewale said, his eyes narrowing at the crowd that was still watching the show.

Jacob turned his attention to the injured woman. "Genesis, did anyone in the questionnaire say they have medical experience?"

"Yes, Sir. There were 13 individuals with medical history in their skills," Genesis replied.

"Please immediately send out a request to the one you believe has the best skills to deal with her injury with limited medical resources," Jacob rapidly asked.

"Yes, Sir," Genesis sent out the message instantly.

"Is there anything in the store we can use to treat a wound like this?" Jacob asked.

"Sir, without extensive knowledge, the best option is this nano cloth bandage. It will support her broken arm until it is finished healing. However, she will experience extreme pain as the arm is set when the bandage tightens. This will cost 50 points," Genesis replied.

"Let's wait for the professional to arrive and get their opinion," the man who first went to assist Yuka interjected.

Jacob nodded in agreement.

The next two minutes felt like ages until they heard a man yelling for people to move.

He rushed to Yuka's side, examining her carefully while asking in English, "What happened here? Ma'am, what is your name?"

Yuka spoke, and the AI translated, "Yuka, please, my arm hurts so much."

After assessing her, the doctor said, "Her arm is broken, but the break seems to be clean. What kinds of medical supplies do you have?"

"Currently we have none, however there is something we can get from the store," Jacob explained, showing the doctor the description of the nano bandage, and allowing him to read it himself through Genesis's projection.

The doctor took a few moments to think while looking at the crying girl, then asked, "Yuka, are you willing to use this bandage to fix your arm? It will cause you a lot of pain, but it should allow your arm to heal with no long-term issues. Because of the situation, we have no pain medication for you to use."

Yuka cried for a few more moments before nodding her head through her tears. "Yes, do it. Please, just get it over with!"

"Genesis, purchase the item and spawn it beside the doctor," Jacob instructed.

"Yes, Sir."

A blue light glowed as the item materialized beside the doctor. Everyone's eyes popped from their heads as they saw this unreal feat.

Murmurs from the crowd could be heard, "Hey AI, can I do that with you too?" they turned to smiles when they heard the replies of yes. If you can get the points, you can purchase these items yourself. As long as your leader does not, place restrictions on your store usage.

Jacob ignored this and focused on Yuka. He cringed as the doctor wrapped the bandage carefully around her arm. Once both sides touched each other. It tightened at the same time. Yuka screamed; you could hear the bone moving as the bandage tightened. And then finally, with a slight *crack* the bandage stopped tightening and settled in place, having covered her entire arm down to the wrist in a paper-thin cast. During the process Yuka had had passed out from the pain.

"She needs to rest. Please help me bring her to her place." The doctor asked Jacob and the guard who ran up.

"The name's Marcus, if it's alright with you. Ill leave her to your care. Let me know through the AI if you need anything. I have to get back to training with Adewale." Marcus then stood up from beside Yuka and, with a slight nod, turned around and was guided away by his AI.

Most of the people had cleared from the area, the show being over.

"That leaves us, here let me get the right and you get the left." Jacob and the doctor then carefully lifted Yuka and moved her to the apartment she had spawned in when they came.

****

After the ordeal was done and they brought Yuka to her assigned apartment, they realized someone should watch over her until she woke. It was easy to find someone who volunteered to watch her. Many colonists were now hoping to get points from doing things.

They had heard that those who volunteered to get the printers working, and those that helped to hand out rations, had received some points each. The person agreed to have their AI report them if they did anything inappropriate while Yuka was unconscious.

Even the doctor received 5 points for providing the first medical checkup in the colony.

As he closed the door to the apartment behind them, Dr. Amrit Singh extended his hand and introduced himself. "I am Dr. Amrit Singh, from New Delhi."

Jacob took his hand and shook it. "I'm Jacob, and thank you so much for the help today. We could use someone like you to help. Maybe set up a clinic? I know it's a lot to ask, but your skills are very useful and there are 2999 other people out there who might need them."

"I was going to ask you about opening one myself. It seems you have some skill for this." Amrit said with a smile.

"What do you mean by that?" Jacob asked, slightly curious about the comment.

"Its not meant to be an insult, my friend. My father was a manager in his company. He always taught me, a good leader is not the best at everything. A good leader is one that knows who is the best at solving each problem that arises." He patted Jacob's shoulder. "You have gone through more than most of us have today. But if you ask me, I think you are already doing your job well."

Jacob's cheeks turned red as he scratched his head. "Well, I do not know what I'm doing, but thank you. It's good to have met you, Amrit, even if the circumstances weren't ideal. Let us know if you need any medical tools. We have printers in the storage facility that can make some really precise items. I'm sure Sophia would be happy to help you design some things."

Dr. Amrit chuckled at Jacob's reaction. "Thank you. That would be very helpful. It may not be a modern hospital, but even basic instruments can save lives. By the way, Sophia was it? I'll say hello to her."

With that, he turned and walked away, asking his AI to send messages to the other medically trained individuals to discuss opening a clinic.