chapter 22

I make it to my group as they slow the machine moving to the next place to stop waiting for me as Ent speak

"Jake I thought you were skipping another day, with you being so late"

" hey, I was late by, by, how long was I late for?"

as Chris says from behind Ent still holding on to the gear that makes it stop

" around half an hour! you seemed to not be coming so we just started like yesterday "

" I really should start telling you guys about when I do something "

" ya think? now get on the machine, I want to be done with this mission quicker than a month "

"Alright I'm getting on already don't get your, I forget anyway"

as I jump right onto the wall placing platform causing a small shake but nothing much though Chris didn't think so as Ent get ready to start the moment Chris gives the go-ahead after checking it, and we are then off to work on the walls placing and bolting them together as we started talking while we work over the sound of the machine moving or the bolters which Chris starts looking up at the spot where the " roof" is gonna be built

" I plan on dealing with the roof myself after this mission since it will probably be the last building mission finished from just how precarious it's positioned "

as Ent speaks starting to have the machine to the next spot

" eh I wouldn't do it, I so much as slip off a platform I'd become a human paste, for what? the rain we have the base to deal with unless its to cover the entire lake and nest, it wouldn't do much for the trouble"

" maybe it would be a start for terraforming and to help the land return to normal"

"at that point why not do the domes for roofs sure they are smaller but they protect everything inside all the same"

" That just makes it another base, either way, I don't think we have the material for glass to be shaped like that, we might as well just make temporary moving bases from those, metal spiders, like last event, they certainly look big enough, and they have a metal exterior that most certainly isn't gonna get harmed by its natural environment "

and as ent stops the machine at the next stop with a pondering look as we start placing the bolts for the next part of the wall until they start moving to the next point

"you know, that is actually a really good idea for later I would hire you if I could"

" yeah, though the monsters are fairly secretive, if only I had a chance"

" yeah, but hey right now we got a mission to do, well, a lot of missions to do, who knows, maybe when more groups like you and that Jake guy, we can do a hunt on one of those things to test the idea out!"

" I'm right here Ent"

" Right"

we mostly continued silently afterward other than Chris talking about improvement ideas, as Ent rebuttals them as the two bounced off each other, not as much as scientist to scientist, but from experimenting ideas, to experience and a bit of common sense, they seem to be getting along well too as I start just watching their conversations from taking over the caverns to speed up transport, with Ent mentioning the need of more infrastructure, the idea of farming the spiders, with Ent mentioning the need to feed them and have enough room to really be able to take care of themselves they might as well tame the queen and keep the nest

as the sun starts to set we generally made some good progress, as I look over to Ent and Chris talking about arrow throwers to better help against if a spider pulls something, as I look over to the two and cough to get their attention

" It's getting sunset and I rather not be here by dark, can't see nothing by then, and I'd rather be inside the base at that time"

" Ah, yeah, go ahead Jake, you did your job, I can tell even when dealing with this fellow beside me"

" dealing with? I thought we were having a fairly interesting conversation for possible things to bring up the quest givers for the future, the amount of ease it would give us"

as I soon start heading back to base before the two get back to conversing since I got out of the conversation

as I look over the progress we made since the start and I can confidently say we are halfway done, sure it is just for the first wall but it's something new for me to do at least As I look over at the "ceiling" being made, well more on them making stairs up multiple poles to start the mission having to be in an incline to get the needed material up and flat at the near top for the bridges, making this project gonna be a long one since only one was ready and the others are only part way

as for the electric building, it seems to be almost done and will probably be finished tomorrow as the machinery is inside all the walls are finished, and it seems the only thing left is to do some signs and tweaking, so she will be along with Cody by the time I finish, as I enter the base along with some others as I take my nap to do the usual for tomorrow taking off onto my bed somewhat curious what the armor add on will it be like to walk on the cavern walls like a spider, seemed Interesting, even if it will most likely be used just for stealth as I go into my sleep

it was peaceful

when I woke up again it was just a normal day as always I head to Cook as I start seeing people getting arrows and bows with their armor ready to go, coming straight from the base and going up one of the recent walls

" looks like people are already getting ready to get some resources themselves huh"

id do the same as well if I had actual battle practice with my armor, I've been updating it so quickly I hardly get a chance to, honestly good food for thought when I finish the building quests I want to

as I exit the walls seeing Cook outside just watching me come over my armor right beside him as if he knew I would be one of the first as I wait among a couple of people ahead of me, do these guys even sleep?

as I make it to Cook who just pushes the food crate and my armor to me as if I was a sore sight for him

"aw, what's with the Increasing attitude didn't you like it when I-"

" quiet Jake it was a tiring day yesterday, we ran out of spider samples so we had to make a timetable for schedules in order to open up space"

" for what?"

" a secret"

" . . . alright"

as I walk away from Cook with my food and my armor in hand back to base, though a bit heavy at the end for a bit as I put my crate down and put my armor on now with fingerless Grey gloves over it, as well as similar padding on the soles of the feet as I keep the mask off to eat my food as Brownie comes over to me

"Can I sit by?"

" go ahead"

as she takes a seat nearby eating her own food as I was until they begin to speak again

" how close are you to done, Cody said we get to do some missions together when we all finish, and Cody's, well"

as she and I glance up

"nowhere near done?"

" More like, difficult, luckily I'm close to finished so I could start the quest he is on to help, Eben if it will only speed the process by only a bit"

" yeah, as for me, I would still need to take a few days, and unless it's a whole group I doubt more will speed the process up at this point"

" Ah, that's a bit saddening, I wish you luck then, I also see your armor has some padding on it?"

" yeah, though I have no idea, how, it, works. I probably should have asked Cook about that, I know it's supposed to open to allow me to stick to walls to better hide, but I have no clue how to open the pads up"

as I take off the armor on my left hand checking on the padding manually trying to open it as Brownie watches while eating, the padding snapping open once it reaches a small opening, as I go to find the difference on the glove which Brownie quickly pointed out, as it fingers were completely open now, like if I would face my palm to a sheet of glass, as I then tried the same on one of the boots, as I opened it, but this time, no change

" any idea Brownie?"

as she mostly shrugs as she puts the boot on kicking a rock, as the boot sticks onto the ground making her trip a moment

" never-mind I think I figured it out "

as I soon help Brownie to get up from her face full of dirt as she takes it off and pulls it out of the group tapping the front to close it again, giving it to me

_

as I work on what remains of the metal spider carcus with my sensors and fellow me's to help with experiments I hear a knock on the door as I temporarily stop my work

"Who is it?"

" it is simply me, slimer at your service "

ah her, the human farm one, or whatever she calls her farms, she grows food there, honestly the rest of us would have gone after her as we did the masked ones if it weren't for us knowing her intentions and treatment, as I do my best to smile though I mostly relied on the computer side of my head to do so pointing my head at her direction

" you can come in"

as I hear the door slowly open and the slime dripping and moving with her every step, it's hard not to tell where she is

" is there anything you want?"

" it is nothing, I was just told to ask for your progress"

" your turn huh, I'm doing fine, I got the ideas, just need the material, especially on the normal ones"

as she nods and begins to go back out of my workplace

"Where did the leader even find her?"

as I simply get back to my work again