Chapter 13

Jacob woke up, completely stiff from sleeping sitting against concrete. Standing up, his body made a few cracks as he stretched. He felt a little less stressed from the events of yesterday, but the images of the dead bodies still flashed in his mind as he thought about what had happened. He felt his heart rate pick up as he remembered the monster and how close he came to being ripped apart.

"So close, yet I'm still here," he told himself, trying to encourage himself. He knew that last night's events were unavoidable, and they were lucky to only have two casualties.

Thinking back to the video the AI played of Ryan's death, everything happened in less than 3 seconds before Ryan hit the ground. The lizards could run much faster than a cheetah, at least 150 km per hour based on the distance travelled divided by time.

I can't waste this chance or feel sorry for myself. I have a job to do, Jacob decided, trying to channel his stress into something productive. Today he had to get the colony working on clearing the trees back. He also realized they could use the open areas for new construction and solar arrays, so inevitably, the forest would be cleared a substantial amount near the base. The lizards just made that happen faster. That way, they would have less cover during the night and the guards would have more time to get a solid shot in.

"Good morning, sir. For your colony's hard work on the first day, you have been awarded 2,998 GG points," Genesis spoke up, after giving Jacob a few moments to wake.

He paused when he heard the exact number, realizing immediately that this point count represented each living person. Jacob's mind still had a hard time not flashing back to last night's events. Having never seen death before, seeing it in such a violent way didn't help with his issues.

Throwing his head back into the colony, he tried acting like a leader. If he messed up, he would deal with the consequences. He felt that coming so close to death finally gave him the push he needed to assert himself a little more as a leader.

"Let's send a message to Sophia. I would like her to get the printers working on axes if she can include graphene in the design to improve quality or cutting power. Be my guest."

Jacob continued.

"Next, let's send out a message to the entire colony. Explain what happened last night, as well as our plans to help mitigate the issue. Remind them to remain calm and that any instances of panic will not be tolerated. The guards have been instructed to take action in such situations. We will accept all volunteers. They will use the materials from the wood for things like fires and other products. Like, say, fantastic toilet paper! This will help the colony in multiple ways."

"Yes, sir, is there anything else?"

"Yeah, let's also send another message out to the community. For those that are a little more adventurous, we will send out a scouting party to scout the area. They can meet in the square after eating morning rations."

Jacob decided that, although it was dangerous, scouting the area and finding the resources they needed to sustain themselves was imperative. They don't have the luxury to sit and hope things get better. The risks must be taken to establish themselves. Jacob tried to think back to Earth's history. There wasn't a moment of exploration in new lands that didn't have deaths and accidents. This world would be no different.

Jacob had to come to terms with the fact that he was considering sending people to their potential deaths. He wouldn't force anyone. If nobody showed up, he would find another way.

This was the only way he could justify even making such a request.

"Yes Sir. Do you feel any distress from last evening?" Genesis asked on its own.

"Ill be fine. Luckily, I just landed in the sand. I didn't hit anything. I think ill be able to manage with the mental aspect of it as well. Thank you, Genesis." Jacob looked at the floating orb. Which was glowing a light blue in its seams. And smiled, happy that he could at least all talk to someone… or some-thing.

"I am glad you're functioning well, sir." With that, Genesis returned to its passive floating and follow state beside Jacobs's shoulder. Awaiting his next command.

Looking around the empty square room he now called his home, Jacob shook his head. There was so much to do! He gave one last stretch and walked to the door, opening it, and Jacob stepped outside into the square.

Once his eyes adjusted to the morning sun, he noticed a line close to the storage facility. The line led to a large steaming pot being boiled over a live fire, with three people handing out meals. As Jacob approached the group, he noticed that the rest of the colony that he could see was rather empty. The people getting food would also occasionally glance towards the forest line. Last night's attack by the beasts had clearly put a depressing atmosphere in the colony. People were afraid that at any moment, more beasts would jump through the trees.

Shaking his head at the thoughts surfacing about Ryan again, Jacob kept moving and walked past the ration line. Entering the storage facility, Jacob noticed Sophia was hard at work, with multiple volunteers helping her out. They were taking axes from the metal printer and adding them to the graphene printer to give it a sharp graphene axe head.

"Good morning, Sophia, how are things going?" Jacob walked over and asked the busy lady.

"Hey Jacob! I heard about last night; sorry you had such a rough go at it!" She gave him a quick hug and went right back to work. "We are going to make 50 axes. I also found an electric logging saw on the market. It costs 100 points."

Jacob forced himself to stay positive as she reminded him of the event. Thinking about the saw, Jacob started discussing buying some things from the shop with Sophia. "We need to keep our energy production growing. For surviving the first night, the colony received 2998 points. We have 3033 points now. The printer we need for the iron batteries costs 5000 points. If we save our points and nothing crazy happens, tomorrow we could start producing those as well. That way, we don't fall behind on energy. The more energy we make now, the faster our colony can grow overall."

"You're right! However, we should spend some of it. You remember those trees are massive, correct? A bunch of people trying to chop one down will be dangerous. Logging was a dangerous job on earth. It will be worse here without proper equipment and training," Sophia said, still working alongside the volunteers.

Thinking about it, Jacob realized she was right. He needed to spend some to speed up the other activities. They only had 5 rifles as well. Jacob figured he should buy another 5 more, as well as 4 saws and the laser welders. If nothing crazy happened, he could get the 5000-point printer tomorrow.

"Ok, Genesis. Let's get this over with. Purchase 5 more of the rifles from the store and let's buy 4 of the saws Sophia is mentioning."

"Yes, Sir. Would you like to purchase the laser welders as well?" Genesis reminded Jacob.

Jacob Nodded.

"Where would you like them materialized?"

Jacob just pointed to an empty spot near them. "Here is fine.".

With that, a flash of blue light came, and three storage containers appeared. Inside one was the rifles. They looked smaller than a saw on earth, however the materials were stronger than anything from home.

While the other two contained the 4 electric wood saws and 3 laser welders. The blade was made from graphene, layered in a specific atomic way that the tip's edge is sharper than normal metal. It had the same fingertip sized port for charging as the printers and welders did. Clearly, the aliens enjoyed universal charging cables, unlike the unregulated messes they dealt with on earth.

"Genesis, let's send a message to Adewale. Inform him I have left a container of weapons in the storage facility."

"Yes, sir,"

With that out of the way, Jacob watched as Sophia showed the volunteers exactly how to place the axes into the graphene printer. It was to ensure they were not injured by the moving parts. The volunteers could place multiple heads into the graphene printer, which was like a flat table with arms. The arms would quickly start adding graphene and moving the axe heads, then the machine would place them back down where another volunteer would quickly grab it. Jacob recognized some volunteers from the first day in the group. Clearly, they enjoyed doing work like this.

"Looks like you all have got quite the system going. As we get new printers, maybe we could have permanent jobs doing work like this. With benefits, of course, to make it fair and not slave labour. Let me know if anyone thinks this is a bad idea, it just came to me." Jacob spoke up and said to the entire group.

A few of them stopped and looked at each other. One of them spoke up, a woman who came here wearing coveralls. She looked like she came directly from a machine shop. The aliens even left the grease stains on her clothes.

"Well, I reckon a few of us might take you up on that there offer. But I better be able to get myself a nice bed. My backs cracking!" She spoke with a thick southern accent. Clearly from somewhere in the USA.

"As soon as we can make them, absolutely!" Trying to satisfy her request, Jacob had a lightbulb. "Oh! We could use the wood from the trees to make some basic beds. Ill leave it up to you to find someone willing to make the furniture. Right now, we don't have the resources to make many large things from alloys. But they could use the printers to make some basic tools. Ask your AI to send out a request to the colony."

"Alright, that their deal sounds good to me. Effort for effort, how it should be."

Jacob realizes he needs to solve the food issue and the water problem. Thinking back to the bathroom they created, he got an idea.

"Sophia, those graphene filters can be used on salt water, right?" He asked while rubbing he is chin.

"Yes, in fact, any substance that is not extremely acidic will let go of the H2O molecules over time and it will be faster if the substance is actively being pumped…." She paused for a moment, realizing Jacob's idea. "You're a genius! Why didn't I think of this?! It's so simple!" Sophia's eyes shine with glee as she imagined a design.

Stopping what she was doing. She looked at the group. "You all have it handled here. So, as soon as you have the axes finished in a few minutes, the printer will automatically start doing solar panels again. You simply must continue filling it up with materials and removing the final goods. Me? Oh, I'm just going to design us a nice box to solve our water problems!"

The workers looked at each other with slight smiles. Some chuckling, Sophia's attitude was just too exuberant. However, they never once felt like she was mistreating them or looking down on them. Willing to answer questions they may have had.

In fact, they found it kind of fun to work with such a bright personality… however loud she may be.

"Silver, this will be a fast one's start the design with that filter over there."

On command, a holo of the filter appeared. Its paper-thin black mesh appearance was very unassuming.

"Let's make it a box now. Turn the filter flat. Yes, just like that…"

Each of her commands was flawlessly executed by the AI. The design quickly came to life. While it was rudimentary, it worked better than anything like it on earth. They could pour sea water in through the top. And gravity would do the rest of the work. Beneath would be a little tap with a basic nozzle that could connect to a hose. Which would empty the reservoir below the filter, pure H2O. Cleaner than most of earth's sanitation systems, aside from those used in microprocessor and fine machine parts which used ultra purified water.

After a couple of minutes. Sophia had completed the design to use as little metal as possible, while not causing issues to the structural integrity of the box when it was full.

Jacob purchased 3 more laser welders and recruit some volunteers. They would build the boxes and get to own one of their own. Meaning they would have access to unlimited fresh water if they could get the ocean water to the box, or the box to the ocean.

When it was full, it would weigh about 70kg and needed two people to carry it. However, one could always use a smaller bucket and grab some water for daily drinking as well. Saving energy and effort.

"Sophia, ill have to bother you about training some people with welding again."

She looked at him and rolled her eyes. "It's not a problem, but let me do the invitations. I know what skills are best for this."

"Thanks Sophia!" said Jacob with a smile.

Jacob imagined that in a few weeks, everyone would own one of these devices.

Next, he wondered about food. And something popped into his mind from earth. GMO!

"Hey genesis, does the shop have any seed samples for plants suitable for human consumption?"

"Yes, sir, the shop has over 600 options to choose from. Would you like a list?"

Hearing the vast number of choices, Jacob realized he was out of his league.

"Scratch that for a moment. Did anyone in that questionnaire have skills and experience related to farming?"

"Yes, sir. 36 individuals have experience in agriculture or related skills."

"Can you invite the 5 you believe would be most qualified to plan the required crops and land needs for a colony?"

"Yes, sir,"

"What about anyone with skills in nutrition?"

"There are 2 colonists who have skills related to nutrition."

"Invite them over as well," Jacob said. Proud of himself for thinking about his idea.

"Send a message to Diego. Let him know we will bother him with these individuals. They can work together to decide the caloric intake of the colony. As well as what seeds to purchase from the store and how much land we will need."

Jacob realized something soon, however. They had food for less than two months. But crops could take more than that to grow. He needed a temporary fast solution.

"Send a message to anyone with skills in fishing. Have them come here and work with Sophia to design a simple fishing rod and some lining."

"Yes, sir, there are 27 individuals with such skills who are not tied to the farming project, as some of these individuals also have fishing skills."

"Thanks Genesis."

With that, Akiko walked inside. Beside her was a man who Jacob had seen at the ration station just outside. He held a bowl in his hands with a spoon.

Akiko gave Jacob a slight bow as she approached. "Good morning, Jacob." Her hand raised and motioned to the man beside her. "Diego asked Steven here to hand you your morning ration."

Jacob looked at steven and gave him a smile. "Thanks, steven! I really appreciate your willingness to help everyone here." he took the bowl and spoon from him.

"I just like cooking, and there is honestly nothing else to do here. I hope you like it, although it would be nice to get some spices…." He said the last part as he turned around and headed back to his work.

"Thanks Akiko, good morning." Jacob said as he turned back to her.

"Are you feeling ok from last night?" She asked in a calm, relaxing tone. Clearly having experience with upset people back in her job on earth.

"Honestly, not fully. But I think I can keep taking one step forward at a time. I'll get through it. I know I will. Everyone here has been so helpful this past day. Considering the circumstances, I think it's a miracle we are all cooperating without too many violent outbursts. And because everyone here is doing a good job, I need to keep my head high as well."

Jacob surprised himself as he said these words. Talking with Akiko was so easy, he felt no judgement from her. Only support. She was a natural at these things. But he didn't regret saying it. This helped to reinforce his resolve to help the colony.