Fresh Blood

by Jessica Hicks

  He looked over the wall recipe. Some of the previous recipes were vague, but this one took it to a new level.

  Wall, variable'

  Structural, variable

  Binding, variable

  The only other one that seemed immediately relevant was a door. The recipe was near identical to the wall; everything was variable. There were other options, but windows and staircases were not necessary.

  The two headed out of the cave and looked at the entrance. "I think we should put a door in front of the actual cave opening, obviously," said Felix as he gestured towards their new home. "We can build walls out from there, and lay the nets over top. I doubt they'll fool anything, but we already made them, so we may as well use them."

  Koale nodded along and when Felix finished, he said, "Before we do that, I want to rebuild the desk." At Felix's look, he held up a placating sound. "Hear me out. Since we build it, we've found rope, which should be a superior binding material. We've also found that the leaves have the inscribable property, which was optional. The sooner we build it, the more time we have to use it before we leave."

  Felix mulled it over, "Fair enough. It wasn't terribly resource-intensive anyway, and we have axes for the logs now anyway. I'll lay out the blueprints if you want to get started on the desk?"

  Koale agreed and headed out. Felix selected the door option. The silhouette of a door appeared, but was red. No matter where Felix moved it, the color did not change. Felix positioned it and tried to build it anyway. He heard a faint nnnrt right next to his head. It was the universal sound of mechanical refusal.

  Changing tacks, Felix tried the wall. It was also not what he expected. Instead of a green section of wall as Felix had hoped for, it was a small ball of green. Of course. He'd have to build the thing one tiny block at a time. Why wouldn't this world make things difficult given a chance? With resignation, Felix put the first block just in front of the left hand side of the nets. To his surprise, another green ball appeared when he looked away. A large section of wall appeared in a rectangle between the two points. With a thought, Felix placed the second on the top right end of the nets.

  He went around the side. There was sufficient room for them to just squeeze by the wall as is, but Felix had a hunch. He selected the door once more. Again it was red. That is, until Felix moved it toward the wall. The silhouette snapped into the translucence wall outline and turned green. Felix positioned it in front of the cave entrance and finalized it.

  He stepped back to survey his work. The wall outline was a featureless slab, but it did fully block off the entrance. He had added two more shot sections of all connecting his existing plan to the cliff. It would still be open up top, but that was necessary to let the smoke out. He tried to only make mistakes once. Above the green outline, the costs floated. They were still unchanged, reading the generic properties and variable costs.

  While Felix had been working, Koale had returned and gone into the cave. The new desk was already completed. The roughly planed logs were held together by rope instead of vine, and there was a neat stack of leaves in the upper corner. Otherwise it looked much the same. Felix compared the stats of the two tables.

  Primitive Rudimentary Wooden Research Desk

  Primitive: Allows Tier 2 research

  Rudimentary: -40% research speed

  Incompatibility: -10% structural integrity

  Scroll enabled

  Researching: Log, Waterfruit

  It had the same name, but half the penalties. It also was able to handle scrolls now. Felix assumed that was the addition of the leaves. What benefit the scroll gave, he didn't know. It was not surprising in the least that Koale already had it chugging away

  "Scroll enabled?" asked Felix.

  "It's better than scroll disabled, one would assume. More than that, I think we'll have to wait until we have some research completed to test."

  "Why not now?"

  "It is a research desk. I figure new benefits will hinge on that."

  Felix conceded the point. "While we wait then,do you have more logs or rope? I want to see how much the monstrosity out front is going to cost."

  "No rope, but I've got a few logs."

  Once they stood in front of the green blueprint, Koale examined Felix's layout. "Nice work. We may even be able to both get a full night of sleep once it's done."

  Felix shook his head, "I'm afraid we still won't be able to."

  Koale deflated, "I suppose it is still dangerous, even with a wall up."

  "It isn't that." Felix paused, letting Koale stew. "You've been laughing at me instead of gathering leaves of your own. Now there's only enough for me!"

  Koale chuckled. "Well, you have got me there. I shall have to rectify that once we return from our salvage trip."

  Koale put a log into the outline and whistled. He had good reason. The information hanging above the wall had changed.

  Wooden Wall

  Wood x65

  Binding, variable

  Upon reading the updated information, his thoughts turned to the bruised and bloody knuckles they would have if they had to get all that wood by hand. Felix felt a sudden surge of affection for their new primitive axes. Before he headed back out, there was something he had to make. "I know you said you didn't have any rope left, but do you have any vine?"

  A short while later, Felix beamed at his creation. He may be not have all the fancy, high tech gizmos any more, but that didn't mean he couldn't do anything to make his life a little easier. Koale looked at his fabrication, a curious look on his face. "What is that?"

  "Isn't it obvious?" Felix said, lifting it up. His construction was not much more than two sturdy branches, crossed and bound together. It looked like crude, wooden tongs. "This," he said, "Is a vine grabber."

  Koale snickered. "I see. I have one of those, too." He dramatically flourished his claw, opening and closing it. "Fully articulated too."

  Felix shrugged. "Once slimed, twice shy."

  Koale just shook his head and took out his axe. "I'll leave those mean ole vines to you then." He walked off. Felix didn't mind. They'd see who was laughing when Koale had one of those buggers get the drop on him.

  It was already late in the day, but Felix wanted to get some more work in before he turned in. And by that, he meant that he wanted to test his new contraption. He strolled a short distance again. He wanted to be out of sight of Koale in case it didn't work. Once he got to the patch of wood, he scanned for slimes. He may have a new gadget, but he wasn't stupid.

  His vine holder worked adequately. The handles were far too thick for easy use, especially with his hand still bandaged. The vine also slipped out of its grasp once as he worked. A decent proof of concept, but it would need work. He'd have time to adjust it that night. He doubted they would get enough done to forgo a night watch just yet.

  As night crept across the sky, Felix headed back to camp. He had cut enough to make a half dozen rope. If the logs were any indication, it wouldn't be near enough. He tossed a rope at the blueprint. They would need 38. Two vines each, that is a mere 70 vines left to cut tomorrow. He sighed. Tomorrow's work-load just filled up.

  Something caught Felix's eye. Koale had already put his new logs in the blueprint. In previous builds, the materials had stacked neatly until everything was gathered, and then a final product produced. This time, logs that had already been placed jutted out of the ground. Koale had hauled in enough to place the entire first row. The ends were buried in the ground at varying depths, giving a staggered appearance. There was a gap where the door would go. The overall appearance was that of a snaggletoothed jaw. That thought was not foreboding at all.

  Felix added his rope to the building. Curious enough, the rope did sit in a neat pile instead of adding to the construction. He was far too tired to worry about it and strolled inside. Koale was sitting on the floor, all but asleep. He barely looked up when Felix entered. "Inventory sure makes it easy to carry way too much. I'm beat,"

  Felix waved t
he man to bed. He broke out half a ration bar as he thought. Even the vines weren't light when you gathered enough of them. A container wouldn't help; the problem wasn't the physical size of the load. Perhaps some sort of sled they could drag? He thought again of the pod, and that first day. If there was something in there he could use as a makeshift gurney, it would do just as well for logs as it would have for his companion. If such a thing was there, it would certainly allow them to salvage more. On the other hand, dragging anything through the jungle seemed a bad idea.

  While he thought, he sat at the new research desk, and kept it going. He also had his knife out and was doing his best to whittle down the handles of his vine holder. He let his mind chase itself in circles. Sometimes something useful came of it. This time it did not. By the time his shift was over, he had nothing to show for it but handles for his vine grabber that actually fit his hand. He was out as soon as his head hit the leaves.

  The following day after the morning routine, Felix and Koale walked out of the cave together. They were going to check on the snares. Eventually it would likely be a one man job, but they didn't know what terrible creatures they may have caught, and Felix didn't know where the snares were at all.

  Felix hummed to himself as they went. After a day of rations, he was starting to miss the half cooked gecko meat. Waterfruit tasted of nothing much, and the rations tasted way too much. He didn't care what they caught, he was ready for some steak. This time they even had the tools to cook it, if not proper, at least evenly.

  The first snare was not too far away from their shelter. Koale had propped it up in a gap between two bushes. Felix would have thought it was a good spot, had it not been empty. They decided to leave it for another night and moved on to the second.

  When Felix saw the second snare, he couldn't hide a grin. "And you give me a hard time about the rodent," he said while pointing at the snare. "You've caught yourself a plant!" The snare did hold a plant. The vine was tightened around one of the fern bushes that were usually in the sunlit patches.

  Felix bent to release the snare and the fern squealed. Felix was so startled, he fell back. The fern jumped up with a small shower of dirt and began to try and waddle away. It was still caught in the snare, and didn't get far. Felix had his spear out and poked the thing gingerly.

  Koale squatted an arm's length away. "Is this steak? Or salad?"

  "I hate this planet," said Felix.

  One not-a-steak and another empty snare later, the two returned to camp. "Look, I know you are disappointed Felix, but we are not keeping that name."

  "And your alternative?"

  "That's not working twice. We'll call it a 'cobb' if you insist on it being food oriented."

  "I can accept that. What I can't accept though, is you get to skip out of a nasty butchering job like I had."

  "It isn't my fault this place hates you."

  After a long day sweating in the sun and chopping at trees, Felix and Koale stood before the completed fortification. Staggered logs were interwoven with rope. The door was actually supported by ropes along the top. It opened up rather than swinging in or out. It was not elegant, but it worked. They hauled the camo nets over the front of the new walls. Now, they had a lumpy patch of leaves on a bare cliff wall. No one would ever pierce such a clever disguise.

  The sun was still high, but the two headed in early. They cooked the cobb. Although Felix wouldn't admit it, it wasn't bad. With a bit of salt and a splash of oil to crisp, it might have even been tasty. The leaves of the "bed" were spread out thin. In a show of faith, or exhaustion, they both turned in. They were headed to the pod in the morning. Felix suspected they would need all the rest they could get.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  Liz bounced on Felix's stomach. Felix opened an eye and glared at the lizard. She ran up and butted Felix in the chin before scampering off. It was still dark outside, but Felix had slept early enough he still felt well rested. He rolled onto his hands and knees, and pounced the baby lizard. She kept just out of range of his play attacks, staying out of reach. Felix took a swipe at Liz. She bounced on top of his hand and ran up his arm. He laughed and sat back against the cave wall. Liz crawled into his lap and he pet her.

  It was too early to wake up Koale, but Felix wanted to be productive if he was going to be awake. He pulled up the crafting menu and glanced through. There was the most obvious improvement, and he couldn’t believe he’d overlooked it before.

  Shield

  Structural, variable

  Binding, variable

  Binding, variable

  It was a strange recipe. Felix hadn't seen one with two listings of the same property. They had extra materials from the wall construction, so Felix decided he would give it a go. Two logs and two lengths of rope later, Felix was holding what could generiously be called a shield.

  The wood was planed, like on the research desk. Rope was woven between the boards. Two loops of rope provides arm holds on the back. He stood and tried it on. It covered him from shoulder to hip. He wasn't sure if that was good or not. Shield specifications and usage was surprisingly not a thing that often came up in industrial hand tool sales.

  Felix pulled out his spear. He felt like one of those ancient Greek warriors. This was a distinct improvement over the last time they had ventured out on their water run. He put his spear away and looked at the shield again. The rope caused sizable gaps between the boards. They needed to find something else for the binding property besides rope and vine. Nails would be handy for any furniture. Perhaps after the salvage run, they could try and find a source of metal.

  He made another shield for Koale. He sat at the research desk, having little else productive to do. Packing was better than nothing, and so Felix unloaded his inventory. It was amazing how quickly one could get used to invisible weights. He took a moment to appreciate the lightness while he decided what to bring. A share of food, and water. He threw in a few empty containers. They would hopefully be loaded down with goods from the pod so they wouldn't be able to haul too much water, but they could always use a top off. His spear and shield stayed with him, as well as the stone knife. He left the other tools as unnecessary weight. He also dropped all the odds and ends he had accumulated- sticks, a few stones, leaves and the like.

  By the time he was prepared for the trip, Koale had begun to stir. They split the remainder of the cobb and some waterfruit. Afterwards, Koale unloaded himself similarly to Felix.

  Before they left, Felix paused. He grabbed the bag he had carried from the pod. He put a few leaves at the bottom and put the now drowsing Liz inside.

  "You are taking your lizard?"

  "Well, I'm not going to leave her for a few days. Besides, she doesn't weigh much."

  "Hrrm, your call. But first, I forgot something. I'll be right back." Koale rushed back into the cave without waiting for Felix's reply. A moment later, Koale reemerged and the two set out.

  The travel was smoother than the last trip out. They still didn't have any markers, but Felix was less concerned about it. They walked along the base of the ridgeline until they broke for lunch. After they ate, they cut into the jungle, adjusting their path once they heard the sounds of the river.

  With the new gear, the two had been traveling at a brisk pace. Upon nearing the river bank, they slowed. No spear, however well made, would help if a pounce gater took them unaware. No mounds which may be hiding a threat lurked on the banks. There was a fresh swathe of torn up dirt and mud, however. Apparently something else wasn't as cautious and not too long ago. Felix hoped it was a snuffle lizard. Less of them would not hurt his feelings at all.

  With no apparent danger nearby, Felix and Koale refilled some of their water. They had more containers, but they would fill up the rest on the way back. Task completed, Felix pointed, "I think the beach should be this way. Or at least, we approached from downstream of the river the first time. I didn't exactly take a straight path while we were running."

  It was a much easier trek. Without
having just crashed to the planet and violent creatures chasing them, it was easier to keep their footing in the foliage. Not that it was without any mishap. Late in the afternoon, a slime dropped from above. It plunged to the ground not a half step in front of Felix. Felix's startled scream silenced the jungle. "I hate those things," he muttered. He gave the slime a wide berth as he stalked away.

  After a long trek, and not a little doubt, they broke out onto the beach. Evening had set. Moonlight glistened off the waves, but there was too little to navigate by. Felix looked down the open beach, and back to the jungle. No shelter and no fire. It would be a long night.

  A short discussion had Felix sleeping first while Koale kept watch. Felix lay out on the beach using the bag, sans Liz, as a makeshift pillow. He tried to get the worst of the gravelly rocks out from underneath him.

  Felix tried to watch Liz as she ran around the camp. He worried she might wander off. If they couldn't find her in the morning, he wasn't sure they'd have much time to look before they had to press on. His efforts were moot, however. Her dark, mottled scales blended perfectly into the dark beach. He heard more than saw her as she scampered around the duo. Felix was still listening to her as he drifted off to sleep.

  It was still dark when Koale woke Felix for his watch.

  "I didn't see anything, no surprise. I'm fairly certain I heard movement, but if so, nothing is getting close," said Koale. He nestled down as best he could, and left the watch to Felix.

  Felix stood, leaning against his spear. It had less to do with any potential threat as helping Felix stay awake. He was getting used to the physical activity, but he was still bone tired after the previous day's hike. Liz scrambled up his legs and onto his shoulder. He gave her a scratch and she chirped happily. At least someone was enjoying their outing.