Zeal of the Mind and Flesh

by Marvin Whiteknight

  Making a furnace ended up being harder than I thought. The creek wasn’t as rich in clay as it was in iron or gold, so I had to grab a bucket of mud and let it settle so I could pour the silt off the top and the sand off the bottom to get good clay. I ended up getting a dozen more buckets from Mac and getting a real production line going for both the metals and they clay.

  My fire, which I had desperately kept burning so I wouldn’t have to struggle to light a new one, was forcing me to range ever further for more fuel. What I really needed were big logs that would burn all day and all night, and to set up a big pile of them aside as fuel for the whole week. Unfortunately, even with my new access to plastic tools, cutting down trees proved to be a lot of work. The woods around here was made up of old growth trees, which meant they were so thick I couldn’t wrap myself even a fifth of the way around their trunks.

  The bark on those monsters laughed at my tiny little bronze dagger. My arms would ache long before the tree even thought about falling. Stripping off a little to weave into my clothes wasn’t too hard, but trying to take one of these trees down was an exercise in futility.

  Luckily there was still enough dead, dry wood and small branches for the time being, though I might have to consider moving camp. Once my furnace got going, I’d need to make lots of charcoal, and that would take a lot of wood. Still, my traps were still performing in this area, and by now they were thoroughly covered with plant matter, which made moving them quite a burden.

  I’d caught a few signs of the local wildlife too, beyond fish and plants. One of the creatures in this area was a three-eyed bunny. I’d made several attempts at making traps to catch one of them, but the things must have been smarter than the Earth variety, because they always steered clear of anything I managed to set up. Observing them wasn’t fruitless, however. After watching one of them pull and tug at a reddish-green weed, I saw it pull out a huge tuber.

  I’d just assumed the plant was a weed, but it was actually something that was a cross between a carrot and a potato. It was a nice addition to my diet. A few more vegetables and I could make fish stew.

  Mac and I actually came up with a clever idea for getting some gold out, eventually. The scanner ended up needing iron, so I’d haul down a bucket of black sand, scraping off the lighter bits and just leaving the heaviest portion, where the gold was located.

  The iron disappeared in a flash of light, off to wherever the stuff is stored by the functions of The Wanderer’s systems Mac doesn’t yet have access too. I ended up with about enough gold to make a penny. The early version of my furnace which was little more than a column of clay bricks and some charcoal was just barely enough to get the gold melted into a vaguely disk-like shape. I even ended up having to ditch my prototype crucible to get it out, but I ended up with a small gold coin. Not bad for a few weeks of work. You could actually make a living doing this.

  [Ah, it warms my digital heart to see ugly little specs of dirt turn into a beautiful clean piece of pure gold.]

  I jumped at the sudden voice in my head and looked around. It took me a few seconds to figure out what was happening.

  “You bought the scanner?” I asked Mac. He sounded different from before. Like he was talking directly out of my head instead of through a speaker.

  [I determined that it was unlikely you would be able to lower the point cost any further through your labors. Thus, I made the executive decision that any small amount of points lost would be mitigated by the efficiency provided by me having a direct line of communication with you on a continuous basis.”

  “Gee, Mac. You saying you missed me?]

  [I merely wanted to imply that you’d get work done quicker with my guidance.] Mac chided sardonically. He’d gotten friendlier with me since coming to this world. Before he’d been simply my long-time contracted personal assistant, but now we both knew we were in this mess together.

  “That should be the last thing to get the command center fully repaired and operational, right?”

  [That’s right! Things are just now coming online again!]

  We’d had 185 points before. Mac just bought the scanner…

  Total points: 92

  So, the scanner ended up costing us 93 points, I wasn’t happy about being so low but at least we had something to work with.

  “Well? Did we gain anything besides the ability to talk at moderate distances?” I asked Mac.

  [Actually, the ability to communicate with you mentally at this distance was brought about by the control center coming fully online. Not because of the scanner, although I think that the scanner is useful all on its own. It does just as its name would suggest, it allows me to create a 3D model of the surrounding area, updating about once an hour. I’ve already been able to map much of the tunnels below me. I think it might worthwhile to explore down there. The Wanderer is telling me that some of the items down below might be able to aid in its growth].

  I nodded, though I realized there was no way Mac could see the gesture. “Good. I’ll feel much safer if I’ve got you with a map, scanning for anything big and dangerous. I’ll feel even better once I get some iron tools at my side too.”

  I hadn’t forgotten that I’d gotten the bronze dagger from those caves. If there was other good stuff waiting to be collected, I wanted it. I was under no illusion that I’d be able to make top-quality iron by collecting it from the river bed. Even if Mac and I could come up with the right chemical formulas, I just didn’t have the infrastructure or the personal skill.

  I ended up smashing up most of the snail shell for the calcium carbonate. I left enough for a decent bowl but much of the shell would become flux for the furnace. I’d get my coke from wood, which just came from some leftover charcoal.

  For my furnace, I’d constructed something called a draft furnace, based on some designs we’d come up with. In the end, it still wasn’t quite hot enough to melt iron, so I’d needed to add a blower. Between me blowing air in with a simple fan and crank mechanism Mac printed up and the natural buoyancy of hot air sucking more air up into the furnace as it left out the smoke stack I was able to get something pretty darn hot.

  In the end, with Mac’s help, I was able to get about a kilogram of cast iron from a couple weeks work. Cast iron is very brittle and doesn’t make very good bladed edges. Luckily, Mac was able to build me a plastic handle that fit a good rock I found, making a hammer. Really, I should have thought of making such a tool earlier, since the stone hammer made quite a good club.

  I was lucky I’d downloaded those educational packets, and that I had Mac with me, because making metal tools required a lot of work. There were a dozen times I was on the verge of giving up and would have if not for Mac assuring me that I just needed to give it one last try.

  By Mac’s count, it had been about a month and a half of work, but in the end, I made a big, dull blade. It was somewhere between a dagger and a short sword in length, but it was pointed and would make a decent sidearm in case something got inside the range of my spear. Mac printed up a sheath for it that would be fixed to the inside of the new shield he was making, so I could draw it the moment something got in close.

  It was a far cry from the full body plate I’d hoped to have by now, but it was better than having my only real weapon at the end of my spear.

  What finally moved me into action was when Mac told me he’d fully mapped out the third level and had assured me that there were only two types of creatures down there that would be big enough to be a threat to me. One was those centipede things, and the other was a species of giant lizards that preyed on the rats. It was probably one of them I’d heard roar when I first stepped outside. For the lizard, he’d figured out where they nested and their general routes through the place, and I’d be arriving through the entrance furthest from their nests during a time when most of them would be sleeping. The centipedes would have to been scanned for and avoided on an individual basis.

  ***

  “If I get killed by a giant slug, I’m goi
ng to crawl towards you and with my last dying breath bleed all over your floor.”

  [I would be asking you to go some place so messy if I didn’t think the rewards were worth it. Odds are, you won’t even need your weapons.] Mac said. [Just listen to my clean, soothing voice and you’ll be in and out in no time.]

  “Thanks, but I think I’ll stay armed and armored all the same.”

  I trudged my way into the underground tunnels. By now the subterranean passageways were familiar to me. I was able to get to Mac’s position in the cave system in no time at all. I hadn’t seen any sign of the big centipedes or the giant rats since I cleared this place out with smoke. Maybe the fact that I regularly patrolled this path kept the smaller creatures away.

  Mac handed me off a light source. It was a much bigger glass cylinder than the one I had previously obtained. Apparently, the ship had been growing more ever since the power was turned back on.

  Soon enough, I was wandering through the damp passageways as Mac whispered directions in my ear.

  [Take a left-hand turn by that filthy splotch of moss on the right. Now continue on beyond that puddle of disgusting liquid. I couldn’t identify it, but it sure looked nasty on the scanner.]

  I bent down and touched the liquid. My hands came away sticky. “Crude oil maybe?”

  Soon, I came to the first spot that Mac had marked. As I turned the last bend, I immediately noticed a dark green crystal about the size of my finger jutting down from the ceiling of the cave.

  “Hey Mac? Is this first item of interest hanging down by the ceiling of the cave?” whispered.

  [Yes, it should be a hexagonal cylinder. Do you see it?]

  “Yeah, it’s some sort of glowing crystal. I’ll try and break it off as cleanly as possible so you can examine it in person.” I said as I tried to get as much of the crystal as possible. It snapped like glass and left a smooth edge. I didn’t quite get all of it, as the crystal clearly continued on into the ceiling of the cave. “Got it.”

  “Good, the big lizard that hunts in this area is still sleeping, so we’ve got time to hit up the second location of interest.”

  “What’s that about a big lizard creature?” I asked suspiciously.

  [Oh nothing, Theo. You just do your human work while your friendly AI does all the hard thinking and planning.]

  I snorted in response, but I kept it quiet. If there really was a big lizard creature, I’d prefer to avoid it.

  [Okay.] Mac began, his tone becoming serious again. [Continue down the same direction we were headed. Forward and to the left. There should be a round chamber with two entrances. The main one will be directly across from you, you’re coming in from a side entrance.

  “I don’t get a huge amount of detail on this scanner, but I’ve picked up multiple items of interest in that room. They’re small, a little bigger than that crystal you just picked up. Word of caution though, they appear to move every time I’m able to do a new scan, so it is entirely likely that they are some sort of living creature. Observe them before making a move.]

  Soon I came to a small room filled with ankle-deep water.

  “The ground is covered in water, Mac. I can’t see anything.”

  [Based on my scans, there’s usually a sizable number of these things sitting on top of the water or near the edges of the pool. Look closer.]

  That’s when I noticed something squirming under my foot. It was a little blue beetle that seemed to blend in extremely well with the water in the underground pool. They must have incredibly tough shells to be able to survive me stepping on them.

  I decided I’d have to collect a few of them just so Mac could determine if these were in fact the item of interest. If they were, I’d come back with the proper tools.

  And so, I started scrambling in the mud trying to pick up beetles. They were fast and tough little insects though, and some of them could pinch quite hard. Eventually I decided to just try to stab the mean little creatures with my spear, but much to my surprise the bronze spear point kept bouncing off their shells.

  Eventually, I managed to skewer one, but only because I switched to my fancy new iron short sword. I hated to blunt my brand-new weapon on the hard rocks of the cave floor, but I’d already promised myself I’d buff out any scratches at the next available opportunity.

  I was so immersed in the process of collecting bugs that I didn’t even notice when a group of people approached from the other entrance.

  They spotted me at the same moment I spotted them. None of them were particularly hulking in mass, and they all shared the same hair color, a pale shade of blue. They were wearing a mixed assortment of cloth and robes that looked like they belonged in a fantasy game.

  That wasn’t the only thing that gave me the fantasy vibe though. Each one of these newcomers sported a pair of pointed ears. They were elves after the same manner as the ones I’d seen in the brothel back on Earth.

  What’s more, all of them were female. Based on the size of their… assets… I was certain each one of them was over the age of eighteen, but I couldn’t spot anything more than that. Maybe it was just the difference in species talking, but they all looked like they were somewhere between twenty and forty.

  The biggest breasted one was wearing a sort of leather that had been studded with the shells of the various beetles into something that looked an attempt at studded leather armor. I’d always been told that studded leather armor was just a fantasy thing, and it was never really used in medieval times. But I suppose big breasted elf warriors don’t take their fashion advice from historical re-enactors.

  “Chaka!” The big-breasted elf bellowed. Strangely, she sheathed her sword, which appeared to be made of some sort of gray wood. Instead of trying to swing at me, she opened her arms and ran at me, like she intended to tackle me to the ground.

  I wasn’t about to let that happen. I buried the butt of my spear in the ground like I was preparing to face a charging bear. Honestly big elf wasn’t that far off from one in terms of size or musculature. Nothing sleek and slender about this one, she had the muscles of an Amazon.

  I quickly learned that an elf is not fooled as easily as a bear. She brought herself to a stop just before impaling herself on the spear and swept the point aside with a backhand. Then she dove towards me, fingers extended like claws ready to dive onto me. I had a brief moment to consider the fact that she dropped her weapon to her side and sought to subdue me with her bare hands. That meant she wanted to capture me alive.

  Our eyes met in that moment, and I noticed something strange in them. She wasn’t snarling in anger or battle lust, but her face had a heated flush to it. Coupled with her wide eyes and a creepy grin on her face I’d almost say she was aroused.

  These elves were hot, but death by snu-snu wasn’t on my list of things to do today. I drew my iron short sword. That actually caused a flicker of fear in the elf’s expression, and she backed away for a pace. Then her friends caught up and her confidence returned.

  I started backing up quickly, waving the short sword in front of me.

  [Theo! The latest scan came back, there’s six human-sized creatures approaching your position, get out of there!]

  “Too little too late Mac!” I snarled angrily.

  One of the elves dived too close, and I managed to nick an exposed hand. She was wearing thick leather gloves, presumably for picking up beetles, which turned what might have been a hand-severing blow into a light scratch. Whatever leather those gloves were made out of, it was tough.

  Still, she howled in pain and fell back like her flesh was being seared by a hot iron. Maybe it was. Wasn’t there some legend about fay creatures having a weakness to cold iron?

  At any rate, two of the elves pulled their injured comrade back. The big one was still coming at me aggressively though.

  “Stay back! Or I’ll slice you too!” I shouted warningly at her.

  She cocked her head, having not understood a word of what I was saying.

  “Ye’shu, cha
ka!” She bellowed in reply, along with a whole line of nonsense.

  Unknown language detected. Assembling Database…

  Now was not the time for a big blue screen to appear in my vision. Luckily, I was able to wave it away with a thought, but that might have been a problem if one of the elves had chosen to strike at the exact moment I’d become distracted. There had to be some settings to change that would fix that. I resolved to deal with it as soon as I was free.

  The notion of distractions gave me an idea. I purposely made a misstep while trying to move backwards, making it look like I was about to stumble. Sure enough, my opponent dived towards me, ready to take advantage of my perceived weakness.

  But it was a rouse. I kept my eyes on her while I quickly regained my footing and turned my half-stumble into a spin. That’s when I pivoted and slashed for her face with my sword.

  I thought that would be the end of the fight, but just before I made contact with her, her face turned blue. And I don’t mean turned blue as in she’d been holding her breath. Her face literally turned a deep shade of murky blue, mirroring the beetle carapaces on her chest.

  My sword came to a dead stop against her face, not cutting her in the least. It was like I’d tried to slash a piece of stone. Instead of cutting into her flesh, the tip of my sword shattered off. Apparently, I hadn’t hammered it enough if it was still that brittle.

  Still, the attack wasn’t entirely useless. As soon as my blade fell away, she collapsed to her knees and clutched at her face. There was no visible marking there, but her eyes were screwed as if she was enduring incredible pain.

  She was disabled for the time being, and that was good enough for me. My objective was to get away, not kill her. Besides, she was kind of cute, in an aggressive, muscular sort of way. I couldn’t really bring myself to ruin a pretty face while she was helpless.