The last thing August ever wanted to be, in this world, or the one from before, was a leader of a cult, and he knew, without ever having to be placed in the position, that his absolute contempt for the everyday mindless, directionless sycophant would have derailed that train before it had ever left the station.

“Have I been misled?” Haiko said, laughing at his reaction. “She seemed to be using the word almost interchangeably with ‘faction,’ we can use that if you believe it is a more accurate descriptor.”

“I’m not interested in building a cult,” August said, shaking his head. “It’s far more simple than that anyway—whoever did this stuck a bunch of settings, menus and interactable stuff inside my head.”

August added another branch on top of the almost-Kiln, before continuing.

“Inside those menus are the option to invite people to a faction, and everyone inside it gains the same benefits that I do,” August said, thinking his way through it. “The main one is roles, each of which seems to have a unique ability inside it.”

“Interesting,” Haiko said, watching him.

“The way I see it, the faction thing essentially boils down to picking a team,” August offered, “It’s voluntary to join, and if you want to leave at any time, you just need to tell me so I can kick you from the faction.”

“I believe that is the crux of her concern,” Haiko hummed, “An inability to leave by one’s own choice—I can see how Kalter would associate such a thing with a cult.”

“I don’t have any control over how this system works,” August said, adding another handful of dirt to the lid. “So it’s down to my word that I’ll let her go, and she doesn’t exactly trust me for annoying but understandable reasons.”

“That does seem to be the case,” Haiko said, tilting her head. “Although I think it is notable that Rittan doesn’t appear to have the same concerns about you.”

“Rittan has a different background,” August said, “Not everyone is going to be as optimistic as he is.”

“You should leave a gap to allow some airflow,” Haiko said as he made a move to seal the top.

August nodded at the advice, peeling back another branch before dumping more dirt on top of the branches in an attempt to fill in the gaps.

“It’s not necessarily optimism either,” Haiko said smiling. “Perhaps he sees something in you that is inherently trustworthy.”

August considered that for a moment, given the things he’d done in the old world, to his friends or otherwise, he simply couldn’t think of himself in a positive light. He certainly wasn’t reliable, nor was he a straight arrow, and he’d lied to his closest friends, breaking their trust more than once—without ever owning up to it.

“I’m not sure I give off that vibe,” August murmured, leaning down to the hole he’d left in the front of the Kiln. “All in all, Kalter is probably the one with the safer strategy—I wouldn’t have trusted me either.”

He did his best to structure something of a fire inside of it, working around the large rock in the centre.

“Ah, but one person’s paranoia doesn’t give credence to another’s trustworthiness,” Haiko said, tapping a finger against her chin. “Only their own personal perception of it.”

“A perception that informs every decision they make,” August offered, “The impression doesn’t need to be accurate; it just needs to poison the well.”

“Perhaps,” Haiko said thoughtfully.

He sat back; it was about as complete as he could make it—

Basic Kiln Blueprint Unlocked

August winced as the blueprint expanded within his mind—and all the little things he could have done to improve it were revealed to him. The lid he’d built was stupid, for one—the fire would turn the exposed underside of the sticks to ash, and the loose dirt he’d dumped on top would simply fall into the fire, smothering it. Furthermore, the stone in the centre was completely unnecessary and could possibly even explode from the heat if there was any water trapped inside.

“I’m an idiot,” August sighed, moving to strip it down.

“You’re not going to attempt to use it?” Haiko said, surprised. “Even after all that work?”

August started taking the stones and clay out of the walls of the Kiln, dropping them back into his inventory as he went—the process much faster than building it had been as confidence and familiarity made way for speed.

“I unlocked the blueprint,” August explained, “There’s a couple of design flaws that I can fix now—the shelf, for one.”

“The blueprint?” Haiko asked curiously. “It gifts you knowledge on how to build it?”

“Like a manual just got dumped in my mind,” August admitted, “The shape is fine, although that is the least important part of a Kiln, to begin with.”

“As long as it evenly fires the clay, the shape could be anything,” Haiko said, thinking about it. “You’re removing the central stone?”

“It’s not a good conductor for heat,” August said, dropping the rock in question into his inventory. “It’s also likely to explode if there’s any water trapped inside it.”

“The base of the clay wouldn’t be heated along with the rest, meaning that it is likely to have cracks and fall apart from the rest,” Haiko said, blinking. “The rock exploding could also damage whatever you are attempting to fire.”

“More or less,” August said, stopping his deconstruction at the second layer. “For the shelf, we can use branches, but both the bottom and the top need to be covered in clay until it’s capable of standing on its own—using a fire to dry it more quickly should stop it from falling down as well.”

“You knew nothing of it this morning,” Haiko said, impressed. “This blueprint truly told you all of that?”

“Yeah,” August said, pushing the clay up under the branches until it adhered properly. “I don’t know what the upper limit of it is, but I’m going to learn as many as I can and then use it to get us all out of here—provided we don’t get killed by monsters along the way.”

“An admirable goal,” Haiko said slowly, kneeling down beside him. “August, I’d like to assist you, if I may.”

“Thank you,” August said.

August waved his hand over the ground, depositing a long line of clay between them. Haiko reached over with three hands and scooped up some of it in each before leaning over the Kiln and mirroring his own attempts from the opposite end. Between the efforts of both of them, the Kiln quickly began to take shape once more. They left a number of large holes in the clay shelf to allow the heat to rise up evenly through it and then moved on to replacing the walls. Restacking the walls was a fast process, with Haiko smoothing out the walls by using more clay. The top of the Kiln was left open, the process for tapering it closed requiring an active fire within.

“Looks about a hundred times better than before,” August said, structuring the fire inside for him to more easily light it. “Good work, Haiko.”

“I do love to be praised—you are most welcome, August,” Haiko said, smiling. “Will you be starting the fire now?”

“Yeah,” August nodded, “Better to do it now, so everything can dry, but I’m still a bit worried about the shelf.”

“Yes, depending on how it dries, it may crumble,” Haiko said, wiping at the tip of her nose with the back of her hand. “Usually, the shelves are metal to avoid any kind of rapid deterioration from the heat.”

If it did break, he could try using the Efkini chains, pulled tautly over the fire and covered with clay; the metal would be far more durable than wood. August nodded, glancing over at Haiko for the first time in a while—she had several streaks of clay on her face.

“Uh—you’ve got some on your face,” August said, dragging two of his fingers across his own cheek in the approximate area. “Right here.”

“It wouldn’t be the first time,” Haiko laughed lightly, brushing at her face.

August just nodded, removing his hands from the Kiln and setting about getting his tools ready to light the fire.