There was a brief silence, except for the sound of grilling. It wasn’t at the words of the question or the word of the response, but at the way, the response was spoken. Frank remembered the same awe the first time he’d heard the system.

Bill was the first to recover, his mind spinning to reorder the narrative he’d created. “A fucking time traveller?! Fuck no wonder you fucked all those aliens up so easily.”

His remark led to other people turning to stare at Frank. Several did not, still lost in their reaction to the system’s voice. Sasha was the first after Bill to speak.

“Why make such a display of this Frank?” He asked. “It seems to me most of what you’ve done so far has been less than above board.”

Frank looked at him, considering his words carefully. “Because I felt that it was the best way to be believed.”

“Believed about what?”

“That I’m a time traveller.”

Sasha stared at him, unhappily. “You’ve been hiding things up until now, why should I believe you’ve suddenly changed your mind on that.”

“Because the Oracle gave me a way to demonstrate that what I know is true. I couldn’t tell you anything and back it up strongly until I received it.” Frank explained.

Sasha went quiet for a moment. “But you haven’t proven anything. I noticed when you ‘explained’ the status screen earlier you made an argument that the ‘system’ should be thought of as truthful, which after your display now seems like you were just priming people to not be suspicious of the veracity of what you just caused to happen.” He narrowed his eyes.

“Your duplicity makes your argument unreliable. You have a vested interest in us believing you for some reason. You cannot be taken at face value, and the important question is what you want out of everyone here that you can’t get by just being truthful.” He crossed his arms, emphasizing his disapproval.

“All these things happened and you are here playing games. People are just barely holding it together with what’s going on and you are playing at politics.” He sneered. “I’ve got no time for that kind of bullshit.” He looked around, addressing the entire group, which by now were all paying attention to the interaction.

“Don’t take Frank at face value. I’ve seen my share of people trying to profiteer from disaster in my life. The world might have been flipped on its head overnight, but people like him remain the same.” He finished speaking, pointedly walking over to the grill to get a piece of meat from Jim. Margarite had acquired paper plates and disposable cutlery. His meal obtained, he stalked away.

Frank stood quietly for a second, wondering how to respond to that. He hadn’t expected it. But he’d also never been in a position where he had privileged knowledge that he couldn’t prove. Eventually, he decided that the best thing he could do was just lay out his plans, and see how it went.

“I don’t really want much. I’m going to be leaving here fairly soon. What I want to do is check the area for items of value before I do. I plan on spending a few days trying to find anything useful, then travelling towards Seattle.” Then Frank followed Sasha’s example and grabbed his steak.

“I’ll be here tomorrow morning if anyone would like to explore the area with me.” Frank walked away, heading back to the motel he’d slept in previously. He stopped after a few minutes, realizing his steak would get cold if he did not eat it. The meal finished, he continued his journey.

He put his thoughts in order as he did, starting with the group in Redstone. They were well situated with competent leadership. He was not worried about them failing spectacularly. They would still probably die, but most people, competent or not, died.

The fact that he would leave them to their fate, in the end, elicited from him little reaction. The remoteness of it insulated him, and the consideration of whether that was right or wrong did not break through his wall of cold rationality, even though it had cracked already from other events.

He considered himself, briefly. Why did he feel so strongly about choosing to help Bill and that other woman, but not about leaving these people to what was to come? An answer came to him, quite easily, when he stopped to consider it.

With Bill and the woman, he felt bad because he was considering denying them aid on the chance that it might be better for him to save his resources for later. There was nothing specific he had planned to use either health potion he had for, they were just a contingency for something that had not happened. It was the lack of specific justification that left him so uneasy.

Of course, there was a good reason not to use those resources. He was, as far as he was aware, the only human time traveller. He couldn’t rule out others, of course, and it might even be likely they existed. That didn’t change the fact that he was important now in a way he had never been before. It was obvious that he had the potential to be a major force.

Yet he couldn’t bring himself to just disregard the safety of someone else just because he was ‘more important.’ On a fundamental level, he couldn’t do it. And being given this chance, it had damaged the shell he’d built to protect himself from himself. The reemergence of real hope had brought him a little closer to how he used to be.

He also couldn’t discount the possibility that his fundamentally lowered stability was affecting his emotions. It was always tricky to separate the system’s effects from his own nature. If it even made sense to do that in the first place. David had argued otherwise.

He reoriented onto what to do next, avoiding making a decision on what he should be working towards in his mentality. He’d get some rest, then walk back into town. The hunting store would be his first stop, then the city hall, where’d he’d take anyone who wanted along with him.

The goal was to search the area, find any dungeons or other system constructs he might be able to access and utilize. Then, after searching the area that was explorable within one day’s travel from Redstone, depart towards Seattle.

The existence of others was a safety net that made it much more valuable to stick around for a bit than it would otherwise have been. If there hadn’t been so many people he’d have left tomorrow instead.

He made it back to the motel, choosing another room for himself. Once again, he barricaded himself inside, then carefully put everything down so it’d be easy to reach. The only difference was the sword, which went on the floor slightly under the bed. Unlike a quarterstaff, it was sharp and thus unsuitable for sleeping with it adjacent. He’d need a scabbard at some point if he ended up using it for a while.

Sleep came quite easily to Frank, and he was soon down for the count. He did not dream.

Morning came, and he got up and gathered his things with the dawn. He left the motel, walking back into town. He raided the convenience store he’d passed yesterday, grabbing himself breakfast. The ice in the coolers had not fully melted, so he was still able to get some fresh food. It helped that it was autumn and in a high elevation. It was quite brisk out.

Frank ate his breakfast, and then searched around. It was not hard to find the store he was looking for. With ever business crowded along the main street it was just a matter of searching back and forth. Hugo’s Hunting and Hiking, the sign on its front read. He stepped inside, into a crowded little shop where every wall was full of stuff.

He immediately started kitting himself out.

The first thing he grabbed was a heavy-duty hiking pack. It was larger, sturdier, had more pockets, and also had a waist strap. Compared to the leather pack he currently sported, it was night and day.

He then filled it with useful things. Flint and steel, a compass, waterproof matches, a machete he secured to the outside, thick woollen socks, bear spray. The place had, surprisingly and luckily, a supply of military rations. Lightweight, high calorie, and stable. He grabbed a handful of water filters as well. A coil of rope, another affixed to the outside. a foil blanket, bandages, disinfectant, two five-inch folding knives, and a pair of waterskins.

Then, he found the smallest tent he could, and a sleeping bag, and tied them to the top. He took off his armour long enough to replace his undershirt with a much nicer breathable long sleeve that stopped his gambeson from itching his arms. His underwear too were replaced with warm, insulating ones. A change of clothing was procured as well.

He found himself a second hat, a scarf, sunglasses, and then carefully packed all of it, along with some of the bottled water from his previous pack and the scroll. Supplies secured, he made a loop of canvas with which to hang his sword off his belt and wrapped it in fabric to stop it from cutting anything.

Finally, he left the store and headed for the city hall. When he arrived, Greg was waiting by himself, and then off to the side, Maria, Bill, and the rescued woman that Frank had given a health potion to.

Greg started first. “Frank.”

“Morning. What do you need?”

“Just wanted to say it’s probably for the best if you leave. Sasha was right about you not being honest. I don’t wish you any ill but I don’t trust you either. I was going to say take what you need to get supplied, but you’ve already done that.” Greg turned to the others.

“Nothing is going to change if you go out with him, in terms of how you are treated. You are all still welcome. But do be careful.” Then he went back inside.

Frank walked over to the other three. “You all want to go out and scout around with me?”

Bill replied. “Dude you are a fucking time traveller. Obviously I’m going with you.”

Frank nodded. Bill was the person most amenable to him. He probably could fight, based on what he’d seen. There was an issue though.

“What about your feet?” Frank asked.

“I put everything I could into vitality. They are already mostly healed. Nanobots did work.” Bill replied confidently.

“Alright, but if you can’t keep up I’ll send you back to town.” Frank assented. “What about you two?”

Maria replied first. “You know things. You are also the strongest person here. You plan on going out and fighting more of those creatures, getting things as rewards. My father is still unconscious. I want to find something to heal him and I think you are my best bet.” She then confidently sold her virtues. “My dad runs a hunting store. I’ve helped out there since I was little. I know how to move around in the woods, how to hike, how to camp.”

“Alright.” Frank nodded.

Then the other woman, the mousey, middle-aged one he’d helped spoke up. “You helped me out. You didn’t have to. I don’t think you are a bad person. I want to help you in return if I can.”

Three people, two of which had genuine reason to feel gratitude towards him. The other had a compelling reason to cooperate until they found a health potion.

“Well, sounds good then. Everyone should get kitted out for a hike, and take a spear with them. We’ll go grab supplies for all of you then head out.”

And with that, he headed back to the hunting supply store, three people in tow. It was time to start getting things done.