Steve had food ready by the time we got back to the keep and met everyone for lunch at the picnic tables. I was hungry and glad to see it, but he didn’t look too thrilled with the arrangement.

“The information I received was that foodstuffs would be provided by the community at large. I took the liberty of constructing shelves in the keep for that purpose this morning, but today’s meal was from my own pantry.”

Debbie made a calming motion and gestured at the rest of the group. “I’m sure everyone just got caught up in other things and forgot to donate, I know I did. We’ll have stuff on the shelves before tomorrow, right?”

Everyone else agreed and after a short conversation with John, Steve seemed mollified. The rest of the group took turns filling us all in on what had been accomplished and suggesting manpower needs for the general labor turnout after lunch. Helen had the least to report, she’d managed to heat the ore up in a fire for a couple hours without hitting the temperature needed to refine the metal out. John offered to build her a bellows to get a purer flame, and Hunter suggested burning some logs down to charcoal might make a more efficient fuel.

Hunter’s pottery operation was already off to a good start. He’d put in a good sized custom built filter from several yards of fabric and a little lumber, then built a big rotating barrel to wash the mud. He was cranking out refined clay at a much faster rate than we had before.

John had even better news. According to him growth from the stuff that had been planted was nothing short of miraculous. He predicted harvest in a couple of weeks and when we seemed incredulous it pissed him off.

“I ain’t making stuff up here. Any of ya’ll bothered to take a look at the stumps of some of the trees we cut down? Reckon not, cause I did. Right yonder where we took that first big one down on the day we killed the cave bear.” He pointed and when a couple of his turned to follow his finger, smirked at us. “Have trouble spotting her? I did, cause there’s at least a season’s worth of growth already back and leafed out from the stump. Things grow here like I can’t hardly believe.”

“How is that even possible?”

“It ain’t. I got a degree in agriscience and I’m telling you, photosynthesis only makes so much sugar, it ain’t like the plants are sneaking extra sunlight when we ain’t watching. Growth rates don’t make any more sense than the purple lights, or magic chainsaw, or that golden shield Steve makes by chanting and wiggling his fingers. Jack here heals injuries like he’s a comic book character. That’s just the way things are here, I guess. My field is growing even faster than the trees. Knee high by the fourth of the July ain’t in it anymore. We ought to have corn to harvest in a couple of weeks.”

It was good news even if it was a little hard to believe, and everyone was quick to assure John he’d have hands available for harvest. It seemed like it was Allison and I’s turn to share our morning, and I gestured at her to take the lead. Allison seemed to enjoy telling everyone about the GTSA, and I was kind of disappointed when no one else seemed eager to go back.

“Think about it you guys. How many of the XP points did we get from that cave bear? I bet it was a lot and the spiders are labeled the same way. There’s a whole patch of big monsters we can head right to whenever we want. That’s practically a printing press for money. We’ll need some better tactics, maybe an adjustment to gear, but we should take a group over there and wipe them out.”

Kenny was the first to back me up. “Jack’s right. I need the XP and I’m not afraid of spiders. We should go hunt them as a group.”

Allison rejected the suggestion immediately. “No way, I’ve seen these things, and we’re not ready. We need to level up a lot of our stuff first. Go back with flamethrowers and a tank.”

The whole group seemed to take sides and we spent a couple minutes debating it before Debbie started whacking the picnic table with the flat of her hand. We all shut up and watched her rubbing at her sore palm.

“I need to get a gavel or something. Look, no way we’re going after the spiders today , it's just not a priority. Those of you in favor, talk it over, come up with a plan. When you’ve got a solid idea run it by the group, or just go do it on your own during your off time. This is the free village remember?”

I called out, “Hey, we should start calling it that. We’re the free village and they’re the people’s republic of Ken and Li.”

“Hush, Jack. The grown ups are talking.” She shut me down before I could sidetrack the meeting, but it became apparent later that the name I’d given it stuck. The rest of the group could bitch all they wanted, but I was awesome at this naming stuff thing. In the short term, Debbie kept talking as if I hadn’t interrupted. “I think we’ve got room to store the harvest between the back of the keep and the top of the barn. You agree with that John?” When he gave her a laconic, “Yup.” she kept right on. “We could probably use some more lumber, and firewood is a constant. The next couple of hours we could use a crew of three or four people on that. Jack’s wall could use a couple of people, and warm bodies to haul the ore Sam mined today over to the common area would be useful. Can people fall in on everything or should I assign folks?”

Jerri raised her hand. “I’m pretty sure Buster and Doris can haul the pack saddles at this point. If someone will go with me to show me the ore?”

Sam nodded at her, and Allison offered to help if John would loan his wheelbarrow.. Kenny, Helen, and John were all willing to admit my wall might not be a complete waste of time, and everyone else got slated for the sawmill.

When we got out to where my wall stopped and I showed them what I had going so far, everyone seemed to think it was overkill except for Kenny.

“If things get bad, they get real bad. It’s true in the real world and I bet it’s true here. I’d want a twenty foot wall if I got to trust my life to it. We need to build the rest just as strong.”

With the tactical endorsement of a florist the rest conceded my wall might not just be paranoia, and we agreed to keep the rest in the same style. Since the ore was coming through about here we left a gap after the third and final section before starting up anew about a dozen feet away. Later I’d go back and figure out some kind of sally port to control access through the breach, but since the wall wasn’t finished yet it didn’t seem worth it. We did keep the ditch across so water would flow if there was a heavy rain and not wash out at the base of the wall. John had us widen it there so the grade wouldn’t be too much for the llamas, and I planned to fill it back in a little and install a drawbridge at some point.

Kenny was practically a steam shovel in his own right, and Helen and John harvested the trees and worked on the actual framework of the wall. I mostly moved the spoil around to where it was needed and kicked in to help Kenny when I was caught up. We only put in a couple of hours on the wall, but had four tree lengths of it up before we decided it was midday and called it quits. Debbie had been right about the sheer scope of the project. Even pulling from the general levy instead of working by myself, it would take weeks to finish circling back around to the river unless we all went at it all day long.

I headed back up towards the keep hoping to bump into Debbie. We hadn’t had much chance to talk today, and I was looking forward to spending the evening with her working on my cabin. I was more focused on my social life than practical concerns, and Hunter brought me back to earth when he saw me approaching the keep.

“What’s up, Jack. We got the stuff together and we’re ready to get started on the elevator whenever you are.”

I saw Debbie over past the tables and I waved at her before turning back to Hunter. “Sure, give me a second to talk to Debbie real quick, then bump over to my place and ditch the armor and pick up some tools. I’ll meet you guys over at the tree house in a few.”

“Awesome sauce.”

He gave me a fist bump before jogging off to collect Jeri and I shook my head at his odd enthusiasm. Debbie met me halfway and leaned in for a quick hug.

“How’s it going, beautiful?”

“Don’t call me that, Jack. I don’t need flattery.”

“Quit being beautiful and I will, till then shut the hell up and take it. I’m gonna roll down and change then get that elevator shit out of the way. We still on for this evening?”

“I owe you a day’s work, Jack. That was the deal. Mind if I tag along? You’re elevator idea has made me think and I’d like to see what you’ve come up with.”

We started walking down towards the forest, arm in arm. “This ain’t the elevator up to the cliffs thing again is it? I already told you I don’t think that’s doable. Allison thinks we could get up top from down south though. Have to figure a way to get back to this side of the river after we do, but it’s got possibilities.”

“That’s interesting, but no, not what I was thinking. Separate notion, not really defined well enough to be an idea at this point. I just want to see what you’re thinking.”

I shrugged at that, and we continued on in silence. Back at my place she dug through her wagon a little bit while I changed and grabbed my battery off the charger and packed up tools. There was a bit of a temptation to try and put the moves on her now that we were alone again, but Jeri and Hunter were waiting for me. We made it to their treehouse before they’d been waiting too long, and we got started.

I set Hunter to constructing a platform wide enough for them both to stand on with a central post coming out of the middle. I put Debbie to work with Jeri up in the treehouse proper putting in a small porch for the whole thing to park on. I got the big wooden disks that Hunter had made at the sawmill and started to focus on the heart of the machine. I used my c-clamps to clamp a couple of the disks together slightly offset. The higher one worked like a guide and let me use my router to carve out the center of the outside edge, turning one of the disks into a large wooden pulley. I had to move the clamps a couple of times to get all the way around, but the idea worked as planned.

I quickly copied the work and turned the rest of the disks into pulleys as well. I layed the finished pulleys on top of each other and paired them up to make sure I had sets of two that were the exact same size. A couple needed a little shaving with the circular saw to make them match, and I realized I should have done that part first. I ran the router around those again so the groove in the pulley would have a uniform depth.

I had to borrow Debbie’s tape measure to find the exact center of the pulleys but soon enough marked them all and drilled out a hole for the axles. I dug through the lumber Hunter had brought until I found the widest possible piece and ended up cutting down something that I was guessing was a 2 x 18 into 4 separate sheets. This got split into two equal stacks, and I laid my pulleys in place on top. I separated them out in a simple, but compound block and tackle arrangement. The biggest two pulleys were the fixed end I’d mount in the tree and the moving one that would go on the central platform of the elevator. I spaced the other sets in between them, in descending sizes then used my finger to trace the route of the rope to count it up and tried to do the math. With both of them on the platform, the weight of the rope and the elevator itself, I was looking at around 500 pounds or so. I counted 6 lines not including the free end of the rope. That was somewhere between 80 or 90 pounds to lift the cage, which was maybe doable, but not very practical. I got another of the big disks cut into a pulley and laid a much smaller one directly on top of it. I drilled out the center for an axle, then drilled again in a couple other spots and pegged them together with wood glue. Now I could feed the free end of the line into a geared pulley. It was three to one, or at least looked that way. I stuck a long handle on it so there would be plenty of leverage, and figured it would take 25 or 30 pounds to wheel the elevator up and down. I drilled holes through the stacks of components I’d made so everything would line up, then flipped the flat piece out of the bottom of the stack and put it on top so the pulleys were sandwiched between two of them. After that was done, Hunter joined me in assembling them, shoving in loose pegs as axles, and gluing in friction tight pegs clear of the rope's path to hold the whole thing together.

“This looks pretty fancy, Jack, but you sure we’re going to be able to turn that crank hard enough to actually lift us all the way to the top?”

I shrugged at him. “I did some rough math and I think it’ll go, but we’ll have to try it to know for sure. I know when you’re ready to come down if you ain’t got a hold of the handle to slow the feed and control the descent, the handle is liable to knock the shit out of you before you splat on the ground at the bottom.”

“Good to know. Can you come up with some kind of emergency brake?”

“Sure, if you start to fall just call the 1-800 number that’s on the plate that says Otis on the side of the machine. If that don’t work just tuck and roll then rub some dirt on it. You’ll be fine.”

Hunter hauled the fixed part of the block and tackle up the rope ladder and handed it off to the ladies to install on a tree branch that stuck over the roof of the house, while I started installing the rest of the gear onto the elevator platform. It was a pain in the ass passing the line back and forth from the ground to the treetop where Jeri was straddling a branch, but eventually we had the whole thing together. All four of us came down to ground level for the test run. Debbie backed well away from any potential impact area and looked at us.

“Who is going up in that thing first?”

I jerked a thumb at the other two. “It’s their elevator.”

Jeri shook her head and Hunter pointed at me. “You’re the elevator expert. We’re paying for your skilled labor remember? Show off that crash test dummy skill.”

“Wuss.” I fluttered my hand at him like I was shooing him out of the way and stepped onto the platform. I think my math was off somewhere because the gear spun easier than I had expected. It seemed like I cranked forever, but the platform swayed and gradually rose into the air. I had a death grip on that center post as it felt like the elevator was drifting back and forth faster than it was going up, but eventually I was level with the porch. I stepped off onto the porch with one leg, and dragged the platform over on top before I released the handle. The platform dropped an inch or two and I winced at the sound of impact. The porch didn’t even tremble though, and I figured everything was stable enough. I looked down at the others.

“It worked.”

Jeri was doubtful, “That sure looked like it was pretty wobbly.”

Hunter patted her back. “We could run a couple of lines down and anchor them at the ground, like guy wires for the platform to ride on. Maybe put a cage around the floor.”

I got in the elevator again and cast off the side, careful to keep some pressure on and ride the handle to guide my descent to the ground. There was a bit of a squeal as the rope slid over the wooden pulleys but I thumped down to the ground without much of a jar.

“You got to be careful. More weight you add the faster you’ll go down, and the harder it will be to crank it up. You guys satisfied with the work?”

Jeri looked up at the sky and tried to get a reading on the sun. “Yeah, Jack, I think we’re good with this. I’m thinking we owe you maybe an hour and a half or so?”

“Sounds good to me.” I gestured at Debbie. “We’re gonna grab something to eat and then work on my cabin. You guys remember where it is?” When they nodded yes I smiled at them. “Come on over after a while and put your work in. If you’ve got it to spare, bring lots of clay.”

Debbie and I started off to my place, and she hip checked me on the way. “Inviting me over for dinner and just assume I was going to say yes?”

“Hell, Debbie, you work for me this evening remember? I was kind of thinking you’d cook it.”

I dodged when she tried to slug me in the arm and smiled as I came back in and we started walking hand and hand again. “I’ll cook this time, Jack. But mainly because I’ve had your cooking and I’m not willing to repeat the experience this soon.”

Debbie did make dinner when we got back to my place. It wasn’t anything fancy, and she insisted on using my supplies instead of breaking out any of her own. Since I’d played host it was only fair she insisted. She pan fried some of the ham and a diced potato and it wasn’t bad. I broke out a candy bar for each of us from my stash for dessert and she gave me the eye.

“You’ve had chocolate all this time and this is the first time I’ve heard of it? What the hell, Jack?”

“I’ve got candy bars, not we’ve got candy bars. You don’t see me rooting around in that little red wagon of yours, do you?”

“Because you’re afraid of finding girl stuff like soap and potpourri I’d bet. What does it take for a girl to get some more of that candy out of you?”

I grinned at her and tried a lewd wink. “Only one way to find out.”

Debbie and I were necking when Hunter and Jeri knocked on my door a little while later. I got up feeling like I was back in high school and Debbie adjusted her hair and moved over to the shelves on the far wall like we’d been dusting or something when they’d come by. From the smile on the couples face when they came in, I had a feeling our subterfuge wasn’t that successful.

“Made it here, Jack. I brought a bucket or two of the free village clay supply with me because I figure it’s your share at least. What’s on the agenda?”

Jeri snickered behind Hunter’s back and whispered a little too loudly to Debbie. “I bet I know what was on the agenda before we got here.”

I ignored her and cleared my throat. “Step into my office folks and I’ll lay out the plan.” I walked outside and when everyone followed squatted down so I could draw in the dirt. “I’ve got a plan to build a wood fired oven out of clay. Most of the volume is going to be dug into the back side of the cabin in the hill, but I want some big clay sheets to put over the dirt and keep stuff square. Then a clay chimney coming up out of a structure that looks kind of like this on the front.” I sketched a rough shallow rectangle, just sticking out of the wall with the chimney on top. “On the outside not just one sheet of clay but two. I’m gonna put the clay walls up, and fill in between them with dirt. The inside layer might get hot and crack but the outside layer will stay intact, and the whole thing ought to trap the heat. The door I want to make the same way, and we’ll need to make simple hinges out of clay that can hold that kind of weight. I’m thinking a real big cross section on the hinge pin will be needed.”

Hunter nodded at me. “I think I see what you’re doing. It’s kind of like one of those chiminea things people put on their patios but with a door and a shelf inside to cook stuff. It’ll probably work.”

“Can you build it in an hour or so?”

He looked over at Jeri and then back at me and shrugged. “There’s just enough clay I think if we make the walls pretty thin. I can build all the parts if Jeri will help, but that’s barely enough time to fire everything. You’ll be on your own digging out the wall and filling everything in.”

“No problem. You guys build my stove and we’ll call it square.”

He and Jeri got to work and Debbie caught my attention with a raised eyebrow. “If they’re on stove duty, where do you want me, bossman?”

“Ladies choice, my dear. I’ve got a couple projects in mind but no particular preference. I didn’t get a chance to pull the cover off the water tank before it rained, and I’d like to start filling it. I’ve been dumping out my waterskin now and then when I remember to, but I’m going to have to just dedicate some time to ferrying water over here before there is enough built up so it's useful.” I pointed up to the second story and and tried to indicate the sides, “I also want to cut some holes in the walls up there. Put in some heavy shutters for safety, but the electric light gets blocked by the floor of the loft, plus it’d be nice to have a decent field of fire if I have to hole up in here during an attack.”

She nodded at me. “One at each end and maybe one on the front? You going to put one in the back facing the hill?”

“Nope. As steep as it is and the way the place is dug into it, that’d put the window almost at ground level. Way too easy to bust through there. I’m gonna have to settle for a single blind side. I used logs on that side that were thick as hell, so it ought to be pretty safe anyway, long as nobody tries to burn me out.”

“You are trying to make a little fort out here aren’t you, Jack?”

“Yep, I’m either gonna name it Camerone or the Alamo when I’m done. Think that’ll jinx me?”

“Uhh, maybe.”

I remembered what she’d said about I don’t do politics back when we first met and I wondered if that applied to history as well. It didn’t seem too important so I just shrugged it off. She gathered her hair back and slid it into a ponytail with a hair tie that seemed to materialize out of nowhere and looked over at me.

“So far I’m leaning towards window maker instead of water mule, unless you’ve got other projects, Jack. You seem to be full of them.”

“A glazier. People who make windows are called glaziers.”

“An asshole. People who point out minor errors that don’t really matter are called assholes. How about it, do I play glazier” she drew out the word, giving me the stink eye while she said it, “or do you have other projects to choose from?”

I held up my hands in a don’t hurt me gesture. “Actually, come to think of it, maybe it’s only a glazier if they’re glass windows. I do have other projects.” I said, hurrying to get the words out before she could respond. “I still want to finish that bed and get some furniture in there. I’m pretty sure all it takes is a single piece of finished furniture and it will hit the threshold and turn this place into a registered building. I’d kind of like to improve the place as far as I can first, just to see what kind of improvement points it generates, but I’m running out of ideas.”

“I definitely want to see what it comes out at. I doubt the water tank has to be full to contribute though. Let’s do the windows at the same time, then install your stove and finish the bed to see what we get. It might be a late evening but it would be worth it.”

“Angling to stay over again, Debbie?”

“Is that your attempt to play hard to get? I’ve been considering it if you play your cards right. Check in with me again when the work is over with and I’ll let you know.”

I grinned at her and we went up to the loft to start putting in windows. Debbie nixed my original plan to just cut out a single log’s width for an opening. She knelt in front of the wall because of the low ceiling and mimed pulling back her bow.

“If you’re planning on getting any decent shots off from in here you’re going to need to put the windows in at about this height, and they’re going to have to be tall enough you can angle it a little. These aren’t firing slits for a rifle. In fact a vertical window slot would probably work better than a horizontal one.”

“Vertical would weaken the wall quite a bit.”

“You’d have a snowball’s chance in hell of hitting anything the other way, but yes, I think the wall would stay stronger.”

Since I couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn with a bow I took her word for it and changed my design. We put vertical arrow slits in the wall. I cut them wider than necessary and we used wood glue to put in a lumber frame in the slot to give some of the strength back to the void. It ended up being a single shutter to close off the slot, and I put wooden rails above and below the window on the inside so they could slide back and forth into place. I also put an overbuilt window sill on the outside. It wasn’t huge, just big enough it would be hard to shove a spear up into the open arrow slot if you were standing on the ground directly underneath the wall. To attack the slot you’d have to back up enough you’d be a target for the archer.

By the time we finished the third window and headed downstairs, Hunter and Teri were feeding a fire in front of the cabin.

“The clay pieces are all under here, man. You can let it burn if you’re busy, but doubt it needs it.. Whenever you’re ready you can probably dig ‘er up and go to town. We’re gonna bounce, I wanna finish up the elevator ‘fore we head to bed for the night.”

Jeri leaned in and gave Debbie a hug, whispering something in her ear that made both girls laugh. I looked at them cautiously from the corner of my eye and Hunter waved a hand.

“Don’t try and understand girls, dude. Just appreciate them for the gift they are. C’mon, babe.”

He and Jeri left into the woods and I turned to Debbie and shrugged. “Ready to try your hand at stove assembly? I’m going to dig out the wall if you want to start pulling the pottery.”

“Set the woman to getting the stove ready? Pig.”

“Oink, oink. You might wanna take your shoes off while you’re doing it.”

She gave me the finger as I went back to the cabin and chose a spot to cut into the wall. I kept it close to the corner so I could route the chimney to the outside wall instead of having to dig it through the hill itself. I left the spoil in a pile on my hard packed dirt floor, planning to use it to fill the stove walls. Debbie brought in the pottery and we started our assembly. My rough guestimate of a measurement ended up being off when we tried putting the inner lining into the space I’d dug. I ended up having to come up higher and shove dirt back in on the sides. My corners weren’t exactly square either and I ended up on my hands and knees with the point of my knife scraping out room to get the lining in place. Once it was there I took a palm full of wet clay they’d left behind and spread it on the seams. Hopefully the heat of the oven would dry it out and lock everything into place. Even if it didn’t everything was packed tight enough I doubt it would move unless the hill started to settle over time. The other pieces for the front portion fit into place with a kind of tongue and groove thing Hunter had put into the clay. It worked better than my original plan, and I dumped in fill dirt to stabilize it and provide insulation as Debbie held it in place until the grooved top piece was put on to hold it all together. The door was heavier than I like, and I ended up having to lay a chunk of firewood on the ground in front of it to take the weight when the door was open to keep the stress off the clay hinges. It opened and closed without too much trouble and Hunter had left a series of holes around the top edges to work like a vent for air flow, and he even had a little sliding piece that could change the size of the openings.

Debbie focused on putting the chimney together while I cut a hole in the wall to feed the smoke out of. I cut the hole a couple inches larger than necessary and packed mud in around the chimney pipe. That ought to keep heat off the wood, and since these were clay pipes instead of metal it probably wouldn’t be a concern. Debbie suggested building up a fire to give it a test run, but I’d already plugged in my electric lamp to get more light in the cabin and shook my head.

“It’s getting late. If you wanna do furniture we need to move on. I know it’s ambitious but I’ve been thinking about what it would take to build a rocking chair.”

“You should just finish the bed instead.”

I thought about the way she’d been looking at me when she’d said that, and immediately agreed. “Definitely. I traded a couple things with the others for some wolf hides. You’re our furniture expert, you think it would be more comfortable to leave them whole and attached to the sides like a cot, or cut them down into straps like the rope beds in the keep?”

“Actually, since it seems like I’ll be sharing it with you occasionally.. .” She paused and I gave her an enthusiastic smile at the question in her voice. She winked at me and continued,”I told you I bought quite a few comfort items. One of which is these.”

She stepped over to her little red wagon and rummaged around for a minute before pulling out a handful of small objects and bringing them over to me. They were short springs, each about an inch or so long, but about the same diameter, and they had a hook coming out of each side.

“Not as much individual support as actual coil springs in a real mattress, but space these around the edge and put the leather sheet in the middle and it should have the same bounce as a trampoline. The most comfortable version of a homemade bed I could think of without spending the XP to buy a real mattress.”

“That’s actually ingenious, Debbie.”

“Until the first time you get your hair caught in one of the springs, Jack. You’ll have second thoughts then.”

“A risk I’m willing to take if you’re willing to join me. I’ll put my wool blanket down over the top of the whole thing. It’s too hot to sleep with it anyway.”

She handed me the springs and picked up my drill from where I’d sat it back on the shelf. “Let’s get to work then, slacker.”

It was a fairly straightforward job. Debbie drilled holes in the frame she’d made the other day to stick one end of the spring through, while I trimmed off the wolf hides into a rectangular shape and tried reinforcing the holes in the leather by gluing the extra bits in place wherever one went, like leather grommets. As the last of the springs went into place, one of those floating text boxes popped into the air in front of me and I pumped my fist in the air. “Hell yeah.”

Congratulations! You have completed the structure Fortified Residence. It is capable of accruing 1 improvement point every 6 hours. You are eligible for a single bonus upgrade. Select yes to choose the upgrade now.

It was the first time I’d seen the actual building completion text box in person and I read the text to Debbie verbatim before I selected yes with a verbal command. I was pretty happy to get that kind of point return, and the bonus upgrade was icing on the cake. It gave me a list of three to choose from and I rattled them off to Debbie to get her opinion.

“It looks like reinforced walls, improved defences, or enhanced security. I guess being a fortified residence skewed the options towards withstanding an attack.”

“I was honestly kind of hoping for upgraded plumbing, Jack. It would have been nice if my neighbor had an honest to goodness toilet I could borrow instead of that wooden stand over a hole in the ground.”

“Honestly, I just put that in so the place would rate higher. Doubt we should actually use it unless it’s an emergency. I figure I can buy the plumbing upgrade as soon as I get back to the people’s republic and hit the XP store.”

“Hmmmn, need to plan that trip soon. As for the choices you’ve actually got, your walls are already pretty solid on the ground floor. Those dirt basket things are like three feet thick.”

“Yeah, but all they have to do is break the withes and then the dirt is easy enough to dig back out of the walls. This kind of wall is meant to stop shrapnel or maybe rifle fire. I don’t know how long it would handle a regular old brute force attack. Wish I knew what enhanced security or improved defences meant.”

‘I’m guessing the defences are the arrow slits and your ‘murder hole’ is what I think you called it. Not sure how’d they upgrade those. Improved security is maybe a better lock on the door? It’s kind of a shot in the dark isn’t it?”

“Fuck it, I’m going with upgrading the walls.” When I said the words the text box disappeared, I guess that’s all it took for the system to decide. Nothing else seemed to happen and Debbie and I both looked around for a second. She figured it out first.

“We should go outside, Jack. You can probably only see a difference in the walls from there.”

It sounded convincing enough I held the door for her and followed her out front. Sure enough, there was a big difference to the walls. My entire house looked like it was covered in ivy. It was thick and green, and appeared to have been growing there for a hundred years to get that kind of density. I reached out and tugged on a branch and it didn’t budge. I shrugged and pulled my knife and tried again. The stems were cuttable, not quite as tough as wood but harder to saw through than say a hemp rope. I realized that meant my house was pretty climbable now, but as I watched the cut I’d made in the ivy start to heal, I realized the trade off had definitely been worth it. Self healing walls on a fort? Yes, please.

I turned to Debbie to brag about it, but she was taking her hair down from the ponytail and I paused to watch as she shook it out. She saw me looking and grinned at me.

“Sure, the game recognized the bed as functional, but it’s getting late and we really should test it out, shouldn’t we?”

I took her hand and we went back inside the cabin.