Phobos thought for a few moments and finally decided to do a form of a mechanical IF function. Of course, as what he is about to do most likely predates programming or even computers it would be wrong to call it an IF function but this was the easiest way for him to imagine it.

It would be nothing complicated. It would follow a few general rules. If there is a pull of energy from the restaurant it would be directly supplied from the solar panels. If there is a surplus of energy it would be stored in the batteries. If there is a pull of energy from the restaurant but the panels can not supply them it would be pulled from batteries.

That was the basic idea Phobos followed. He had to make some detectors and other small improvements but there was not much to it. After finishing he felt that he should leave future electrical circuit design to somebody else. Most likely it would be left to Hera after all she is an expert in the field.

Phobos felt that it was more effective if he left the initial product for someone else to make. After all, he was sure that if Hera saw what he had done would feel like a child designed it but he didn’t know what else to do.

If Hera gave him even a half-assed product but with a good initial design he would improve its functionality to the limit of the design and then even further on top. If Phobos had to, he could even use the design he made and improve on top of it until it was a real intelligent system. But that would be a waste of energy and effort. It would be way more efficient to have a mature design initially and when Phobos improved it, it would take way less to reach the intelligent system.

He didn’t like inefficiencies. Although he was basically learning as he improved items and when he made an item again he could use what was previously learned to the initial design but getting a mature product did not prevent him from learning all the intricacies inside of it. Starting from scratch was worse on all sides.

Leaving the power distribution block aside he went to the solar panels that were not yet installed and improved them one by one.

While Phobos was focused on improving the solar panels, Hera was leaning on the doorway looking at Phobos. It could be seen that her eyes were focused on him but her thoughts were floating around. Since this morning Hera had been feeling somewhat dazed all the time.

She could feel that when Phobos touched her head in the morning that something went missing. Hera was functioning on autopilot the whole day. However when the mutant attacked she broke out of her stupor. When she saw the crazy mutant charging through the restaurant her whole body went into overdrive but was extremely calm as well.

At that time she was alone in the main space. Diana and Eve were setting up the solar panels on top. Hera felt that the time was moving slower as the mutant was plowing through the tables. She instinctively reached for the gun that Phobos had given her. She aimed without rushing and shot right in the forehead of the monster.

However, the mutant was just pushed back a few steps, stopped for a second, and continued. Hera was quite surprised at the thickness of the mutant's skull. It was not a simple thing to stop the bullet. Although the place where Hera hit was the thickest part of the body but a normal human skull wouldn’t stand the power of a bullet.

Although a little surprised as Hera felt that everything was happening in slow motion she just calmly aimed again. Since she awakened her word she felt that everything in the world was clearer. So she could pinpoint where she wanted to shoot and as she did, there was an additional hole in the mutant's eye. Then it came to an abrupt stop and fell to the ground unmoving.

Diana and Eve came to check what was happening but Hera just sent them back to continue installing panels and she went to repair the door. After Hera's whole body was washed by adrenaline and multiple other hormones she felt that her mind was working a little better.

Hera understood what was missing from her mind. Phobos had removed the so-called “brainwashing” that his mother had placed on Hera. In reality, when Hera lost her parents she lost her meaning to live. When Phobos’s mother showed up and tried to brainwash her, she just gave Hera an option. Hera not wanting to feel despair anymore she just let happen.

If Hera wanted she was certain that she could have resisted with no problem but she just wanted the pain to stop. Gaining a new purpose to serve Phobos was a relief for her. Now that Phobos had cleared it she didn’t feel the despair and pain of losing her parents. Long enough time had passed she had coped with the loss. However, she felt a gap in herself and the meaningless of life on some level was even stronger.

As she watched Phobos working on the panels she started to fill that gap with him again. It could be said that Hera found her way to Phobos in a bad way but that didn’t mean that she regretted it. Phobos has always taken care of her even if he emphasizes every time that he doesn’t care about her.

Hera was with Phobos by coincidence but she wondered why Eve wanted to follow him. When she was “brainwashed” she just followed what Phobos wanted and what was good for him. When Hera analyzed Eve in that state it was just a profit vs danger assessment.

Hera at the moment was almost certain that Eve didn’t have any thoughts when she declared that she wanted to follow Phobos. Eve tended to make decisions based on her instincts.

If Hera had to logic it out she could figure it out somewhat. Even though Phobos tended to be lazy he had the talent to delegate tasks to the right people and although he was leaning toward being unfeeling he had a clear view of the world that wasn’t clouded by emotions.

Hera especially understood why Eve wanted to push so many women his way. Phobos’s main asset was his charm. Especially his charm to women. He could easily gain and retain the loyalty of the women around him. Eve, having followed Phobos of course, wants the object of her servitude to be exceptional. That would affirm that her choice to follow was the right one.

Eve basically wanted to make Phobos something akin to a cult leader. She wanted to build something like a polygamous cult of personality focused on Phobos. Hera felt that Eve didn’t really have any end goal or even any agenda she was just finding something to do and playing around.

The only purpose may be that Eve was trying to make Phobos the best version of himself. Although the world wouldn’t acknowledge a cult leader as the best version of a person but Eve didn’t care about normal human norms. Eve just knew that Phobos was best suited for such a position and best fit his temperament.

Although a cult leader wouldn't be the right definition. Something like a spiritual head of a company or the center of a given group is just as appropriate. Phobos didn’t have the ambition or motivation to lead a group but his presence alone had the ability to keep a group together. Especially if it’s predominantly female

Hera focused her eyes on Phobos once again. She stopped wondering why Eve would follow Phobos. Rather she followed her example and chose to follow Phobos of her own accord. Hera didn’t have that complicated of an idea. She just liked the feeling of not having to find the meaning of life as Phobos will be her meaning. Hera knew Phobos enough to know that he would never hurt her.

Even if she didn’t decide to serve Phobos as Eve does and she did until now, she couldn’t live without him either way. The years she had spent with him aren’t forgotten because she got rid of the little influence she was under before. The feeling Hera developed for Phobos really couldn’t be described with words. She would be forever bound to Phobos even if he didn’t believe in that.

Hera just chose to continue to follow him as a servant/slave/assistant because she knew that was least complicated for Phobos and without much changes. There was the bonus of not having to worry about meaning, she would leave that to Phobos. Hera closed her eyes and she could almost physically feel how Phobos was filling her spiritual world. He once again became the root of all her thoughts and ideas.

In the meantime, Phobos didn’t know any of this. He was focused on repairing the solar panels. He felt something through the connection they had established and looked back to see Hera with closed eyes leaning on the doorway but didn’t explore much and just continued to focus on the panels. Just as he was done he saw that everybody had gathered around.

“Okay everyone let's install everything fast so that we have enough charge for the night.”

The girls agreed without complaining and Phobos led them to start installing panels. It was a sunny season so they should be able to scrap enough sunlight to power the fridge through the night. With the number of solar panels maintaining a full charge on the batteries wouldn’t be a problem in daily operation but as they were bottomed out at the moment and half the day had already passed, there was a chance it wouldn’t be enough. Of course, they could always leave the van working in the night but Phobos wanted to detach it from the restaurant.

Everyone worked without much noise and they were done in an hour and a half. This was only possible mainly because of Phobos’s and Hera’s exceptional physical ability. Even those that hadn’t awakened like Anna, Alice, and Megan had gained a small enchantment while they were in a coma the first night. So everybody worked fast.

After they were done setting up the solar panels everybody began to make lunch. The only one not joining in the preparation was Phobos. After setting up the solar panels he felt that his obligations had ended. Of course, he didn’t feel any such obligations, to begin with, but when he secured electricity and subsequently the food that would be able to be preserved for the foreseeable future, he felt that he could discard all other burdens.

For now, he wanted to focus mainly on his ability. There would surely be something that he wanted to do later on that would be beneficial to the group but with no fear of starving his sense of responsibility hit the bottom.

Phobos knew that they weren’t safe from food shortage down the line but for at least a few months he wouldn’t have to worry. He was even more sure that his turn to worry about food wouldn't come. Hera and Eve wouldn't let him. They would secure food and supplies easily when needed. In reality, he was useful in this situation because his ability was perfectly applicable. However if Phobos didn’t have such an ability, Eve and Hera would have perfectly dealt with the situation.

Sustained food would be a worry for a later date. If Phobos had to be honest he didn’t have anything else to do. Helping in the kitchen would be perfunctory. There were already six people in the kitchen.

Phobos didn’t have any real cooking skills but felt confident that he would surpass them all easily with his improvement ability. However, he disliked doing anything as a chore or the so-called obligatory work. His financial position has allowed him to be wayward but even without it for some reason, Phobos had a belief deep in his heart that he wouldn't have to work hard in his life.

Phobos waited patiently for the food to be done. The table was filled with a variety of different dishes. There were a bit more meat dishes so that the meat which had short shelf life could be used when in the best condition. There were still two freshly baked loaves of bread as flour was one of the most abundant resources they had. Watching the full table and everyone that was already seated Phobos said what was on his mind.

“Everyone, now that the basic necessities are secured there is no need to rush into any decision. We should focus on our safety. Of course, you can do whatever you want but do mind that it isn’t that safe out there.”

Phobos was mostly addressing the people whom he didn’t know well. He didn’t mean much, just wanted everyone to make calm decisions. The shortage of necessities or more accurately the danger to one's life leads to panic. Panic leads to rushed decisions, which in most cases leads to even more danger.

He didn’t see much rejection from the women on the table. Most likely because everyone had witnessed that the world wasn’t that safe at the moment. Even the restaurant wasn’t a safe place. After all, it was attacked by a mutant a couple of hours ago. Of course, it was relatively safer with four awakened people and a gun.

There may be a lot more secure gatherings in other parts of the city but that doesn’t always mean that they are better. The least of which this group offered was electricity and food for the foreseeable future.

While other groups could maybe offer a more protected environment from the mutants but they were most likely with a chaotic inside. After all, it was only the second day after the change. There would be new struggles for power even if pre-established groups were gathered together.

Seeing that the group mostly approved, Phobos didn’t add anything. While having their meal there was a bit of small talk. Getting to know the members of the group. Mostly recounting what happened during the morning.

Once in a while, Eve’s bewitching voice could be heard in between the talk. It may seem like the most normal sentence but there were hidden meanings in every word. Phobos wasn’t affected as it wasn’t targeted to him. It was mostly for the four new girls. Influencing them to have a more positive view of Phobos.

Phobos didn’t care much he had already been accustomed to Eve. He had already tried to persuade her numerous times but she didn’t listen. Apparently in her view loyalty to serving someone didn’t mean to follow his every command but to help him make the best decision. Phobos wasn’t aware how sending a bunch of women to his bed was the best decision but didn’t mind much.

Phobos had once told Eve to try and influence him to do something or change his ideas and she did try but didn’t succeed. Phobos didn’t understand why it didn’t work but Eve explained that it was mostly because of his indifferent personality and because he was content with his life.

Eve explained that she wasn’t really brainwashing people but just using their desires against them. As Phobos was naturally with few desires it was not that effective.

After the meal, everybody scattered to do their own thing. Phobos first went around and fixed all the lightbulbs. Someone had already changed all the ones that had exploded but he had to go around and use his ability to fix any that didn’t work even if they were new out of the box.

Almost all bulbs had been damaged even if they weren’t connected to electricity. All of the lights that were replaced were LED, so there was not much electricity drain which was good. After all, although they had gained a sustainable energy source, it was not endless. Especially when it was just set up and the batteries had no charge.

It didn’t take Phobos long to fix all the lights. After he was done he went to the room they slept because he needed a quiet place to focus. He had been neglecting a serious problem. That problem was the inability to access the free energy in the world.

It was nice for Phobos to be able to feel where and what Hera and Eve were doing through their link but if it hindered their access to massive amounts of energy which would make them exponentially stronger it didn’t make sense to keep it. That was if Phobos was even capable of removing it.

That is why he sat down and entered a semi meditative state. In it, he urged his improvement power to find a way to access the energy while still connected to Hera and Eve. But after a while, he felt that it was going nowhere.

Phobos then started to explore the connection he had with them. It was more than just a psychic link. There was a spiritual chain connecting them. When he began exploring the connection he felt like he was following a spiritual thread that went to Hera and Eve.

Phobos opened his eyes and he could physically see the thread going from himself through the floor where Hera and Eve were. After being aware of it he could choose to see or hide it at will.

But that was not his purpose. Phobos started concentrating again. He was exploring to find a way to gain energy or to cut the connection between them. However, as he was doing that he didn’t have conscious thought.

There was a lot of information passing through his mind but Phobos didn’t control it. More so he had given up control and was utilizing his ability to the maximum. Rather than the brain being the main controller, it was just being used as a processing unit for the ability with the main directive of finding energy.

In that state, he didn’t have a good sense of time but he could feel his energy drain from him and he had calculated that it would take about four hours to finish his saved energy. And that was thanks to him using his brain as a processing unit if he were to rely solely on his ability it would drain his energy in less than an hour.

All that exploring was not useless. At the two-hour mark, Phobos found that the link between him, Hera, and Eve could transfer energy. That would be useful as he could siphon a bit of energy to extend the exploration of the link but even better was that Phobos thought of a worst-case scenario that wasn’t so bad.

He would just become an eating machine. If they were not able to access the free energy that was floating in the world, Phobos would just start eating nonstop so that he could supply himself as well as Hera and Eve.

Phobos didn’t care that much about his inability to access the energy. Although he had tasted the sweetness it would just accelerate his growth but the lack wouldn’t hinder him much. But Hera and Eve would be a lot behind if they didn’t take advantage of the abundant free energy. Especially Eve because her ability didn’t seem to have big growth potential as opposed to Phobos and Hera.

Of course, that was dependent if a person was even aware of and could utilize the free energy however he wanted. Phobos thought that he was a bit of an exception with the amount of energy he could access because of two reasons. First was because his ability was very energy-hungry but it had a compounding effect and second that he targeted to improve his energy storage and absorption.

People like Diana and Eve that had abilities that didn’t target self-improvement would gain much from the free energy. At most, it would make their ability a bit stronger at a faster rate but wouldn’t have a big effect.