Thankfully, after agreeing to help immediately with the food efforts of the town, Tim returned our gear. Blobby and Anthony were still a touchy point for being allowed into the town, but we managed to come to an agreement to be able to feed them. I doubted the two wild creatures would starve even without our involvement, but I wanted the council and the Wild Guard to know they were valued members of our group.

With arrangements made for our pets, Samuel insisted that I help him deal with the food situation before I went off asking any of the other questions he knew I had. He managed to convince me by making the very logical argument that if we were going to be spending any length of time in Wildwood, we couldn't be a drain on their resources. Danny, before heading off to who knows where, also added that they would probably be more amicable to answer my questions if they were full of food we'd grown.

The effort of clearing the space took nearly the entire day. Unfortunately, my Skills didn't help much at all in the initial stages. The thick bladed grass had roots deeper than a reasonable cast of 's passive form could flatten. With consolidating the ground out from under it a bust, I channeled mana into my pickaxe. A flex of thought later and the crystal Trait it contained activated.

Beige colored crystals grew from the head of the pickaxe and I used my thoughts to direct its shape. Instead of the usual offensive form that I used to extend my reach, I turned it into a makeshift scythe. The crystal crawled down the pointed end of my pick and then flattened. Rock-demolishing-turned-grass-demolishing instrument in hand, I mowed down swath after swath.

One of the Wildwoodians had given Sam a machete of his own. With the two of us cutting, the wide field was cleared by sundown. My Mana pool and my back, however, were more than a bit displeased by the development. Even with occasional from Sam to clear away the soreness, there was a bone deep weariness that didn't have anything to do with lactic acid.

At some point during the day, Tim returned with jerky for our midday meal. It looked similar to the steak from before, just dried and tougher.

"Yeah, that's spider steak. They are harder to deal with than the ants, but they are very nutritious. At least, that's what I'm told," the fae said after I asked him.

I stopped mid chew to contemplate whether or not I was okay eating bugs. However, it wasn't hard to realize that it was just like any other creature. They could be eaten and it was all that was available. Plus it still tasted great.

Meals aside, when the world started to lose light we headed for our borrowed home. Daniela was already snoring up a storm. Samuel and I took turns rinsing ourselves off with a bucket before both of us collapsed in bed. If I knew Samuel, he was not going to let me go until the only work left was what only he could do. Tomorrow would be just as hard if not more.

As I laid back, I pulled up my full Status.

Subject: Ronan Terrigan

Health: 100% (Unafflicted)

Mana: 100%

Metier Quotient: 4 (5%)

Dreg Accumulation: 6%

LPS: Wildwood, FL

Communications

Skills - (2) Selections Available

Traits - (69% Banked)

Attributes - Growth Quantified

Skills:

Offensive - / Imbue / Materialize

Defensive - Direct / /

Misc -

-

Traits:

Limestone Skin

Unformed (0%)

Attributes:

Attributes:

Strength: 1.52

Mobility: 1.41 >1.42

Perception: 1.63

Refinement: 1.26 > 1.27

Containment: 2.08

The growth I'd experienced since coming to the surface was unprecedented for me. While each Quotient or slight Attribute increase was relevant, I pondered how the surface had changed me and my friends within.

As safe as life in the Bunker had been it was devoid of purpose. Not only that, but the requirements and difficulty with birth made it so that the three of us were the only children to ever come of our Bunker. It was a sad existence. Not to say I wanted to have died thanks to the Fall, but life without a goal or even contentment was barely worth living. It was the same as feeling alone in a room full of people.

Now that we knew there were survivors, other humans struggling for their own futures, everything had more meaning. The boons, and banes, of one's actions rippled out to others.

I was determined to make my ripples as positive as I could.

---+---

The next morning while Sam discussed his plans for the new farm, Sarah paid us a visit.

"I come bearing gifts. From what Tim told me, I doubt you three have had this before," she said. There was a closed tray in her hand which she opened to reveal eggs.

We'd never seen them outside of the media downloaded to the Bunker. Danny's Father, Juan, could often be heard mumbling about it and bacon after a batch of tofu was made. 'Salmonella be damned!' he would shout at the end. Quite a strange scene.

All of those thoughts were secondary as we dug in. I had no idea where Sarah had gotten the food or where Tim had gotten the steak from the day before, but I wasn't going to question it. Daniela, on the other hand, did.

"This tastes amazing. Please, tell me there are more. If not, tell me how I can get some more," she said between bites.

Sarah chuckled unbridled. It was a bit hoarse and reverberating thanks to her tusks, but it was full of mirth.

"You know, when Tim told me you were Bunker born I thought he was joking. Seeing you lot react to eggs? I think that about confirms it for me."

"You have no idea," she mumbled. "I thought that the hydroponics fish and plants were great until we got this stuff. I need to talk to your cooks!"

"I will let you spend time with them today then." Sarah paused as she turned to regard me and Sam. "I'll say you two are doing the impossible in just a day."

All I could manage was a shrug as I stuffed a scrambled and a fried version of the eggs in my mouth.

"Pardon the beasts. They know not what they do," Danny said, smiling at Sarah. There was an egg yoke mustache on her face but no one told her about it.

"I do have to ask... What are those things?" Sarah pointed to the daggers sheathed in Danny's belt as well as my pickaxe.

The question gave me pause and I scrutinized Sarah. Over the last two days she's been much nicer than on our arrival. Whether that was deliberate or organic I couldn't tell. However, we'd already put out one of our biggest secrets as Bunker born. The Entity would remain a secret, and so would the Implants, for now. However, the knowledge to strengthen the people of the surface?

"Come here," I said, wiping my hands on my shirt. It was filthy anyway, but it was the thought that counted.

Sarah looked to my friends for a moment. When they didn't react at all she took a step to stand less than a foot from me.

I reached up to her forehead and placed my palm on it. Remembering the Entity's directions, I willed the Miscellaneous Skill to pass to her. My mana pool plunged deep. It wasn't as bad as when I'd given it to the other Bunkerites. Since I'd increased my Quotient and I wasn't giving her the other Miscellaneous Skill, the transfer was over fairly quickly. One surprising thing that happened was that a prompt appeared at the edge of my vision.

I didn't know I could form Skills myself. Why didn't this happen when I passed the Skills to the other in the Bunker? Once again, the Skill description was inane and unhelpful. The implications of just what the Skill could do, and how I'd managed to make it, ran in the back of my mind as I focused back on the orc woman.

The discomfort of emptying nearly 40% of my mana passed while Sarah sat back against the wall. Her eyes had a far away look as she processed the dump truck's worth of information I'd provided. She remained like that for several minutes while we ate.

"Holy crap!" She shouted, jumping to her feet. "How did you do that?"

"Maybe I'll tell you when we are better friends. However, it should let you create stuff like this should you have the correct materials and Infusions."

"No wait. We can do some of what the Skill taught me... Why did I just call it a Skill and not a Gift?" she asked herself. There was a strange expression on her face; it lay somewhere between horror, wonderment and confusion. The addition of her tusks made the expression even more complex.

"You all keep using that word: Gift. What does it mean? We sort of just call what we do Skills," I asked, finally getting one of my major questions out of the way. I had a sneaking suspicion of what the answer was, but I wanted to hear it from her.

"The Sk--Gift. It is what we call the ability to use magic. It comes in different shapes and intensities. First is using alignment cores to give energy to things, this... Infusing. That's the most common. Then there are Gifts like my flame hair, similar to my dad. Mom... well, lets just say she could grab onto something and never let go. As far as I can tell its somewhat random, but only the Fallen have them. Those from before the Fall have their mutations. They were the changes that some lady called Ingrid Metier said could happen as a result of exposure. Apparently she discovered the radiation or something."

My tongue caught in my throat at the mention of my grandmother. A grandmother that I hadn't known much about until recently.

"We've heard of her, yes. Most of the people from the Bunker were from before the Fall. As a matter of fact, only us three are what you would consider Fallen," Sam said quickly. I gave the man a weak smile for picking up the conversation before I could reveal something or let suspicious silence linger. My friends had left me to deal with the revelations of my past, and I was glad that they had. Mostly because I'd been ignoring them unless I was talking to my uncle.

Thankfully, Sarah's surprise at his words were enough to keep her from focusing on my reaction. The stoic face that she'd used to greet us returned, as if the revelation that we were the only Fallen meant she could no longer trust us. My Perception noted her body language instantly. Relatively speaking, it hadn't increased an insane amount, but since I'd started using it for combat the subtlest of shifts looked like flailed motions.

"How is that possible?" she asked.

"Since I am the only one still with both of her parents, I'll answer. Their mothers died. In childbirth. The result? They disintegrated into Infusions. Suffice it to say the other fertile people in the Bunker took a big 'No-Babies' approach to life. So, there you go. Happy?" Daniela said, stepping between Sam, me and Sarah.

The orc woman recoiled from my friend's intensity, but it had the intended effect. Her body relaxed where she was sitting. "I'm sorry. We don't get many new people. Not since I was a child. The ones we have gotten have always been... wrong."

"The Tendrils?" I asked, hoping to change the subject. Her nod was all the answer I needed. "Care to tell us what you know about the Fall? And, particularly, how you came to deal with the Tendrils for protection."

"Direct aren’t you?" When I didn't respond, she shrugged helplessly.

"I wasn't around for the early days, but my father has told me plenty. Everyone really. We hold a festival after the first chill in remembrance of all those lost and losing. Anyhow, the only thing of note about the Fall itself was that the Crystals didn't level the surface of the planet. Scientists all over were expecting the planet to turn into one giant fireball or something. Instead, only some of the crystals impacted like that. The regions that were hit were decimated pretty thoroughly.

"Most of the power was gone within the first year. The animals started to change almost immediately, especially the insects." Sarah paused for a moment to shiver as if remembering some terrible memory. "I've seen more than any one person should."

"How did you all make it?" Sam asked, clearly caught up in the story.

"Guns. Lots and lots of guns." Sarah pantomimed shooting a pistol with her finger. Had she not had a serious expression on her face, I would have laughed at the visual. "Councilman Kirby told us that the governments of the world focused on dealing with the ocean and mountain creatures. Apparently they were deadly enough that the country folk had to be left to fend for themselves. When connection with the world finally deteriorated, well, it was every person for themselves. Not the best case scenario when the world ends.

"When travel became too hard between the cities due to the mutated animals, everyone entrenched themselves," she waved vaguely around herself. "That's when they built the palisade. Back before the fuel ran out and the Gifts started to show. At some point, Kirby and my father were able to broker a deal with the Tendrils. We would be their stomach and they would be our shield. Some such nonsense is how they put it."

The entire time she was talking I was trying to corroborate the information with what I knew of the surface. It all matched, and it indicated that for years there had been a higher intelligence than just instinct to guide the Tendrils. Why they attacked now seemed like too much of a coincidence.

"How did these tributes work? Did they just demand too much?"

"They did demand too much, not because it was more food. We could have managed, somehow. They wanted people. I made the executive decision to tell Galloway where he could shove that." Her voice grew heated at the reminder.

"Do you think he'll come back?" I asked, watching her expression.

"Oh, I am counting on it. The Guard will be ready this time. The New Hope team should be back tomorrow and we will personally oversee the west fields. Our battle ruined a lot of crop, but I am hopeful we can recover a fair bit."

"I won't say we will remain indefinitely, but the Tendrils are no friends of ours. We will get you your farm whatever it takes," I said. My friends nodded in agreement.

"There isn't much I can offer you, but if you can get that field producing food then that will go a long way to us making it through the winter and having stores if the bastard tries to siege us," Sarah said, smiling.

"We appreciate your time. Knowing that there are humans already staking their claim on the surface is payment enough," I said with a grin. There was a resonance between Sarah and I. I didn't think it was something romantic, no. It was a connection borne of kindred spirits, of the knowledge that we both would do absolutely anything to keep our people moving forward. The Dreg were an obstacle of unknown size, but I was confident that Wildwood would stand with us. Plans for improving their lives, and our own back at the Bunker, were already speeding through me.

"Actually, there is one thing I can do for you." The woman's orcish smile almost sent a shiver down my spine, but she was up and at it before I could even process it. "I'll grab the others and give you the private tour."