“Dinner will be ready in an hour” Terra said, dropping the huge thigh section into the pot they had salvaged from the rat folk.

“Frog legs again?” Mark asked, from his improvised workbench. “I Swear we’ve had those the last four days in a row,” he added that last part under his breath. Nevertheless, Terra heard him.

“What else is there to eat down here?” She asked sarcastically, “sure, we still have our emergency rations…but we already decided to save those for an actual emergency” she emphasized the last word, plopping down on a rock near the pot. After tossing a handful of the local vegetation in with the meat she slowly stirred the concoction.

“What about you,” she shot back at him. “Apart from helping me set and check the traps before breakfast and dinner every day, you’ve been elbow deep in that hunk of junk every time I look at you.” she motioned with her chin to the drone Mark had found in the roc nest. “Where did you learn how to do that anyway?” she added, dropping the irritated act.

“Sorry, sorry.” Mark said raising his hands in a helpless shrug, “it’s not the meat’s flavor so much as the fact that it’s from a sentient creature.” They had had this conversation every day since they had set camp in here five days ago. She had a point though, there really wasn’t anything else to eat down here. Seeing her eyes narrow dangerously, Mark hurried to change the subject.

“Anyway…you already saw my character sheet, right?” his question was mostly rhetorical but she nodded. “Well, when I was a kid, my dad ran an appliance repair shop.” Seeing that she was following along he continued. “I worked there starting just after my twelfth birthday, fixing busted microwaves, refrigerators, toasters…you name it. It was hectic, because my dad was always tinkering with things. Using Arrival technology to upgrade everything and breaking stuff more often than making it better…” he trailed off looking at the guts of the drone he was trying to fix.

“You enjoyed it then?” Terra prompted him, when he had been silent just a bit too long.

“Gods no,” Mark laughed. “I was a kid, forced to work in my dad’s shop fixing broken junk instead of playing with my friends. I ran away and joined the military first chance I got.” he looked up at her skeptical expression.

“That explains the military skills at least, but how are you so good at fixing things and all that business stuff if you hated it that much?” she asked.

“Ah…well, after a decade or two in the service I was ready to come back.” He said, looking at his hands. “It was a difficult time in Earth’s history and…after I got out, I ran back home as fast as I could. Thankfully my dad welcomed me home and I didn’t leave the workshop again until it was time for me to take over. He was born before Arrival so he didn’t get the anti-aging therapy like I did. After he was gone, I took over the business end of things and did that until…I came here.” He finished lamely, unwilling to elaborate.

“Think you can get it to work?” she asked, changing the subject. “Thanks to the two extra charging kits I found in the roc nest we were able to fully recharge the Mark III’s power cells, and hook up this hunk of junk’s power cell...I still can’t believe it takes twelve hours of sunlight hitting a ten-foot square solar collector to charge one power cell…anyway, think it will help?”

Mark looked up the cliff face where the three solar blankets were hooked up to the drone’s power cell. He didn’t mention it to her, but he was shocked that a solar collector, of any size, could charge a power cell with that much destructive potential at all. As impressive as it was, twelve hours of sunlight to charge one power cell wasn’t going to help them where they were going.

Dropping his eyes from the solar collectors he ran his gaze around their small campsite. It was a deep crack in the mountain, perhaps six hundred feet long and one hundred feet wide. They’d had to climb fifty feet up the nearly vertical walls to ensure the solar panels got full sun. Half the area was taken up by a pond. It was likely fed from the lake above because small numbers of frog kin kept showing up.

The only entrance they had been able to find, short of climbing out, was the small tunnel leading to the rat nest. Mark really liked it down here. The last week had been infinitely better than his first day in the tutorial.

“Well?” Terra said, growing tired of waiting.

“Right, sorry.” He said turning his attention back to her and trying to remember what she had asked, oh right, the drone. “I think so, though without the tool kit it wouldn’t have been possible.” The skeleton he had looted must have owned the drone, because the bag had held a good quality maintenance kit. “Honestly, I’ve done about as much as I can with it already. The last day or so, I’ve just been cleaning off corrosion and insuring there aren’t any loose wires. Best I can tell it works, though we won’t know tell I try to turn it on.”

Terra told him drones like this were controlled via the interface. He hadn’t been able to test it because the power cell had been depleted, but that would change by the end of the day.

“Good, get it put back together” Terra said. Stirring the pot as she talked, “it will be fully charged by tonight and I’d like to get camp cleaned and packed, so we can set out first thing in the morning.” She lifted the ladle to her lips and tasted the broth, making a face she threw in another handful of vegetation. “This isn’t quite done yet, let’s go over your gains while we wait. Then we can decide how to use these.” She finished with a gesture at one of the bags they had picked up.

Mark wanted to argue, again, but he knew by now it was pointless. At least she seemed to have his best interests in mind, or he wouldn’t have put up with her behavior. With a thought he pulled up his tutorial log and sent it to her, continuing to put the drone back together.

Tutorial Log

Survive 1st shuttle crash alive = 100 augmentation points Kill first enemy while suffering a surprise attack = 50 augmentation points Save aspirant Terra from death = 150 augmentation points Kill four frog kin in fighting retreat = 8 augmentation points Kill one frog elite in surprise attack = 20 augmentation points Kill two juvenile roc, assist = 20 augmentation points Kill forty-eight rat folks in nest extermination = 96 augmentation points Kill three frog kin in hunting traps = 3 augmentation points Repair badly damaged porter drone = 75 augmentation points

She told him it was bad form to give others access to his sheets, but the look on her face was worth it. She glared daggers at the air in front of her, opening and closing her mouth like she wanted to tear into him with her teeth.

“Well,” she said at last able to calm herself. “At least the tutorial understands how valuable I am, it’s clear in the number of points you got from helping me in the shuttle…and just how few points I’ve got from holding your hand this whole time.” She added spitefully, waving his screen away. “I’ll admit it’s a good start, but it doesn’t do you any good until you get to Landing. That’s why I think you should take them.”

Mark sighed in resignation as he screwed the cover on the now finished drone. Wiping his tools clean he put them back in the tool kit and stowed them in his bag. Finally, out of reasons to put off answering, he got up and moved to sit across from her.

“Listen, it’s not like I don’t want to get stronger. It’s just that I don’t feel right about taking them all. There are four in there, why not split them evenly?” he looked down at the bag that held four attribute enhancers. It seemed he wasn’t the only newbie out there that didn’t know what they were, and had died before they’d figured it out.

“Ok Mark,” she said looking him in the eye. “I wasn’t going to tell you this, but only two of these were from the roc nest.” He thought about the implications for a second. “That’s right, the other two were from my shuttle. One person can only benefit from the enhancers so many times before they stop working. Otherwise, what’s to stop someone from getting the stats and killing themselves over and over until they hit one hundred in everything?”

“But, who would do that?” be asked before “Oh,” he said wondering if he would ever stop saying that.

“Yea,” she said shrugging. “I was desperate, after dying so many times I figured why not. Thought maybe the stat boosts would help…turns out they did, but I hit a ceiling and still couldn’t get out.” she pulled out the vials and handed them over. “So, take them willingly, or I will shoot them into you while you sleep. Got me?” Knowing he’d lost; Mark accepted the enhancers. One after another he shot them into his leg.

“Alright, you win.” He said, tucking the empty syringes into his bag. “Care to tell me what I should be using them on?” he asked knowing she likely had that planned out too.

“As a matter of fact,” she said with a sultry grin. “I do have a suggestion.” Before he could comment she continued. “If your agility was at human standard, I’d tell you two each into endurance and strength. However, you are still suffering from that Old man body…so, we can’t go that route.”

“Gee, thank you so much, for pointing out once again that I’m a little out of shape.” He said with a sigh. “So, what can we do then?” he asked instead of getting upset.

“You are no fun to tease,” she said sticking out her lip in a pout before getting back on topic. “You have a few options. Your Mind stat is fine, you don’t need to update that until the rest of your attributes are up to par.” He could see her readying an Old man joke, but she somehow managed to reign it in. “So, you could either bring your agility, strength and endurance up to seven. Or, just bring it up to six and split the remaining three up between strength and endurance however you want.”

Mark bit the inside of his cheek in thought. Then pulled up his Character sheet to familiarize himself with it before deciding.

Name = Mark Lee

Age = 96 years old

Attributes (human standard = 6) you have 4 free attributes, assign them now?

Strength = 6 Endurance = 6 Agility = 5 Mind = 12 (9 of 12 available) 3 regeneration boosts available

Skills

Human firearms, long guns = 3 Human firearms, hand guns = 1 Earth Military knowledge = 2 Business acumen = 8 Appliance/drone repair = 5 Bludgeoning weapons = 1

Equipped,

See drop down for equipment?

Mark hadn’t looked at his sheet since the first day, deciding to follow Terra’s advice about not counting on it. He closed the equipment tab; it was convenient to know what he had on him at all times but it really wasn’t necessary to see it every time he looked at this page. Same went for his physical attribute’s capacity, he knew what he was capable of and didn’t need a screen explaining to him that something was heavy.

Reading the list there were changes he hadn’t expected. His long gun skill had increased by one, he didn’t feel any better than he had once been. In fact, he thought he was still pretty rusty. He concluded that his score had been adjusted for lack of practice and it would go up until he reached his former ability.

Next was his appliance repair skill, it now read appliance/drone repair. He wondered idly if he fixed a shuttle if it would change to appliance/drone/shuttle repair. The thought amused him but only fleetingly, the last change was his new skill, bludgeoning weapons = 1. He knew where he had gotten that one from. At least I got something from those frog kin, they really didn’t give shit for augmentation points. He thought, a bit morbidly.

After he had reacquainted himself with his Character sheet, he sat back and thought about what he had been doing since he arrived and what would help him the most going forward. It didn’t take long and he decided. With four taps on his mental interface, he distributed his free points and while his body changed, he forwarded his final sheet to Terra.

Name = Mark Lee

Age = 96 years old

Attributes (human standard = 6)

Strength = 7 Endurance = 8 Agility = 6 Mind = 12 (9 of 12 available) 3 regeneration boosts available

Skills

Human firearms, long guns = 3 Human firearms, hand guns = 1 Earth Military knowledge = 2 Business acumen = 8 Appliance/drone repair = 5 Bludgeoning weapons = 1

Equipped,

See drop down for equipment?

“What do you think?” he asked as his muscles swelled slightly and seemed to loosen up and lengthen. He moved his arms, it seemed like his range of motion had increased a little in addition to him feeling flushed with energy.

“Likely what I would have done in your place.” She said, waving his screen away after giving it a complete once over. “I’m curious, why did you go this route though?” she said watching his body settle down from the changes.

“I’ll never get used to that. I really have no idea how it changes me so fast. Anyway, I just thought about what I did since I got here. Seems like we will be moving, a lot, and being constantly exhausted didn’t sound like fun.” He said with a shrug.

“Good,” she said with a warm smile. “There might be hope for you after all. Also, it’s not instant.” She added.

“What do you mean?” he asked not following her last statement, still feeling the changes to his body.

“The changes, they don’t just magically happen. The syringe represents a fixed upgrade amount to the system. When you choose an attribute to alter it knows how much of an effect it will have and grants your avatar the abilities right away. Your real body, well it gets the upgrades too but…be thankful you don’t have to be awake for it.”

Her words caused him to shiver involuntarily. He thought back on what the Pilot had said about the augmentation pods. He vowed to himself right then to get all the upgrades he could between now and when he woke up again. If Terra’s face was anything to go by, the process wasn’t pleasant. That brought another question and he blurted it out without thinking.

“How do you know so much? When I boarded the shuttle, we just got gassed and dumped in the pods while we were unconscious. Pilot showed me a recording of me getting an implant to help reduce trauma, then she dropped in the shuttle.” He watched her face as he spoke checking for any reaction.

“Must be nice,” she said at last. “Guess they dropped the hand holding at some point between your time and mine. Makes sense really, if everyone from your generation is this weak.” Her face had twisted a little while she spoke, but she regained her control quickly. If it hadn’t been for all his years in business, he might have missed it. “Tell you what stud, you get me out of this tutorial and I’ll tell you all about me.” She deflected with a wink. “Now, let’s eat. Suns already setting and I want to be ready to go before bed.”

Mark let her deflection stand, accepting his bowl filled with humanoid frog seasoned with weeds. Was she a brain scan from a few thousand years ago? Was she one of the humans from the first trip after Arrival? That would make sense considering what she had said. Except she didn’t seem to have any connection with earth. Not as Mark knew it anyway. He shook the thoughts away; he’d figure her out eventually.

* * *

“You sure this is going to work?”

Terra asked the next morning. They had packed up camp the night before and just finished eating a cold breakfast. Mark had reinstalled the drone’s power cell and was attempting to connect with it via his interface.

“No idea,” he said distractedly while he worked. “Give me a minute, and we will know.” He was probably even more clueless than she was when it came to this kind of thing. He just needed to… “Got it,” he said excitedly.

Name = Porter drone

Type = Scree built drone, utility (modified)

Description = this rectangular drone has four corner propellers that fold in for easy storage. It also has four feet with load clamps. These feet also fold in for storage. The overall dimensions of this unit are 30”x24”x12”. Max load capacity = 200 lbs. max power cell life 72 hours unloaded.

Modifications = this unit has had a 24” steel round shield welded to its front end.

Requirements

Mind = 8

After reading over the description, he forwarded it to Terra. He waited for her to finish before he asked her any questions. Once she waved the screen away with a nod, he started asking.

“What is a Scree, why does this thing take eight Mind, isn’t that excessive for a luggage hauler? What…” He stopped when she raised her hand with a sigh.

“Listen Mark, we really don’t have time. The clock is already ticking if you want to get that thing through the caves with us.” She said cutting him off before he could get going. “I’ll answer the first two questions though. The Scree are aliens that look like bugs, they live in hives and have been known to breed until they completely cover the ground…hence the name, don’t know what they call themselves though. Next, this unit only requires so much Mind because you don’t have a control implant. Without that it takes more concentration from you and processing power from your interface.” She said, and likely knowing what was coming she added. “The point cost reduction will vary depending on how good the control unit you buy is. Can we go now?”

Mark wanted to grumble, but she had answered his questions well enough. With a bit of trial and error he figured out he could control the drone from his interface screen. It felt a little odd pushing buttons that only existed in his mind, but he made it work. Commands put in, he watched as the porter drone’s four corner propellers folded out and fired up.

Once it was airborne it flew over to the large pot, they had looted from the rat folk. They had loaded it down with all their extra gear, leaving their hands free. The legs unfolded next, clamp feet gripping the lip of the pot before lifting back into the air and coming to hover behind Mark. He had set it on a simple Follow command, and it seemed to be working so far.

“Ok las,” he said with a wink of his own. “Waiting on you.” He suppressed a smile as he watched her mouth moving silently again. She obviously wanted to make a snarky comment but she held herself in for once and just turned and crawled back into the small tunnel leading towards the rat nest. Not able to hold it in any more he began to laugh at how childish she could be.

“Eat it old man!” she yelled over her shoulder, slapping her ass before disappearing from his view. This only caused him to laugh all the harder, as he again followed her into the opening.

Twenty minutes later, they were all business again. Standing at the lip of what amounted to a vertical shaft in the floor leading straight down into the blackness. Mark ran his flashlight around the sheer walls as far down as he could see.

“This is as far down as I normally get,” she said. “I have made it to the bottom a few times, but the fall is brutal.” She qualified when he looked at her with raised brows.

“What makes you so sure there’s anything down there then?” he asked curiously, knowing there was likely something she wasn’t telling.

“Like I said, I have a better map. Besides, don’t you want to know? I’ve been nearly everywhere between here and Landing…except down this hole. There is something good down there, I know it. Now quit asking me dumb questions and help me figure out how to get down there” she said with a pout that was probably supposed to enchant him.

Mark didn’t believe her, not really. He knew by now that Terra was hiding things from him. It didn’t really bother him though. She was good company, and besides if he ended up dying and alone at the shuttle again…well, at least he already knew how to get off the plateau.

Looking around, he took in everything around him. Then opened his interface and read each of his pages trying to find something that could help, surprisingly he found it pretty quickly. With a laugh he looked at her with a shit eating grin, before giving a mental command to his drone and stepping off the ledge.

“What the…” he heard from overhead as Terra came to the lip to see him fall. He hadn’t fallen though; he had given an order to his drone to fly to the bottom of this hole. Once it was over the edge, he simply reached out and grabbed onto the lip of the cooking pot and rode it down.

The shaft was deeper than he had anticipated. He could hear the motors whining as he descended. Checking his interface, he noticed that he had gone over the two-hundred-pound max weight capacity. Thankfully he was going down and not up, otherwise this would never have worked. He gave a mental order to reduce thrust. It would speed his descent, perhaps dangerously so, but he didn’t want to burn up the drone’s motors on its maiden voyage.

It took him three minutes to reach the bottom, where he increased thrust to slow his fall before impact. Considering they had been close to free fall for most of that time, he didn’t want to know how deep they were. Having landed safely and avoiding injury, he took the cooking pot away from the drone and handed it the naginata, as it turned out that was the name of the long-bladed spear the frog elite had been holding, and sent it back up the shaft.

Not knowing what to expect down here, he shouldered his Mark III and sighted down the barrel. Eyes peeled for any movement, he waited for the drone to return with Terra. He had come down with the gear, and she weighed less than he did, so he hoped the trip would go smoothly. Nearly ten minutes passed before she landed next to him, arms and legs wrapped around the shaft of the naginata.

“A little warning next time” she said, with a punch to his shoulder. “Though I got to say, I’m glad I didn’t let you get rid of this drone. I just knew it would come in handy, despite how many times you told me it was a hunk of junk.” Mark rolled his eyes so hard he was afraid they would fall out.

“Whatever you say Terra,” he said looking around. “What now oh master of the upgraded map?” he asked, before being silenced by a deep rumbling from the darkness.

Raising his rifle, he looked into the gloom. There was no light down here except from the flashlights they had brought with them. Moving the beams around, he realized that as far as the powerful lights went, he couldn’t see any walls. He turned a three sixty, sure enough the shaft had dropped them into the middle of a massive cave so big he couldn’t see where it ended.

They heard the rumbling again, except this time it seemed like it was closer than before. It happened again, and he understood.

“Now,” Terra said readying her crossbow. “We get ready to either run, or fight whatever is making those footsteps.” They continued to circle, looking for the source of the rumbling steps.

Mark’s flashlight caught a reflection, and he moved it back to where he thought it had been. Two basketball sized orbs glinted back at him from twenty feet up, before blinking and narrowing at the sudden light.

“I vote run” he said with a squeak.