arlie directly in the face. She groaned, rolling over on the thin ma

core that kept her alive. She coaxed it, pulling energy from the reserves she had built up overnig

Unit 9 reported. Suffi

till a disaster. The air was stale, the light was poor, and there was no

ment was waking up. She followed the sound of running water to

a handful of water. It was clou

els of parasites and ba

couldn't boil water every time she

n't have a high-tech water purifier-those were locked behind a lev

t to work. She layered the materials inside: cloth at the bottom, then

ng. He hobbled to the door, his face cr

he said, not looking up. "Go ba

elp." he

at the bucket of dirty w

dripped slowly through the layers, emerging at the bottom s

ire and poured a cup for Gavin. He took a si

he said. "Now, let's

s a sealed box, which was great for keeping out preda

Unit 9, consume 5% energy to harden this local clay and river stone into a cutting edge. A fa

k, gleaming stone in he

sticking to her cover story. "It's sharper than it looks. Com

ipped and cut through the rock, her muscles burning with the effort. Gavin held the heavy stone slab as it came free, grunting with

oom situation."

to rapidly weave and reinforce them with a binding resin she had extracted from the surrounding trees. She sectioned off a corner of the room with these sturdy, waterproofed woven pan

hole-in-the-ground latrines the rest

d, as she transformed the hovel into something almost livable. She thought of things he had never considered-

le. It was still small, still rough,

, her body screaming in protest. B

then reached out and gently ruffled her hair. The ge

" he said softly. "

ed her head, hiding her face. "It's just bas

ial to me.

he pulled up the file on the intermediate medical gel. She had enough of it in her invent

confirmed. However, optimal results require host bio-energy guid

ere yet. But

king at?" Gavin a

planning," she said. "I have an idea for yo

"Your leg... you can

d you to trust me. And I need you

d without hesitation.

d full of a warmth that made her stomach f

back to her datapad, her mind racing. She was

as going to find a place for