Lair by Carl Stubblefield (recommended reading TXT) 📕

in the sandals and it was a relief to not be stabbed with random sharp objects or baked in the burning sand. His stamina and HP were greatly conserved and he made much quicker progress now that he didn’t have to stop so often. He followed his path back to the shelter by the crushed plants and where he’d left footprints in the sand.

It was still awkward cruising around the island naked. Now that he had something to cut with, he would soon rectify that problem and avoid sunburns in sensitive areas. On the space station, he had practically no tan at all, and everyone generally wore full-body jumpsuits. He could tell he was already pushing it with the amount of ‘exposure’ he had been subjected to on just this little trip.

Chapter Eight

History

Day 2 1:39 PM

12:22:57 remaining

Gus dropped the bamboo he’d been dragging and decided to take a quick break in the shade before finishing his clothing. He sat on his thinking spot and gave his body a rest. He was feeling hungry again and thought about trying to fish, or finding one of those crabs he had seen earlier.

He felt happy. For the first time in a long time, he was satisfied with the direction his life was taking him. Up to this point, he really had no long-term plans, or dealt with the thought that this could be his new permanent home. The thought should have filled him with anxiety, but he was enjoying the solitude.

Still, a part of him wanted to show the world what had happened. Especially his father and brother. Not quite yet, but when he had leveled up a bit and was well on his way. Bam! How ya like me now, suckers? The only sour note was the countdown timer, mercilessly clicking off time.

Gus had always been withdrawn, and his friends often had to cajole him to join them when they wanted to go out and do something instead of staying at home playing video games, playing D&D, or watching a movie. He liked those he was close with, but it drained his batteries to be out and about, and work often took the lion’s share of that energy.

Before the nanobots, he thought that if it was fate for him to stay on this island forever, he would be ok with it. He could see himself living here as a reg, as long as he could figure out more of the basics and make himself comfortable. Now, however, things had changed.

He had opportunities and abilities that would be wasted if he were stuck on the island. Plus, he felt restless. Even after a short break, he felt anxious to get up and do something, anything to stay busy. At home, he could lounge around forever; now he felt like he had energy to burn. There was also a mental shift as well, his mind searching for things to occupy itself. It was probably his new status, but he longed to level anything and everything, not wasting a moment.

Still, he had some things to do before he could go all out on the ‘good stuff.’ He reviewed his current situation. First, make some clothes, and figure out issues with food supply. He would have to come up with something so he wasn’t just spending most of his time hunting and gathering.

His shelter would need upgrading in case whatever had woken him up last night decided to see what humans tasted like. Once that was sorted, he needed to get off the island.

“Nick, would the nanobots protect me if I went through the shield around the island again?”

“It is doubtful, without the protection of the suit. You were fed intravenously and kept afloat during that time. The suit also allowed you to breathe while floating. Even if you made a raft, it is unlikely you would be able to direct it out of the field while unconscious.”

“Well that sucks.”

“The presence of such a shield would suggest that there are support structures somewhere on the island. One would not invest in such protection without something valuable to protect.”

“True, I hadn’t thought of that. Ok, once I get stabilized here, I can search for a way to turn off the shield. Looks like I won’t have a lazy island vacation after all, with so much to do. Break time’s over.”

Gus went back to camp and put his new blade to use. Razorback cut the fabric of the suit easily, and he separated the helmet from the rest of the suit. He left a strip of the suit attached to the helmet to act as a handle. Testing it, the material remained firmly attached.

By carefully cutting, he made a pair of shorts from the outer skin of the suit. The way the suit was designed he had two sides of the shorts that he had to tie together along the edges with small knots made of tiny strips of material. The waist was also way too large, so he cut a long thin strip of material and then made alternating holes around the waist. Twisting his strip, he wove it in and out of the shorts and tied the end into a knot. Not super supportive, but he felt less exposed and vulnerable with the small piece of clothing.

Taking his helmet with him to act as a basket, Gus scavenged the nest area and found ten eggs from different nests. He took these back to camp and thought about using sea water to boil them, but was afraid they would end up too salty and inedible. Leaving the eggs in camp, he made the trip to the stream and filled the visor with fresh water after cleaning and rinsing it. Taking a deep drink, he headed back to camp.

Gus cleaned and opened four coconuts with Razorback. Drinking the coconut water, he filled the coconut halves to store some of the water from the visor for drinking. He rekindled the fire and set the visor to heat