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  He pocketed the leaf and turned his attention to the chest. When he did, six inventory boxes in two neat rows appeared above it. A few of the slots were filled. Curious, Felix opened the chest and looked inside. There were items inside as well, and after he compared the two, the lists were the same.

  As for the chest itself, it used to be primarily a food storage. Unfortunately, the food had gone bad long ago. The only other thing of note inside was a small stack of vines, which Felix inventoried as well. More vines or rope did not hurt.

  Felix wondered who had lived here. How long ago was that? What happened to them? Did they get rescued? Move somewhere else? A grimmer fate? There was no way of telling, but one thing was certain. Someone besides Koale and himself had been on the island in the recent past.

  Maybe, just maybe, Felix wasn’t alone here after all.

  Climbing out of the ruins of the hut was unpleasant, but not difficult. By the time Felix was safely on the ground outside, his ankle throbbed. He would have sat for a rest, but he was not positive he would be able to get back up again.

  Makeshift crutch under one arm, spear in the other, Felix limped back to his base.

  Climbing up the ladder was a particular pain, but he made it up. Inside the house, he slumped against the tree. He pulled off the remains of his boot. It wasn’t faring too well in the jungle and was more tear than boot at this point. Underneath his ankle was not looking great. It was swollen and tender to the touch.

  Felix pulled out the medkit. Without the autodoc for diagnosis he was at a bit of a loss. He was pretty sure if it was just sprained, binding it would help. If it were broken though, that would be more of an issue. He already had no food; he couldn’t just wait for it to heal. He could use the medites, and they would fix the problem, regardless, but they were in very limited supply.

  If he had even a small food stockpile, he might have waited to see if the ankle would heal up on its own. He didn’t, however, and he couldn’t take the risk. He injected a dose of medites into the wounded area.

  Immediately his ankle numbed. With a sigh of relief, Felix relaxed. It would take a while for the actual repairs, even for the speedy nanites. That meant a long, hungry night for Felix.

  It was still mid-afternoon and too early to sleep. Felix tried to find something to keep his mind busy and off his stomach’s complains.

  He pulled out the newly found research leaf.

  Bioluminescent Goo

  Researched tiers: I

  Properties: sealant;

  Traits: Unknown

  That was interesting, if not overly helpful. Felix had yet to see any craft that required a sealant as a material. He reached up and set the leaf on the research desk with the rest. With any lucky, it would come in handy in the future.

  Felix was wrong about it being too early to sleep. As he laid back to wait, his eyes drew closed and he was out.

  When Felix awoke the next day, his ankle still hurt, but it functioned. Felix lowered himself to the ground and made the rounds to the snares.

  One of the snares out by the waterfruit tree held a cobb. The one under his base looked like it had caught something, but whatever it was had chewed through the vine. Felix suspected it had been the numb squirrel, and his annoyance with the creature grew.

  He couldn’t get too upset with food ready to be cooked. He made a note to fix the snare later, but first he had more pressing concerns.

  He squatted next to his firepit and dressed the cobb. He still felt it strange to butcher what looked very much like a plant, but that is how this place worked. In no time at all Felix had cobb roasting on the spit. While it cooked, he planned.

  With the vines he had taken from the ruined hut, he nearly had all the materials he needed to finish off his furniture. One good haul of lumber would be enough to complete it. After that, Felix needed more food.

  Felix had proven yesterday that he was still no hunter. He got hurt just trying to check an old, empty house. His next attempt would have to be better.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  Felix stood on the ground and looked up at his new base. It was certainly something.

  The waterfruit tree stretched toward the sky. The lowest branches braced a platform that circled the tree. A ladder hung off the edge. On top of the platform, a little house was built encircling the tree. The walls were made of rough hewn wood and held together by vines. The roof had the broad waterfruit tree leaves serving as shingles.

  From inside the door, there was a crate straight in front against the tree trunk. To one side, a slipshod chest to store his extra goods, and on the other, the grandest thing he’d seen in weeks. He had a bed. Yes, the padding was just leaves, and yes the craftsmanship left much to be desired, but it was a bed.

  Taken all together, his base was primitive and ugly. But it was his, and he had laid out the plans and made it, all on his lonesome while everything went wrong all around him.

  He wished he could share this with Koale. That old lizard would be positively thrilled to have a solid base of operations to plan his schemes out of.

  Felix sighed. That thought brought him back to harsh reality. It was still early in the day, and while he had worked on the furniture, he also worked on a way to let him catch bigger prey than the snares allowed without ending up as lunch for something else.

  The problem, so far as Felix could see it, was two-fold. First, Felix didn’t know where the proper place to find creatures looked like. Secondly, the creatures around here were much better at killing than he was.

  Felix set out from his base. He wanted to get some distance from his base before he tried anything. He found himself a tree with branches he might reasonably climb to.

  Below his chosen branch, Felix piled the offal from the earthworm and the glider. With any luck, that should take care of his first problem and something would come to him.

  He climbed up to the branch. He had taken the time earlier to make something he hoped would give him an edge when something did show up. He pulled a net out of his inventory and readied it to be dropped below.

  He readied his spear and leaned back and prepared to wait.

  And wait he did. Felix was bored. Nothing moved around him, and his rear end was numb. His eyes grew heavy and he struggled to fight off sleep.

  Just as he thought he was going to lose the battle, Felix heard thundering footsteps in the distance. Fear jerked him awake. What if it was another landshark? No net would allow him to take on that monster, and he doubted the tree could shelter him.

  He got a glimpse of it through the trees. It was massive, but it wasn’t a landshark. He couldn’t judge well from the angle, but it looked nearly as tall as he was, but broad. It looked like a cross between an elephant and a hippo. It had a long face with tusks protruding from either side of its mouth, and a red-green striped pattern not unlike the foliage.

  Felix was suddenly unsure about his plan of action. He didn’t see any claws or fangs, but there were still tusks and the thing was just huge. He didn’t know if he’d have another chance if he passed his one up, though. Not to mention this one creature would keep him fed for the near future. As much as he or Liz could want.

  Felix decided to defer the decision. It didn’t look like a carnivore, so it probably wasn’t attracted to his bait. If it still went under his branch, he would take a shot. Otherwise, he’d wait and hope something else came along soon.

  The thing trundled his way, and as it got closer, there just seemed to be more of it. More about summed up the creature as a whole, so Felix decided that’s what he would call it. It felt a lot better to be squaring up against a morr than a nameless jungle animal.

  The nose of the creature passed under his branch. Either it hadn’t noticed him, or just didn’t care. Felix put his spear in his inventory so he wouldn’t drop it and readied the net.

  As the morr’s shoulders passed, Felix saw something strange on its back. It glistened oddly. The rest of the hide had a leathery look, but patches of its back shi
ned. He couldn’t look at it long, as the morr kept moving past.

  Once it was half past his branch, Felix threw the net. He made sure to throw it far enough to snare the tusks. That’s what he was most concerned about. Before the net had landed, he pulled out his spear and leapt.

  He leveled the spear at the morr and put his whole body behind it. When he landed, the weapon sank into the flesh.

  The morr trumpeted its disapproval and began to thrash. Felix held on to the spear, still lodged in the body of the morr. His foot slid into the glistening patch. The exposed skin above his boot began to burn. It was a slime.

  He tried to yank his foot back, but it got caught in the netting. His foot was trapped on top of the corrosive creature.

  Felix took a deep breath and tried to think through the pain and adenaline. He couldn’t pull out the spear or he’d fall off the morr. He knew it wouldn’t tire before he did, either. Even as he thought, he felt himself weakening.

  Felix pulled out his knife, holding onto his spear with just one hand. He plunged the knife down. Without the momentum from his leap behind him, the stone tool barely scratched the thick hide of the morr. Frustrated, he reached back and cut the rope trapping his leg. Even the brief contact had eaten away at his clothing.

  He looked at the angry blisters on his leg and smiled grimly.

  He didn’t know how long that slime had been feasting on the hide of the morr, but any help was welcome. Felix attacked again, this time focusing on where the slime was.

  His knife sunk in this time. Felix struck again and again. The slime flowed into the newly exposed flesh, burning it.

  The morr screamed. It slammed itself into a tree. Felix, overextended as he was, lost balance and fell. He clung to the side of the morr, hanging onto his spear like a lifeline. His feet scrabbled, searching for purchase.

  The morr thrashed again, dislodging the spear. Felix and spear crashed to the jungle floor. The landing knocked the wind out of him. A tusk gouged the dirt to his side. That brought Felix back to his sense.

  Still on his back, he grabbed his spear in both hands and stabbed upwards. His spear sank into the much thinner hide of the underbelly. He ripped the weapon down the chest. It wasn’t well suited for the task, but desperation lended Felix a strength he didn’t know he had.

  The morr stomped down, crushing Felix’s hips. His world disappeared into a sea of pain. He screamed.

  His foe reared back, entrails dangling from the gaping wound. When it came back down, the beast smashed Felix’s shoulder underfoot. The creature took a step and its knee buckled. It wobbled for a moment before toppling over with a crash that shook the ground.

  Felix and his would be prey lay side by side, bleeding their last.

  ***

  “Well, I think the slime was the only winner in that fight, right folks?” said Daviron. “As always, I am Daviron and you are tuned in to GBK’s Survivor World coverage. As you just saw, that is the last of the newcomers to succumb. I don’t think anyone foresaw that little human taking down that beastie with just a stone tier one spear, though. Too bad he wasn’t quite quick enough.”

  Daviron grinned into the camera. “And remember, while what you just saw may have been an effective way to shed some pounds, Dr. Caulson can help you find the safe, effective and, above all, painless solution that is right for you.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  Felix screamed. The morr towered above him in his memory. He threw himself back and pulled his spear out of his inventory. Or he tried to. Nothing happened.

  He looked at his empty hand in confusion. His arm grabbed his attention. It was bare. He looked down at himself. Felix was completely in the nude. And sitting on his bed.

  He suddenly felt very tired. He remembered attacking the morr. He remembered the slime burning his leg. There was a frenzy of stabbing, and he was thrown off. He remembered gutting the thing, and the foot crush him.

  Even as he thought about it, the memories were becoming distant. He could still recall everything that happened, but it was like watching a recording than this recalling his own experiences. He was already having a difficult time getting worked up about the experience. That worried him, in fact, more than his actual “death” did.

  Felix checked his leg, and there was no burn now. If it wasn’t for his nudity and lack of weaponry, he would be tempted to write it off as a particularly lucid dream. Nightmare.

  Was it just his weapons? Felix realized he was feeling particularly light. He opened his inventory and saw it was completely empty. He had nothing once again. This time, he didn’t even his half-shredded ship jumper.

  He had died, he was sure of that. He reached to the back of his neck and felt the cold, metal implant. He didn’t know how how he was alive now, but he had his guesses. He felt at peace with that. He wasn’t sure if that was from him, or his implant.

  Another thought rose through his foggy mind. He was alive, and that was grand. If he were alive, though, Koale may be as well.

  That cut through his stupor. He had to find where Koale had gone. Felix leapt to his feet. His bare feet touched the floor.

  He had to find clothes. Then he needed to find where Koale had gone.

  Felix opened his crafting menu and scrolled through. There had to be something here. He hadn’t really taken note before, but clothing hadn’t been a pressing concern before. He stopped at a set of recipes for leather clothing. That would be hot, but it would do. Each piece called for an unspecified number of both leather and binding materials.

  Felix searched through the materials he had left behind on his ill fated hunting trip. He had a piece of glider leather. It was certainly not enough for a full outfit.

  It was pretty easy to narrow down his choices to two. Boots and pants. Felix wiggled his butt in the cool air. He wanted the pants. He felt exposed. Well, he was exposed. He did have to admit that boots were a far more practical choice, however. And probably cheaper on leather. Felix sighed and selected the boots.

  Leather Boots

  Requirements:

  Leather, variable

  Binding, variable

  He put in the glider leather into the slot. He was short, which was not too surprising. Felix needed three.

  He drummed his fingers on his thighs and thought. He could check the snares and see if he caught anything. Felix wasn’t hungry anymore, an oddity he would consider later, but perhaps that would yield some more leather. Food would always be welcome, as well.

  Felix rummaged through his supplies and crafted himself a spear and knife. He stepped outside, ready to face the jungle.

  Between the ladder and himself, the squirrel stood. Felix grinned. Leather was chittering at him right there.

  Slowly, careful not to alarm the critter, Felix readied his spear and prepared to attack.

  He sprinted at it. The squirrel charged back. Felix was confused, but committed. He leveled his weapon at his tiny foe.

  Felix lunged, and the squirrel leapt. It landed on the haft of the spear.. The unexpected weight drove the tip of the spear into the floor and the squirrel scurried up the haft, to Felix’s arm. When it climbed up to his shoulder, it paused to screach into his ear. It then leapt onto the hut’s roof and was gone.

  Where the squirrel had run, his arm was numbed. It wasn’t as bad as when it had sat in his hand. He could still move, but it was like a local anesthetic. Now he really wanted to grab the squirrel. He could only imagine what the research might provide. Wouldn’t that be a fine gift for Koale to return to?

  Remembering that his friend was still alive washed away the annoyance. Felix clambered down and checked the snare outside the tiny devil’s burrow. It was empty, which was no surprise. Still, plenty of other snares to check. He set off to do so, a spring in his step.

  By the time he finished checking the snares, his spring had evaporated. He was positive boots were the correct first choice for gear. His feet hurt. He had stepped in what he assumed was morr droppings and he was just thankful he
didn’t actually injure himself.

  On the plus side, he had gotten himself plenty of leather. Two numb squirrels and three gliders. Some of them looked like they were almost dead already. A few of the snares had been chewed through. Felix wondered at how long he had been…gone. After the morr, that is. It seemed like it was for more than just the night.

  He took some time to cut down a few vines on his way back and gather some leaves. Even with the great haul, Felix still couldn’t make two pieces of gear. He had an idea to at least afford himself some dignity, however.

  He grabbed his supplies and sat on his bed. First things first, he opened his crafting menu and converted his vine into rope. Then he selected the boots once more. He put in the three glider hides and one of his newly made rope. A brief moment later, he was the proud owner of a new pair of boots.

  Felix looked them over. Like everything the system had made thus far, they were roughly made, and leagues better than he could have done himself. They boots were the same bright blue of the gliders, and were crudely sewn together by thing pieces of vine rope. He slipped the boots on and they fit perfectly, rising up just past his ankle.

  Felix stood and paced in his small hut. They felt already broken in, which was a fine perk. He jumped and they stayed on his feet. The soles were thin,. He could feel the gaps in the floor beneath his feet. Still, it was still better than nothing.

  His next task would be more difficult. He sat on the floor, carefully laying out his leaves and a single rope.

  He carefully poked a hole about an inch away from the base of each leaf and threaded the rope through. He repeated the process until he had two dozen stung together. He looked at the results critically and then shrugged. It was leaves on a rope. He had no idea if he’d made it well.