Mark
I woke up on the couch with a chicken nugget box on my chest and four blue orbs sitting on the table in front of me. The elves must have come back sometime during the night. Someone had lined the orbs up in a perfect little row, which meant Altrea. I absorbed all four, one after another.
[Mana: 23.5/23.5]
Two whole extra points since yesterday. It doesn't sound like a lot until you remember the cabin cost ten. I stretched, cracked my back, and did some quick math. Going by when I got dropped here, the protection period would end sometime around dawn tomorrow. That gave us one more day.
One more day, and I had a decision to make. I could spend my mana on something big, or I could save it so I'd walk into the first wave with a full tank. I went with saving most of it. If something went sideways during the wave, I wanted to be able to fix it on the spot instead of watching it happen on a monitor.
The one thing I did spend on was Beatrice's request. I drew a big stack of iron ingots and a few bolts of thick canvas cloth and dumped them straight into the warehouse drawing as an upgrade. Bulk plus upgrading turned out to be a great combo. It only cost five mana. I sent Beatrice a message through the computer telling her to go wild, then I sat back and let my creations do their thing.
Honestly, it was kind of nice not being the busiest person here for once.
Altrea
The Creator had entrusted me with four sisters, and I had failed to give them a single thing to be called by.
I noticed the problem during training. When I called out "you, fire!" three of them fired. When I called "you, hold!" all four held, including the one I wanted to fire. It was unacceptable. A commander must be able to command.
So after our morning drills, I gathered them in the shade of the house.
"Sisters. The Creator said he would name you once we survive the waves. However, I do not believe we will survive the waves if I cannot tell you apart in battle. So you will choose names for yourselves now, and I will present them to the Creator for approval."
They looked at each other. They did not have my system, and their souls were simpler than mine, but they were not empty. The Creator had made sure of that.
The first one, the petite one, was the first sister ever made after me. She thought about it carefully and said, "Sera." It was soft and simple. I approved it immediately.
The second chose "Lin," because it was short and could be shouted quickly. That was practical. I liked her already.
The third chose "Wren," after a small brown bird she'd seen on the Creator's camera feed from the swamp, right before the cobra ate it. I decided not to comment on that part.
The fourth one raised her hand with great confidence.
"Cactus."
"No."
"But it was the first thing I ever shot."
"It was the first thing all of us ever shot. That is not a reason."
"It stood its ground against hundreds of arrows. It is a warrior's name."
I pinched the bridge of my nose, the way I'd seen the Creator do when I asked about the shower. We argued for some time. In the end, we brought the matter to the Creator himself. He listened to the whole thing very seriously, then laughed so hard he had to hold onto his desk.
"Okay, okay," he said, wiping his eyes. "There's a giant cactus back on Earth called a saguaro. How about Saguaro? And we call you Sage for short."
The fourth sister considered this, then nodded with great dignity. "Sage is acceptable."
"Then it's settled. Sera, Lin, Wren, and Sage." The Creator smiled at each of them as he said their names, and each of them stood a little straighter. I would have to remember to thank him properly later. He did not have to approve them so quickly. He did anyway.
When I called "Lin, fire!" during the afternoon drills, only Lin fired. It was beautiful.
Beatrice
Iron!
Ay, I'd been dreamin' about it since the moment I first opened me eyes. Stone is fine, wood is fine, but a smith with no metal is just a lass with a hammer and a lot o' opinions.
The Creator delivered a whole stack of ingots, neat as ye please, and some sturdy cloth besides. I hauled the first ingot to the forge and turned the meter up. That forge o' his is a marvel. No coal, no bellows, no waitin' for the heat to climb. Ye just tell it how hot, and it gets hot.
The first thing I made was nothin' fancy. A single arrowhead. I wanted ta see how this iron worked under me hammer before I started on anythin' important. It was good iron. Plain, but honest. The kind that does what ye ask without complainin'.
[Blacksmithing skill increased. Current mastery: Apprentice]
After that, I got to work proper. Iron arrowheads for the four lasses who didn't have holy arrows, since the regular ones the Creator drew were a bit flimsy for my taste. Iron spikes for Melessy's traps. Iron hinges and bars for the gates, since a gate with wooden hinges is just a suggestion.
By the afternoon, I had a pile that would make any dwarf proud. I wiped the sweat off me forehead, took a big drink o' the Creator's iced tea, and had a thought. The Creator had mentioned warriors. Holy ones, even. If he ever got the mana for 'em, they'd need armor.
So I took the canvas and some iron and started sketchin' a design for a gambeson with plates sewn in. Just a sketch for now. A smith should always be ready for what's comin' next.
I also made the Creator a little iron cactus. For his desk. Sage helped.
Melessy
"Unit Seven. Come here."
Unit Seven came here. Unit Seven always came here. That was the problem with Unit Seven. It did everything I said, exactly how I said it, and still somehow found a way to ruin my entire afternoon.
"Unit Seven, what is this?"
Unit Seven looked at the spike pit it had just finished. It was a fine pit. Deep, well dug, clean walls. It was lined with Beatrice's brand-new iron spikes.
All of the spikes were pointing down.
"I said point the spikes at the zombies, Unit Seven. Where do the zombies come from?"
Unit Seven pointed down into the pit.
"Where do the zombies come FROM, Unit Seven?"
Unit Seven considered this. Then it pointed out toward the mist wall.
"Correct! And when they fall in this pit, where will they BE?"
Unit Seven pointed down into the pit again, slower this time. I could see the gears turning.
"So which way should the spikes point?"
Unit Seven paused for a long time. Then it climbed into the pit and started pulling the spikes out one by one to flip them. I watched every single one. You do not leave Unit Seven alone with a fix. That is how you get a second problem.
To be fair to the robotic maggots, the rest of the day went better than I had any right to expect. The outer wall was solid stone all the way around, just inside the mist. The second wall, brick and cement, was finished except for the gate, and Beatrice's iron hinges were going on that tonight. The third wall was only waist high, but it would give the elves somewhere to fall back to and still shoot from.
Between the first and second wall, we'd dug spike pits on every side. Pointing up. All of them. I checked twice.
When the sun started going down, I lined the robots up for inspection. Ten units, all accounted for, all charged off the sun. Their build skills had gone up from working all day. Even Unit Seven's.
"Listen up, maggots! Tomorrow, the things we've been building walls against will come knocking. When a wall cracks, you fix it. When a wall breaks, you fix it faster. When the Creator gives an order, you follow it. And if anything gets past the second wall, you protect that house with your metal bodies. Understood?"
Ten robotic heads nodded at once.
It was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen. I'll never tell them that.
Mark
I barely slept that night. Not because I was scared, exactly. More like the night before a big exam, except the exam had teeth.
Around four in the morning, I gave up and sat at the computer. On the monitors, the mini-map looked the same as always. Red dots wandering around in all four directions. The cobras in the swamp. The wolves in the tundra. The slow jungle zombies, shuffling close to the mist like they always did. The miners in the mountains, chipping at rock walls for no reason at all.
Then, all at once, every single red dot stopped moving.
I leaned closer to the screen. They weren't wandering anymore. Every one of them, in every direction, had turned to face the same way. They were facing us.
[Beginner protection period ending in 1 hour.]
I hit the button for the earpiece. "Altrea. Wake everyone up."
"Already awake, Creator." Of course she was. "We are at the walls."
I pulled up the camera feeds one by one. Sera, Lin, Wren, and Sage on the second wall, one facing each direction, with their glasses on and their bows ready. Altrea on the roof of the house with the best view of everything, her quiver glowing that soft holy gold. Beatrice standing in front of the smithy with her hammer on her shoulder. Melessy walking the line of robots by the gate, yelling at Unit Seven for something.
I checked my mana.
[Mana: 23.5/23.5]
Full tank. Good.
Outside, the silver mist that had surrounded us since day one started getting thinner. It wasn't vanishing all at once. It was fading slowly, like fog burning off in the morning sun, and through it I could start to make out shapes.
A lot of shapes.
I pulled my stylus out of my inventory, opened the drawing tablet, and pulled up the drawing of our walls, just in case.
"Alright, everyone," I said into the mic, and I was a little proud that my voice didn't shake. "Let's do this."