Banished Pt. 01

"What do we do?" Francesca asked, and I considered the problem as I settled the boy down.

"Here, just watch him for a sec," I offered, and Cameron took my position as I got up and headed over to the console, bringing up the supplies catalog as I did.

Were there any medical supplies that we could buy?

I did a quick search and found an extensive list of medical supplies, but holy shit, the prices.

The cheapest options were in the thirty to forty credit range.

That was almost our entire individual starting amount!

This was bad.

Sure, not everyone was gonna pass out like this guy did, but people would get sick, and truthfully, I had no idea what would be useful outside of the usual things like disinfectants and bandages.

I glanced back at the boy, and he seemed to be breathing a bit more steadily now, as Cameron rubbed his back soothingly.

"Was there anything?" Francesca asked.

"A lot, but out of our price range..."

I glanced back at the console, then took a look at the presentation room.

The woman from the introductory video mentioned that we would be free to use the console for extra reading... but did that freedom extend to the presentation room itself?

I'd more or less guessed that we'd need to head down to the town eventually to secure accommodations of some kind, but if there was no limit on how long we could stay, this place could probably work as a temporary shelter, for a few days at least?

That would work out well, since being able to do proper research before interacting with anyone else would be of huge help, and for that, we'd need the console.

"What're you thinking?" Francesca asked, and I rubbed my chin thoughtfully.

"I'm thinking about shelter," I responded, and she nodded.

"I was too. We'll need to go down to the town eventually to sort something out, won't we?"

"Depends. Judging from the landscape, camping may also be an option. But yeah, we need to check out the town."

As we spoke, Caleb's group approached the console on the other side of the projector, and I watched with interest as they immediately went to the weapons catalog.

Caleb selected a longsword, and to my surprise, the item, which floated in holographic form on the console, began to take shape, and as Caleb reached towards the tube, his hands appeared to reach through the barrier, allowing him to take hold of the weapon and retrieve it.

He studied the blade, which I had to admit, gleamed impressively.

He then purchased a breastplate, and a pair of gauntlets.

His companions then stepped forward to make their own purchases.

The first purchased an axe, along with some leg guards and a helmet, while the second opted for a huge, unwieldly looking sword, along with a pair of arm guards.

Caleb shot me a wicked grin, then the three left the guild area.

As they headed off, I decided to follow them, just to get an idea of where they would be headed, and to my relief, they headed down the path that wound away from the nearby town.

As I returned to my group, I noticed that Vanessa was now talking to Francesca and Cameron, and Nolan and Jordan were standing a little further away than I'd left them, a rather peculiar look on their faces.

Even Francesca seemed to be wearing a bit of an uncomfortable expression.

"Everything alright?" I asked, as soon as I got closer to Francesca, and she looked visibly relieved at my intrusion.

"Vanessa was just offering us a place in her group; I was just explaining-"

"You're making a mistake. These are strangers, you have no idea what they're capable of. We need to stick together."

I chuckled inwardly at Vanessa's interjection.

Not holding back, huh?

"Look, I told you already. Thanks for your concern, but we can make our own decisions."

"Your funeral," Vanessa hit back, rolling her eyes before stomping away.

"Not one to mix matters, huh," I noted, as Francesca rubbed her hands together nervously.

"Yeah... you'd think with the way she was carrying on that she'd know how to take no for an answer, but apparently it's a difficult thing to understand."

I chuckled at the joke, then noticed that the chairs that we'd sat on for the presentation were no longer around.

"Hey, what happened to the chairs?"

"One of the guards checked in to make sure the area was clear, then the floor opened up and they were lowered to an area below. And it looks like the corridors we came through are sealed off now as well."

"Hmm. Did he say anything about us needing to leave?" I asked, and she shook her head, studying me with curiosity.

"Wait... you're thinking of staying here?" she asked, and I bit my lip.

"It would be ideal if we could, until we can arrange something more permanent. Besides, there's a lot that I think we need to find out before we can properly navigate the outside world."

Francesca surveyed the room as she considered my suggestion.

"We'd sleep on the floor?" she asked, and I shrugged.

"Better to sleep on the floor indoors, than to do it out there. Or pay for somewhere to sleep and find out that we've grossly overpaid."

"True," she conceded.

She relayed the suggestion to Cameron who quickly agreed.

Nolan and Jordan, however, wanted to get a look at the town before committing to the plan, which wasn't such a bad idea since it would be useful to get some info on what it was like.

"Hey, the girl who left as soon as the presentation ended. Did anyone get her name, or anything?"

"...who left? I don't remember that," Cameron replied. "Do either of you know who he's talking about?"

She turned to Nolan and Jordan, who both shook their heads.

I bit my lip, disappointed by the development.

She would have been a huge asset, and I still held onto the hope that we'd be able to get in touch with her again somehow.

"Francesca. Do you think you could go with them? You know what she looks like, so you could keep an eye out for her."

"Is that really necessary? I mean, I really think that might be a lost cause," Francesca added.

Francesca really doesn't like this girl, I noted, with some amusement.

"What's the deal with the girl?" Cameron asked.

"I suspect that she knows more about what's going on than the rest of us do."

Cameron looked to Francesca for confirmation, and she reluctantly nodded in agreement.

"She was being odd," Francesca added, and I shot her a thankful look.

"Okay then, I guess it does make sense for you to go with them."

Francesca, again, didn't do much to hide her displeasure with the development; but she agreed nonetheless to the plan, so I did my best to express my gratitude which seemed to, somewhat, pacify her.

Nolan and Jordan said a quick goodbye to Cameron, then the three headed down to the pathway below, and soon after, Vanessa and a few of her girls headed over to the console.

I studied her with interest, but as soon as she caught sight of me, she shot me an angry glare.

"Hey! I don't need you spying on me all the time!" she yelled, so I held my hands up in surrender, and retreated a few paces back.

Vanessa put her hands on her hip, and I let out a sigh before retreating back a bit more.

I kept going, bit by bit, until she finally relented, and I cursed under my breath as Cameron came over to join me.

"Wonder what her deal is," I muttered.

"I think she's doing the whole, 'all men are potential rapists that I need to protect other women from' thing."

"No, I get that. And don't get me wrong, I believe that that's a legitimate concern in this situation, I just meant the inconsistencies in her behavior."

"What do you mean?" Cameron asked.

"Well, she seemed more than willing to team up with Caleb's group at the start... if camaraderie with the 'fairer sex' was her primary concern, I don't see why she didn't take up that position initially."

Cameron tilted her head as she studied me with renewed interest.

"You've been paying attention to everything since the start, haven't you?" she asked.

"I... guess I have," I replied, but out of the corner of my eye, I noted the look in her eyes.

It was that look.

I'd learned to recognize it by now, since I'd seen it so often.

It was the look that people often had when they began to suspect that I was someone they should be wary of.

I cracked an awkward smile and the look quickly faded, but I made a mental note to pay closer attention to the way she reacted to me in the future.

"Can you make out what their purchases are?" I asked, and Cameron shook her head.

"I thought we weren't gonna pry further," she warned, and I chuckled.

"I agreed to give them their space, but I didn't agree to anything else. Besides, my intentions aren't bad, I just think it's worth it to know what the other groups are doing. I mean, I don't object to sharing info about our own purchases later on."

I noted Cameron's gaze on me again, but this time, I could tell that my explanation satisfied her.

"That's true. We should be working together, shouldn't we?"

Vanessa's group quickly closed the catalog, and as they headed out of the guild area, she turned to keep an eye on me.

"Stay right there- Nathan, was it?"

I nodded, and she kept a firm watch on me as the rest of her group went on ahead.

"Wouldn't want you tracking us, now would I."

I took a deep, nervous breath in, and after she was satisfied that her group were out of sight, she left.

I gave it a few seconds, then cautiously followed.

I was careful enough to keep out of sight, but I could tell that she was looking out for a potential tail, as she took the path down to the town below the keep.

Well, she's annoying, but not stupid, I thought to myself.

But I still couldn't shake the suspicion that she might not be harmless.

"From what I could tell, they went for camping supplies," I reported. "No weapons or anything, since that seems to take up the bulk of our starting credits if we decide on it."

"Do you think we'll need them, though? That lady spoke an awful lot about monsters."

"We'll need a way to defend ourselves for sure, but I think we need to figure out what the potential threats are before we buy anything like that. Besides, I'm not sure how much of that propaganda presentation we can really trust."

"You think they're lying to us?" she asked, and I shrugged.

"Maybe. Can't say for certain, but there are enough inconsistencies in their briefing to cast reasonable suspicion that they are. I mean, they said that we signed up for this. Do you have any memory of even knowing about a project Kepler?"

Cameron shook her head, and I nodded.

"I mean, sure. It's possible that we may be experiencing memory loss from this 'transference' procedure, but all of my memories leading up to waking up here seem pretty much intact, and I can't even recall knowing about anything related to this."

"That's true."

Since there wasn't anything to do besides wait around, I decided to spend some of the time reading up what I could from the information provided via the console.

I wasn't sure how long I'd spent reading when-

"Nggh."

The groan came from our unconscious guest, and it quickly drew my attention away from my research.

I walked over to check on him, but he was still very much out of it.

"Do you think he'll be alright?" Cameron asked, and I bit my lip, uncertainly.

"Wish I could say, but I'm clueless when it comes to medical stuff."

"You're very honest," Cameron noted, and I chuckled.

"Shouldn't I be?" I asked, and she shrugged.

"Some guys like showing that they can be in charge, even if that means faking knowledge."

"And where does that usually get them?" I replied, and Cameron smiled.

"Back," Francesca called, and I looked over at the entryway, feeling a little caught off-guard.

Francesca was casting curious glances between me and Cameron, who I now noted had taken a full step away from me and was absently toying with her hair.

Way to act guilty, I thought, as the rest of the group joined us and began to recount their trip.

"It was terrible," Francesca said. "We stuck out like sore thumbs. No one wanted anything to do with us."

"Yeah, they acted like we've got some plague, or something," Jordan added.

Figures.

Not only were we intruders to their world, we'd been placed down here using a technology that I didn't even know existed until now.

We might as well be phantoms.

"Did you figure anything out about the town?" I asked, and Francesca nodded.

"The town is medieval, I guess you'd say. Oh, I know they speak English; overheard enough of them talking to figure that much, even if none of them spoke a word to us."

"Good job," I said, and she blushed slightly at the sudden praise.

Hopefully that makes her forget about the Cameron thing, I thought.

"The town is really small, though," Nolan said. "Maybe about five hundred people?"

"Did you check out the traders?" I asked.

"Yeah. There were a couple butchers, bakers. Three inns. I didn't see anything like, what did you call it? An herbalist-?"

"Yeah."

"-nothing like that as far as I could tell, but I could be wrong. There were shops with no signs or anything."

Guess we might have to spring for one of those medical kits from the catalog, then.

"Oh, one more thing. There were a ton of smiths. We counted... how many was it?"

"Fifteen," Francesca answered.

"Yeah- way more than anything else."

"Hmm. That's... interesting," I noted, and Francesca studied me.

"How so?"

"You'd think we'd be getting most of our weapons from the catalog."

"Maintenance, maybe?" she offered, and I rubbed my chin, thoughtfully.

"Well, according to the information guide, our weapons aren't supposed to chip or blunt like natural ones do."

"What? How?"

"From what I read, the weapons are made from a special type of metal, infused with the power of the energy cores that we collect. I'm not sure I understand the concept one hundred percent, but it increases the blades' ability to cut through things."

"So, they never get dull? Or damaged?"

I shrugged.

"Not according to the information guide... Actually, now that I think about it. If modern tech is involved in the creation of these weapons, then smiths working traditional forges shouldn't even be able to repair them."

I made a mental note to check out those smiths as soon as I got a chance.

"So, what now?" Francesca asked, and I noticed that most of the group seemed to be looking at me expectantly.

As I looked around, I could tell that everyone was already showing signs of exhaustion, so I figured it was time to start preparing camp for the night.

"I think that's about as much information gathering as we'll get done today. We should get ready to camp for the night."

"I agree. It's been a long day for everyone," Cameron concurred.

"Are we making camp here?" Jordan asked.

"I'll leave it to the group to decide, but I think we should. Assuming we can find a way to close that panel, which we should, the guild hall blends perfectly into the keep's fortifications from the outside. Not to mention the keep's fortifications make this place a natural fort. Its easily defensible, and offers quick and easy access to both the keep and the town below."

"I don't think anyone objects to camping here," Cameron offered, and Jordan and Nolan quickly agreed.

"What about food?" Nolan asked.

"There's a basic survival pack that we can buy for ten credits. It comes with blankets, some warm clothing, and non-perishable food rations. I figure it's a good a place as any to start."

I walked over to the console, then returned my attention to the group.

"I take it no one objects to that purchase?" I asked.

Everyone gave a quick nod, but as I stepped forward to finalize the purchase, Jordan stopped me.

"Allow me; I'd rather you kept your credits to make an emergency purchase if we need one."

I tilted my head at Jordan's request, when Francesca stepped forward as well.

"We've talked it over, and we've all kind of noticed that you're pretty insightful, and you keep a calm head in a pinch. It's better this way," she finished, and I took a deep breath in.

"No pressure there," I commented, and Francesca smiled.

"We need a leader, and even if we hadn't agreed on you, it's been you since this whole thing began."

"You honor me too much," I replied, but the group seemed to be in agreement, and, in any case, I had no real objection.

I was the best choice.

Jordan made the purchase I'd indicated, and I was quite relieved to find that the rations would be enough to last us a few days at least.

The clothes, however, was only enough for four, and the blankets as well, would have to be shared.

As everyone went about inspecting the survival pack, I began to inspect the large open space that led outside.

There had to be a way to close the door, right? But I couldn't make out anything that looked like a switch.

Then it occurred to me that the door might be sensor activated, so I tried running my hands along the walls on either side of the exit.

I was about to give up when Francesca figured out that the door could be closed from the console.

"That's interesting," I noted. "Could you open it for a sec?"

I stepped outside, then took a look at the area from the outside.

"Close it again," I called. "I wanna see if it opens from the outside."

Francesca nodded, closing the door at my request, and I noted again, with curiosity, that there wasn't an obvious way to open the door from the outside.

In fact, the whole outside face of the panel easily blended into the rockface that made up the outer wall of the keep.

It'd be easy to completely miss this spot if you didn't know what you were looking for.

As I inspected the surface, I suddenly noticed a single, red, blinking light, barely visible in the still broad daylight outside, and then I remembered the implant on my wrist.

I held my wrist up to the light, and sure enough, the doorway opened, though the opening wasn't the much larger one from the end of the presentation.

Instead, it was about the size of a regular doorway, though perhaps much taller than a typical doorway would be.

I re-entered the room to find Francesca studying the new entrance with interest.

I then noted that there was a similar sensor on the inside of the room, though the part of the wall that it was on, I was certain, was part of the larger doorway that was previously there.

I held up my wrist to the sensor, and sure enough, the doorway slid shut.

"That's convenient," Francesca noted, and I furrowed my brow. "What?" she asked.

"Any otherworlder can enter this room at any time. That could be... problematic."

Actually, now that I think about it, even a local could get in here with one of our hands, couldn't they?

I quickly shook the thought from my mind.

"What could be problematic?" Cameron asked, as she came over to inspect the closed panel.

"Any of 'us' can open the panel with our wrist implant thingie," Francesca answered, and Cameron studied me.

"Do you think we have to worry about that?"

I shook my head in response, but truthfully, I wasn't so sure.

"I don't think it'll be a problem. At least... not yet."

"So, what now?" Cameron asked, and I considered the question.

We had food, blankets, and our camp area was more or less secure.

The only thing left was-

"I guess it's time for me to take a little nap," I replied, and Francesca giggled at me.

"Seriously? A nap?"

"Yeah, a nap. I'll try to get some sleep, but whoever goes to sleep last needs to wake me up so I can keep watch for the rest of the night."

"Oh... right. Keep watch," she responded thoughtfully.

"I think it's safer for us to keep watch from inside the guild hall," I said to Cameron, and she nodded in agreement.