Why is F'Wen coming to her for reassurance? Maybe she's given up on remaining Nick's favorite and is trying make her new position comfortable.

"Well, now we know we have to practice withdrawing from the roof, and install a mechanism for closing the hatch, and keep an extra lookout to watch the sky. I was considering training to be a sentry already, and I should make sure I'm capable of keeping my attention focused like that before I spend any points on it, so I could join you on the roof if you want?

From my point of view, you didn't do anything stupid, but I guess if you can identify a specific decision that you could realistically have thought through better, given the information you had at the time, then now you can practice avoiding that sort of error. I didn't think of flying monsters either - clearly no one did! - but now, we should think about swimming monsters, and burrowing monsters - ah see the Pack Rats can burrow, I should have thought about a really big Pack Rat that can dig a trap for the whole truck! - and, hm, telepathic ones, little ones that bore through the metal, parasites..."

"Telepathic attacks... Mind has to be for something, yeah." She shivers. "I don't think I'll go back to the roof without, like, a different plan. Thanks for being- Calm, and offering to help, though."

"Long ranged, camouflaged, intelligent and deceptive ones... Intangible ones maybe... Watch out for poison or pitfall traps... Everything will be easier if we get more Levels, but doing that is incredibly dangerous, like holy shit, I did not expect to almost die today, right?"

"Yes, and being able to sense the monsters coming seems really important if it lets us get the first hit and move the most vulnerable of us out of the way." Maybe the spider eye could be used for that? She's not sure if Sam is carrying it in the coat of pockets or if he turned it over to Dave, so she doesn't mention it.

"If they're able to sneak in and imitate us, maybe we should have passwords. For the two of us in particular, how about we use..." she leans close and whispers "'ubiquitin'."

"Ubiquitin," she whispers. "I don't want to get paranoid this early, but... Yeah, mimics, mind control. It'd be stupid to discount the possibility entirely. Hell, the monsters might not end up being the only threats... Are your ears better than human? Mine are. Just something to keep in mind, whispering isn't guaranteed."

John comes back, with the driver Nick in tow, holding a big first-aid kit. He glances over the room, then the rats, then Wynn and C'Esther. He stands a short distance away.

"Okay, nobody's actively bleeding out, good. I have no idea if painkillers are safe for rats but they can have a Tylenol if they want. Mr...?"

Brownie tilts his head at the proffered pill bottle.

"...You two seem worst off here. Sorry I didn't realize you needed first aid earlier, Chestuh. I have the kit, might as well use it."

He frowns in concern at the still-visible spider bite mark on her leg, then glances over at Wynn. "Kid, you alright? That has to sting."

Wynn shrugs. "Stings a lot. Could use a bath."

He nods and hands over some bandages and wipes. "Well, we'll see what we can do. You're still breathing and a bit wiser. We pick up and move on when we visit the school of hard knocks." She nods and smiles faintly.

"Miss Chestuh, do you mind if I take a look at that bite? I don't have a magic power for it, just mundane skill, but I can try to help."

"Yes, mine are too."

Poor F'Wen. John and Sam have been nice to her; she does not know this Man. She doesn't want to make him an enemy, though.

And she does want to get 'proper medical attention'! But how to get that without encouraging his flirting?

"John already fixed me up, sir. What exactly do you intend to do?"

"I would clean it of any debris, apply topical disinfectant, and apply a bandage. Then if you wanted do the same for any other cuts and bruises. I understand if you wish to wait for a nurse, I think Mr. Gold's family is next- Mrs. Gold is one. We can set up a privacy screen- Or if I manage another Level there was a medbay option."

"That's probably a good idea," Wynn says.

"Quite. Of course, there's about thirty things I want to do with my points already- Like everyone, I imagine. We should talk about specialization later."

She's scared and in the back of a truck with a bunch of strangers. Offering to let her nap in the cab bed would probably the opposite of help.

"By the way, I am going to teach Wynn and perhaps a couple of the landscaping crew basic firearms safety, later. America might have more guns than people in it, and knowing how to use them is definitely going to come in useful. I want more monster-killers around, not fewer. But I'm not handing out any guns until that's done, that's a good way to accidentally kill someone. Would you be interested?"

That's surprisingly delicate of him! "I think the nurse will definitely cure my affliction, sir, so I'll wait for her, rather than waste your time. Thank you for the information, sir.

Currently I can do an ambush attack and unarmed melee... the Pack Rats have an idea that requires ranged fighters with good aim" it'd be insulting to ask outright if he can quickly get his students to the necessary level "and might involve a theatrical distraction power I get when I level, if it works on monsters. I've never used a weapon... I'm not a Man and it never came up."

"Well, think about it. Quantity has a quality all its own. Wynn..."

"I'm not gonna do anything stupid. At least until my HP is full..."

"Stick close, okay? I was hoping to be heading for New York by nightfall but I can already tell things are going to keep coming up. At least 'things' will probably be 'monsters', and therefore 'levels'. If they don't manage to kill us for sticking our fool heads out the window first."

He packs the kit back up, taking the stuff Wynn used into a plastic trash bag, and then stands, brushing off his jeans and waiting to see if they'll say anything else, before heading back up to his cab.

"Are you planning to return here from New York, sir?" Does he think Dave's settlement won't last?

"Also, if you would be so kind as to explain, sir, 20 people firing guns and hitting once doesn't seem efficient to my naive intuition?"

"Back here? Maybe, maybe not. Oh, I'll go back to my old job, as much as I can- I'm sure people will still need cargo moved. And even just one out of twenty hits adds up quickly when it's powered off this guy's mana engine." He smiles and pats the wall of the truck fondly.

"Lots of people who need to go find their families, or evacuate, too. And people will need news moved around as well."

"Your guns are powered by your truck, sir? What's a mana engine? I heard your truck was 'soulbound'?"

"Yep, she's soulbound, which according to our lovely host the System means literally part of me now. I can feel when things damage it, and a lot of other stuff. The mana engine would just be the truck's source of energy, and the turrets are a Class Power- Most of my Class Powers are about the truck, not myself, but guns in those turrets use the truck's mana instead of actual ammunition."

"System lets you buy Soulbound items with a point if you ask. I'm sort of holding off because I don't know that I need something like that, the biggest benefit seems to be that it'll get stronger over time and use my Mana instead of whatever it would normally use - so, instead of fuel for the truck, or bullets for guns."

Ohhh that answers her question of whether the truck had gun turrets before the system! She wasn't sure if this isolated variance zone had bandits.

"Interesting. I don't need a soulbound item - my claws and brain and ears are already part of my body - but that's good to know."

Hm, if the rest of civilization exists in this game, how are they taking it? The robots are dead, but most robots just have a mouse inside who can do their job directly, if less intimidatingly. The wolves will be really busy with the jobs the mouse robot-drivers can't do. There are so many people in the cities, though, they'll have the monsters out-numbered? Maybe there are special city monsters.

Someone is probably going to try to get an infinite supply of stroon with a soulbound syringe or something, won't they be surprised to find out that almost everyone is 'allergic' to it!

Anyway. "If the guns don't cost anything to use, I suppose I'll learn to use one, sir."

"Oh good. Hopefully we'll be at the workyard where we can try it before nightfall. In the meantime, let me go stop these fools from trying to pack up their entire house into my truck."

And off he goes at a quick walk.

(C'Esther and Wynn discuss keeping records of injuries.)

Wynn starts writing down a summary of what she's learned about the HP mechanic. And then a 'tutorial' of other useful stuff she's figured out- Like the monster experience formula. (100 xp per level, plus 10% for each level above you the monster is, with additional multiplication on top of that if it's much higher, times percentage contribution).

The group of Pack Rats gradually calm themselves. A few curious gawkers approach the open back of the truck bed, but are sent away by the landscaping guys. They start loading bags of belongings, as a woman and two children- Maybe aged six and eight- Make their way into the truck and look around uncertainly.

Then there's some sort of altercation by the back.

A man dressed in a sharp suit seems to be arguing for passage, a spot in the truck and in the workyard.

"Look, buddy," Dave fires back, "Harold Chester? I remember you. What good are you? Can you fight? Can you walk up to a monster and stab it in the fucking face? Got a useful class?"

"I'm sure we can work something out, I'm a salesman, I can do business for you?"

"Salesman! No, not happening. Because that's the only way I'd let you come to my workyard when I know you're a flake and an asshole- Yeah, I remember you fucking around about paying for your deck- Is if you could actually contribute somehow! This isn't a fucking game."

"I can pay you, I have cash, I have gold."

"Worthless. Got any guns and ammo? Tools, medicine?"

"But we need to get somewhere safe!"

"I don't see how that's my problem, not when helping you will compromise our safety."

"You're letting people die, what's your problem? There's room!"

"For you, yeah. What about everyone else on this street? Couple hundred folks?"

"I was here first!"

"The yard only has so much carrying capacity, we have to plan for bunks, for food, for defenses. I can't help you, pal. Employee families and useful folks only. Besides, the truck ain't even mine."

"Fuck you!"

That's when the guards backing Dave up raise their sledgehammers, and Harold reluctantly backs off.

Wait, why are they turning people away? The more people, the more efficiently they can fight and get food and take care of each other!

(Heh, that Man's lineage is pronounced just like how these people say 'C'Esther'; if she weren't busy fighting monsters she would love to study their accent in more detail.)

Dave is dropping rude, spurning someone over a bit of money.

Woah, there's no need for violence! Can't they see the poor guy is desperate?

She slips over to Herold. "Excuse me, sir. What Class do you have, if you've chosen? Any powers or upgrades? What kind of goods did you advocate for in your prior vocation?"

Dave tells her not to go far- They're leaving in two, three minutes tops.

Harold is acting pretty panicky about his solar panel business being useless now, enough that he only barely stares at the cat ears and cat paws, but with a little coaxing, he gets the System to display some of his screens to her. He's a Salesman, but hasn't picked any of the Class Powers yet. There are two that might be some kind of useful, after a bit of thinking- Discern Value, which identifies things that have value now, like potential weapons, and Schedule Magic, which speeds up people he is supervising if they're doing work and not combat.

A few neighbors are watching the big truck with guns warily, but nobody approaches after Harold backs off. Especially when one of the gunners spots another Glutton Pig walking down the street and starts taking loud pot shots at it! That makes everyone even more jumpy and flinchy!

Discern Value? She's not sure she trusts the System with that much power to guide their actions. Sure, it's doing a lot of stuff already, but it seems to be 'following its own rules'. Discern Value would give the System the ability to yank him around at any minute by saying something is valuable and then making up something retroactively... She gets the sense the System wanted her to attack the Pack Rats when she first met them; did it want the pointless tragedy of her not knowing what Critters were?

But she doesn't want to give Herold another reason to freak out. "I think we've been doing fine on getting valuable things so far. Schedule Magic looks excellent, though, sir! Sam, on Dave's crew, has a construction ability. Does it affect magic work, non-magic work, crafting if that's separate...?"