The older man nodded and gestured for me to follow. We walked past the water pump. Toward a cleared section of land near the fence.
"Used to be a pool,"
The older man said as he did I stopped. It was roughly the size of a swimming pool. Rectangular. The concrete edges had been smashed out and filled with dirt and debris.
Calling it a field was generous. Calling it soil was optimistic. I crouched and grabbed a handful. Dry. Clumpy. Gravel mixed in. Some areas darker than others. Probably ash mixed with dirt.
"What seeds?"
I asked as I did he opened a cloth sack. Inside were wilted, mismatched packets. Some unlabeled. Some partially torn. A handful of actual loose seeds in a jar. I picked one up and examined it.
Cracked. Lightweight. Probably low viability. Genesis floated beside me.
"Oh good,"
She said.
"Trash soil and trash seeds. This will be efficient."
I sighed. This wasn't like fixing a pump. Machines obeyed physics. Soil obeyed patience. And time. Two things I didn't have much of. I stood.
"Alright,"
I said loudly enough for everyone nearby to hear.
"Listen carefully."
The small group gathered closer.
"First, this isn't a garden. It's a test. We plant in rows. Small batches. Not everything at once."
They nodded.
"If these seeds are viable, we'll know in a few days. If not, we adjust."
I walked to the center of the dirt rectangle. Kicked aside a rock.
"Who's got water access from the pump?"
A woman raised her hand.
"Buckets only."
"Fine. We'll ration. Light watering. No flooding."
Genesis tilted her head.
"You're taking this very seriously."
I ignored her. I rolled up my sleeves. The dirt felt dry and wrong under my palms as I knelt and started breaking up clumps manually. Hands sank in. Grit scraped against my skin.
Small stones dug into my fingers.
"This top layer's too compacted,"
I muttered.
"We need to loosen at least six inches down."
The older man knelt beside me and started copying my motions. Others followed. The sound of metal tools hitting dirt filled the air. Clank. Scrape. Thud.
I found a patch that smelled slightly different. Darker. Richer. Probably decomposed organic matter underneath.
"Dig here,"
I said.
"This area's better."
Genesis floated lazily above the field.
"You know,"
She said softly.
"You could just say fuck It and dont do shit."
I pressed both hands into the soil and pulled up another chunk, breaking it apart.
"I know."
She watched in silence for a moment. Then spoke up again.
"Still doing it."
I didn't answer. The sun crept higher. Light hit the field. Dust particles glowed in the air. My fingers were already raw. Radiation notification flickered again faintly. Ignored It.
An hour in, we had three rough rows prepared. Shallow trenches. Even spacing. I opened one of the seed packets. Inside, shriveled kernels. I pressed them into the soil carefully. Not too deep.
Not too shallow. Covered them gently.
"Alright now Its up to lady luck I guess..."
I said without looking up. No one replied. They just kept working. Hope is a dangerous thing. But so is starvation. I stood up slowly, brushing dirt from my hands.
Sweat mixed with dust along my forearms. Field was crap. Seeds were crap. Odds were crap. I looked at the rows anyway.
"…if this doesnt work I might as well go hunt some cockroaches or somenthing."
I muttered to myself as I did Genesis crossed her arms.
"You are really very bad at the whole not caring thing."
I didn't answer. I just kept staring at the dirt like I could bully it into being fertile. And then out of nowhere a pop. Then another. Then a full-blown explosion of sound.
POPP-POPP-POPP-POPP
Color burst in front of my face. Confetti. Actual fucking confetti again. Pink. Gold. Neon green. It rained from nowhere. I blinked.
"…oh for fucks sake this Is getting fucking old already."
A trumpet fanfare blared. Overdramatic. Triumphant. Completely unearned.
MISSION COMPLETE
Assist with Field Planting
Evaluation: Improvised but Viable
Reward: XP Granted
Before I could even process that. A tiny figure dropped into existence in front of me. Chibi. Round head. Oversized eyes. Wearing patched up farmers clothes with straw hat and holding a hoe.
It was me. Miniature farmer version of me. He gave me a big ol thumbs up.
"Good job, champ!"
The chibi version said in a ridiculously high voice. Genesis stared.
"…yeah I like you more then youre In youre power armor covered In blood from head to toe"
The XP bar materialized in front of my vision. It climbed. Past the end of level three. Paused. Then surged. Level 4. Stopped at 70%.
Congragulations player You Have Leveled Up
+1 Stat Point Available
The chibi farmer me threw another thumbs up, then exploded into sparkles. Seeing this I grinned. Wide. Sharp.
"Oh hell yes."
Genesis snapped toward me.
"Don't you dare..."
Too late. I mentally opened my status screen.
STATS
Strength
Endurance
Perception
…
Without hesitation, I dumped the point into Perception. Instantly. Before Genesis could even start lecturing.
"Done."
There was a pause. A beat. A microscopic second of silence. Then It hit all at once like four shots of vodka. My knees buckled Instantly. I dropped to the ground hard.
"...oh fuck."
My hands slammed into the dirt as something ignited inside my skull.
"Fuck..."
It felt like someone had shoved burning needles into my eyes. No, not needles but fucking lasers. White-hot lines searing through my retinas. I clutched my face.
"FUCK..."
My ears exploded next. Every sound amplified. The wind became a hurricane in my skull. Shovels scraping dirt sounded like metal shrieking on bone. Someone's breathing behind me was thunder.
My own heartbeat was a war drum. Genesis' voice hit like a cannon.
"I TOLD YOU TO FUCKING WAIT..."
"SHUT THE FUCK UP..."
I screamed it. Which made it worse. My own voice detonated inside my head. Then smell. Gods, the smell. The dirt. The sweat. Rot. Metal. Old blood embedded in tools.
Every odor turned sharp and layered and violent. It felt like my brain was being force-fed reality at 10x resolution. Taste flooded in next. Iron. Dust. Stale air.
My tongue felt like it had been dipped in acid. Touch came last. And it was the worst. The air scraped across my skin like sandpaper. Clothes felt like barbed wire.
The ground felt like it was alive and crawling against me. It was too much. Too bright. Too loud. Too everything.
"FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK..."
I rolled onto my side, clutching my head, then onto my back, then onto my stomach again. The world was unbearable. Every sensation was a blade.
"FOR FUCKS SKAE SOMEONE MAKE IT STOP...."
Genesis hovered over me, her expression no longer smug.
"What the fuck did you expect dumbass your nervous system is fucking recalibrating!"
"TURN IT OFF..."
"I CAN'T FUCKING TURN IT OFF!"
I dug my fingers into the dirt so hard my nails bent. The soil felt like razors. Someone screamed. Not me. One of the survivors.
"What's wrong with him?!"
"He's probably having a seizure!"
"Do something!"
I rolled again, dirt sticking to sweat, grinding into my skin. The sunlight stabbed through my eyelids even though they were shut. Even darkness was bright. Their footsteps were explosions.
Their panic was a physical pressure in my skull. I tried to breathe slower. Couldn't. Every inhale was sharp and cold and over-detailed. I felt the texture of air in my lungs.
"Fuck... fuck... fuck...."
My voice cracked. It hurt to speak. It hurt to exist. It felt like my entire body had been plugged directly into reality without a limiter. Perception. Of course. I tried to curl in on myself.
Even the motion scraped. Time stretched. Seconds felt like minutes. Minutes felt like hours. Genesis dropped lower, her voice tighter now.
"Focus. Narrow it. Pick one thing. One sensation."
"I CAN'T..."
"Try!"
I forced myself to concentrate. One thing. Just one. The dirt under my palm. Grainy. Cool. Rough. Focus there. Ignore the wind. Ignore the noise. Ignore the smell. Dirt. Just dirt.
The intensity flickered. Still unbearable. But slightly less chaotic. I groaned. My body trembled. Sweat soaked my shirt. The survivors had backed away in a wide circle, eyes wide, tools forgotten.
"He's possessed."
"Is it radiation?"
"Did something bite him?"
Finally after only gods know how long silence fell. Blessed, heavy silence. Slowly. Very slowly. The burning receded. The sounds dulled from thunder to manageable noise.
The light stopped stabbing and downgraded to merely aggressive. The smells layered but no longer assaulted. I lay there, chest heaving. Vision still too sharp. Edges too crisp. Details too loud.
But survivable. I rolled onto my back and stared at the sky through the gaps In my palms fingers. Even the clouds had texture now.
Genesis hovered over me, arms crossed again, but her eyes were searching.
"Well."
She said quietly.
"Congratulations."
I swallowed.