I had the leaders among the thirty men go back to the stalls and convince the other twelve to take their damn showers. Then I had the forty-two move to yet another set of rooms, leaving the previous one ready to take the next batch of guests. I gave them a task to keep themselves busy.

< Do not destroy the grass and wait for relocation. I have housing for you. In the meanwhile, please use some paper to write down your Status information and a list of people you care about on the surface.>

I floated my Core down a shaft, back to the orchard on the second floor. Another scan for infiltrators, all clear. I latched myself back in Bad Bet's pelvis and drove my puppet to collect more fruit.

This time, I made three trips. I had a hundred and twelve people to feed and while they had some men and women among them, I had to feed the twelve recalcitrants.

A similar scene happened. I communicated with signs, people complained, I showed them the rules, and then opened the connection to the other rooms. But this time, I only let the women and children go. The men could wait, I had decided.

I quickly noticed the children were all with their mothers. They bathed with great joy and little resistance, then thanked and praised me for the clothes. We had a little snag regarding women's underwear, which apparently wasn't much of a thing nowadays, and they were led to the mess hall.

The children loved the fruit. The women wept even before they ate as they let the children have their fill before taking a single bite though I knew most of them were drooling at the smell. They thanked Mr. Garfield and more than one muttered they wouldn't mind sharing the bed of such a generous man. Many also prayed their tanks to this Patriarch fellow, which I suspected was some sort of religious figure or their new deity in this fucked up world.

Except no. I had no sexual desire, thank you very much.

*

*

I let the women and children to the very first set of rooms to be used. If this was set one, then the first batch of men was in set six, while the showers were in set two, set three was empty and unused while the rest of the refugees were on four.

I also started Replicating housing for them on floor 3. A new room branching out from the main maple floor was created, with sixty stone houses. People would need to bunk together but I was hoping I could reunite some families here. I could always expand the little village later on.

Back to the guests. I had them select half of them to go ahead, promising the remaining ones that they would be well-treated. Rinse, repeat, I only changed my routine to tell them the women and children were fine. I had a volunteer among the women come back and tell them that. This batch of men acted according to the script and took their showers, then ate a lot of fruit.

When the third and last batch arrived to learn the rules, I had the same woman and a man from the second batch reassure the newcomers. They bathed, changed their clothes, and ate.

I was pretty relieved I didn't have to kill anyone.

Focusing back on the first group of men, they had scribbled on the paper I offered them, most of them amazed at the invention that was pencils. I had them put the paper sheets with their Status in a basket, then push it into some rails. Then I collected the lists of people in another basket. I had already collected the data on a code comment in the Algorithm Encyclopedia but the gesture was important to keep my omniscience a secret.

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