Chapter 5
John worked through the night. He made another room, separated by a door. He made a hall all the way to the other side of the hill and made a back door. He made a room on that side of the hill. He then made a hall in the middle of the hill that stretched to each side of the hill and put more doors. He made plans for a fence that would go all the way around the hill-house. We would need more wood. Or stone for a stone a fence. He shared his plans so I could help remember. We need a sheep pin. We need a cow pin. We need an orchard, rows of different kinds of trees. Different wood, different crafting options. We need a supply room. We need an anvil for more sophisticated tools. We need to find diamonds.
“Why do we need diamonds?” I asked.
“Diamonds are natural energy transducers. Maybe I can make a crystal radio, or more sophisticated energy accumulator so that we can boost our tech’s power, maybe bring Loxy and Jetsy full online,” John mused. He was making ladders.
“I would like that,” I said. “Who are the shadow people?”
“Uh?”
“You said Enders reminded you of shadow people,” I said.
“Who are shadow people?”
“Watchers, mostly,” John said.
“Not helpful. What are they watching?” I asked.
“Us. They’re kind of like anthropologists,” John said. “They’re not supposed to be seen, but sometimes, like humans, they make mistakes and get noticed. We see them as shadows.”
“Are they people like us?”
“Well, in the sense that they make mistakes. Some of them are more ethical than others, but mostly, they’re reasonable folks. Most peoples are reasonable,” John said. He was sitting on the floor, crisscross apple sauce, making ladders. “If you notice them, they may try to scare you so you’ll go back to not seeing them.”
“Do you think Enders are reasonable?” I asked.
“I don’t know enough about them to speculate. Everything has a nature, Eston. Snakes are snakes. If you get bit by a snake, well, it’s not because snakes are bad,” John said.
“Snakes are bad,” I argued.
“Stay away from snakes,” John agreed.
♫♪►
Breakfast consisted of eggs and apples. They were boiled and John saved the egg shells. He likes saving things. He made a composter. We checked the garden and he taught me about plants.
“You know everything,” I said. “Not everything,” John said.
“Will I know as much as you when I am old?” I asked.
John looked at me, gauging me with eyes that shined humor. “You will know more. Come on.”
“Where are we going?” I asked. “Fishing,” John said.
“You know how to fish?”
“I used to fish with my grandfather- Papa,” John said. “He taught you?” I asked.
He nodded to the door. “Come on.”
“It’s not safe,” I said.
John got on his knees. “I will keep you safe, you will keep it that way. We know this. Monsters come at night, mostly. The day is ours, the night is theirs. We will make that rule one.” Chester barked. “And, Chester will keep us safe.”
John pulled me into an embrace. “I got you. We got this. I need your help. I need your eyes and ears and attentiveness.”
And so, he convinced me to go with him. “Why do we need rules?” I asked.
“Rules are a form of measure, a way of relating to others and the world,” John said. “Also, they help keep us on track.”
“Everybody lives by rules?” I asked.
“Yes, even if you don’t know the rule, assume a rule,” John said.
As he walked, John told me about his experiences fishing. He enjoyed sitting with his grandfather on the lake or on the dock. Those times were quiet. His grandfather was quiet. John is a talker. The word he uses is flibbertigibbet. It’s a funny word. I have heard it in a song from ‘The Sound of Music.’ Mary Poppins is in it. We have watched a lot of musicals because John wanted me to have exposure to stories and music. Metaphors. He introduced me to a group called ‘the New Christi Minstrels.’ No body my age knows them, so it feels like a special secret from father to son. They have a funny song about a cat that keeps coming back. What was really cool was it was on his grandfather’s reel to reel, and seeing the reels turn, and smelling the smell of the tapes, and the dusty box, that now feels like Christmas to me.
Chester ran ahead and came back. He fell behind and caught up. He was all over the place. I think my dog has ADHD. I should have named him after Dog Man’s robot, 88D. I tossed the line and tagged John in the back. I pulled it back, tripping him. He looked at me.
“Sorry,” I said.
“Why would you do that?” John asked. “Because I love you?” I asked.
John frowned. Got up and continued towards the water, only after I was positioned in front of him and he could keep an eye on me.
“The thing is, I never really liked fishing,” John said. “I like eating fish,” I said.
“You’re definitely Thai. You have eaten a lot of fish. Some fish I can’t even name,” John said.
“Mom says Americans are stupid about food. You only know two vegetables,” I said. John found us a place on the beach and had me sit next to him. He offered me a pole. Chester ran and played and rolled in the grass. He jumped in the water, and came out shaking it off. We were soaked.
“Chester! Why?!” I asked. “Because he loves you,” John said. I laughed.
“I’d have to agree with your mom on food. I know lettuce and tomatoes,” John said.
“Tomatoes is a fruit,” I said.
“So it is,” John agreed. “I like bacon wrapped salmon.”
“That’s the best,” I agreed. “I like eating the eyes.”
“You can have them,” John said. He instructed me on casting. “I like bacon wrapped asparagus.”
“That’s the best,” I said.
“I like bacon wrapped jalapenos with cheese inside,” John said.
“You really can’t go wrong with bacon,” I agreed. I caught a fish on my first try. “These poles are good.”
“These poles are tech. Not like what I grew up using.”
“Yeah, yeah. You’re going to remind me of how hard your life was, having to dial a rotary phone,” I said. “You had to remember all your numbers in your head and had to walk to school, both ways, in the snow, uphill, and if something happened, you were the last one to know about it because there was no text messages… ‘Just wait till you dad gets home’ became ‘don’t make me text your dad.’”
John looked at me. “What?” I asked.
“It was my grandfather that walked to school in the snow,” John said.
“I rode a bus.”
“The short bus?” I asked.
“Haha,” John said. “With this fishing pole, you’ll fetch things straight to your inventory.”
That was cool. The bobber went out, it went under, I pulled it into me. John and I made a game to see who could cast the furthest. We fished quietly. Sheep bleated in the fields. A cow climbed a hill. There was the gurgling noises of a drowned zombie nearby. Chester growled at it, but didn’t go back in the water. Such a smart dog! Who’s a good boy?!
“I don’t like that noise,” I said.
“Kind of creepy, isn’t it?” John agreed.
We saw a dolphin jump out of the water and do a flip and disappeared. “Dolphins!” I yelled. John was startled by my shout. John looked at me, seriously.
“I am right here,” John said. “Why are yelling.”
“Because I love you,” I said.
“Well, don’t yell,” John said.
“These tech poles don’t catch dolphins, do they?” I asked.
“Of course not,” John said.
“We’re not monsters.”
“Well, how does it know what to catch?” I asked. “I don’t know. How do you know?” John asked. “I can tell a fish from a dolphin,” I said.
“Our tech knows what we know. Plus some. It catches fish,” John said, snapping in his catch. He stared at it, fairly disturbed. He caught a boot. Clearly not a fish.
“Oh, what kind of fish is that?” I asked. I was joking. He looked at me to make sure I was joking. He had a strange serious look about him.
“It is the famous boot strap fish. It is looking for feet, and if you were stupid enough to jam a foot in there…”
John pushed the mouth of the boot at me and made eating noises. I laughed and fell away from him. Water zombie reached for me, Chester barked at it, and I scrambled back up near my dad. I hit him.
“Don’t joke around like that,” I said.
“Eston, don’t hit me. Your tech is activated and you can do some damage,” John said. He sighed and patted the sand. I sat. “We got to keep our humor about us. Just like gratefulness, we cultivate humor.”
“You’re not funny,” I said.
“I will work on my humor,” John said.
John caught a name tag, a bottle of water, an empty bottle, and a saddle all in a row.
“There sure is a lot of trash in the ocean,” I said.
John agreed.
“Throw it back,” I said.
“No,” John said. “We catch it, we dispose of it properly.”
“What are you going to do with a boot and a saddle?” I asked.
“I don’t know. Boot can be repaired. We might need boots. The saddle actually appears to be in good shape,” John said.
“Do you know anything about horses?” I asked.
“I was born in Texas,” John said.
I repeated the question.
“Enough to get by,” John said.
“We haven’t seen any horses,” I pointed out.
“If there are cows, there are horses,” John said. I frowned at him.
“If there are saddles, there are horses,” John said.
I must have still been skeptical. John conceded. “Assume horses for now,” John said.
“Why do monsters come at night?” I asked.
John was quiet. He tossed a line and brought back a fish. “I don’t know. I have a theory. It’s speculative.” He looked at me and saw I was attentive. His bobber went down and came back up. I have learned that if I keep asking questions or talking, John will be silent and won’t answer anything. One question at a time. He concluded I was waiting. “They seem to spawn at night. I saw one just appear out of nowhere.”
“Which means, they teleported in?” I asked. “That seems to be true,” John said.
“The Endermen teleport,” I said.
“Yeah, they seem to do that volitionally,” John mused. “They may might have access to a teleporter.” His eyes were clearly calculating. He wanted access to more tech. He felt handicapped without tech.
“Like you use at work,” I said. “How does that work?”
“What’s my favorite show?” John asked.
“Star Trek.” That was easy.
“What’s our favorite character?” John asked.
I gave him the Vulcan hand gesture. “Spock” we said together.
“Teleporter works a lot like that,” John said.
John reeled in a fishing pole. He examined it, a little confused.
“Why is the pole glowing?” I asked.
“It’s infused with tech,” John said, handing it to me. Our clothing tech highlights sophisticated tech.
“Lure II,” I read, saying the ‘I’ as “aye, aye.”
“That’s roman numerals, meaning the number two,” John corrected.
“Aye means yes, and aye aye means I will do it,” I corrected.
“Yes, but that’s ‘a.y.e’ aye, versus capital letter ‘I,’” John said.
“What is unbreaking?” I asked.
“Probably increases durability,” John mused.
“And mending fixes it?” I asked.
John nodded.
“Can I have it?” I asked. “Sure, why not,” John said.
I fished with the new pole. I got a fish. “Why do I only get fish?” John shrugged.
“It’s probably random.”
“It doesn’t feel random,” I said.
John reeled in a book. It was glowing.
“Oh! Why do you get all the good stuff?” I asked.
“Tech upgrade,” John said, ignoring my question. He is so fascinated by tech!
“It’s a book,” I corrected.
“Tech manual, with upgrade features. I suspect that with the proper equipment we could attach it to an item. This one is titled ‘flame resistance,’” John said.
“Is that good?” I asked.
“If we ever have to pass through fire, I suppose it would be very good,” John said. He was paging through the book, frowning. “I can read the title, but I can’t decipher the inner writing. It’s like it’s in code.”
“Maybe its computer code, and Loxy can read it?” I asked.
“Or maybe our universal translator is down,” John said.
“Google translator is never down,” I said.
“Yeah, well, google is clearly not available here,” John said.
“Yeah, I am not happy about that,” I said.
John shrugged, noted the sun’s position on the horizon and said we should be heading back. As we walk, it was clear he was thinking. I asked if everything was okay.
“This world clearly has tech,” John said. “Equal to, or perhaps surpassing ours.”
“Maybe it’s a colony world?” I said.
“Maybe,” John said.
“That would explain the human looking zombies. Okay, I have a theory.” John rambled: basic premise is, we teleported into this world. There is a computer tracking us, and if we die, we get teleported back to a spawn point. Monsters spawn at night. They’re teleported in. Maybe the zombies were once people, who died and became zombies, but the computer keeps re-spawning them because it doesn’t recognize they’re dead. Maybe the skeletons are what’s left of the zombies when the zombie meat has fallen away.
“Or, maybe the computer created skeletons to fight the zombie infestation, because the zombies aren’t interested in eating bones,” I said.
John brought our walk to a halt. He looked at me. “Just a thought,” I said.
“It’s actually good thought,” John said.
“So, why are you looking at me?” I asked.
“I am thinking it through,” John said. “Science doesn’t work by proving things right. It create theories and tries to prove them wrong. Finding an exception usually means the definition is wrong. For example, mammals do not lay eggs.”
“That’s not true. The platypus lays eggs,” I said.
“Excellent,” John said. “So, our definition is either wrong, or needs refining.”
“There is always an exception to a rule,” I said.
“In grammar,” John agreed.
“Grammar sucks,” I said. “Math rocks. No exceptions.”
“Yeah, well, you grammar is better than most,” John said.
“The thing about the skeletons, they’re not shooting at zombies. They’re shooting at us.”
“Maybe they’re trying to keeps us from becoming zombies?” I asked.
“Interesting,” John said.
“Maybe they see us as the invaders?” I asked. “Maybe we brought the virus. COVID!”
“And yet, their system lets us re-spawn?” John asked. He started us moving again.
“Also, the skeletons are stupid. I saw one get hit by a skeleton targeting me, and it got mad and started attacking it.”
“Yeah, that was funny,” I said.
John chuckled. “Yeah.” He mused a little longer, Chester running ahead of us. “If we could cure the zombie sickness, maybe the zombies would be re-spawned healed.”
“How do you explain creepers?” I asked.
“I can’t. They don’t fit my working model,” John said.
“Maybe there was a war here, and the Creepers are likes pawns in a chess game. They’re expendable,” I said.
Again John stopped us. He looked at me. “That’s a very interesting thought.”
“How do you explain Enders?” I asked.
“They definitely don’t fit my model,” John said. He got us going again and picked up our speed. “It’s a mystery.”
“So, we’re a monster fighting, mystery solving duo, like Batman and Robin,” I said.
“No,” John said.
“We’re more curious than a bunch of teenagers in a mystery van.”
“Scooby doo,” I said. I took my dad’s hand.
“I miss spending time with you.”
“I love you, too, Eston,” John said.
♫♪►
I crafted paper with bamboo. I awarded John a fishing badge because we ate well and we had fish to spare. He directed me to bed. I wasn’t tired, but I went to bed. I sat on the bed and watched him.
“Why are you making ladders?” I asked.
“I am going spelunking,” John said.
“What?” I came to the edge of the bed.
“Cave diving. Well, technically, I am going to dig into the earth and see what I find, which isn’t precisely spelunking unless there is an actual cave,” John said.
“It’s not safe!” I said.
“I will be fine,” John said. “You don’t know that,” I said.
“If something happens, I will re-spawn…”
“You don’t know that! You told me not to trust that! What if you come back as a zombie after so many re-spawns? What if I am left here alone?! You can’t leave me,” I said. I was angry. No, I was scared. I don’t know, maybe I was both.
John gave a hand gesture that told me to sit. I didn’t sit. He gestured me closer, come hither motion with fingers, and again gestured to sit. His eyes were very serious. I came closer. I sat on the floor.
“If we’re going to survive this together, we need to craft some better tools,” John said.
“We’re surviving just fine,” I said.
John blinked. He nodded. “You’re right. We are surviving just fine. You have been a tremendous helper in our surviving. I want us to do better than just surviving. I want to thrive. I want to craft better tools. I want to make us so safe that we never die and we can figure out how to get home.”
“I don’t want to be alone,” I said.
“I am not leaving you alone. I am going to dig down right here in the home. As I go down, I am going to put ladders. If you need something, I can come right back up,” John said.
“Creepers can climb ladders,” I said.
“We have zero evidence for that,” John said. “They’re sneaky,” I said.
“They’re sneaky,” John agreed. “What if you fall into lava?” I asked.
“I am not going that deep,” John said. “Lava can come up,” I said.
“Eston, I am not going to fall into lava,” John said. “The best way to find minerals is down. You got this. I got this. We’re safe.”
I sat down on the bed. I nodded. John nodded. Chester ran around the room, jumped on the bed, and rand around the room again. John began to dig. He quickly disappeared from view. I called Chester to me. The idea of a hole in the floor was troublesome. I covered it with a block of earth.
“Eston! I can’t see,” John addressed me through my tech
“Use a torch,” I said.
“Why would you cover the hole?!” John snapped.
“Because I love you,” I snapped back.
“Take the block off the hole. I need it open to come up,” John said.
“Are you done digging?” I asked.
“Take the block off the hole,” John said. “It’s not safe,” I said.
“Take the block off now!” John said. “Who is Solarchariot?” I asked.
“That’s my call sign. You’re Gostarsgo,” John said. “The block now.”
I removed the earth from the whole. John came up and sat on the edge of the hole he was making. He looked mad. Chester ran around the room, jumped up on the bed, and ran some more. He looked cross at me.
“I love you,” I said.
“Go sit on the bed,” John said.
I sat on the bed. Chester stopped and looked at me.
“I need to do this,” John said.
“All you do is work. I want to play,” I said. “I work to improve our safety,” John said.
“I don’t like this Minecraft world,” I said. “Minecraft?” John asked.
“Yeah. We’re mining chicken-ducks, fish, wheat, and now traditional mining,” I said. I pet Chester.
“And why? To craft stuff. Mine craft.”
John nodded. “Welcome to Minecraft.”
“Minecraft is scary,” I said.
“We’re safe,” John said. “Please, don’t cover the hole.”
“What if someone falls in the hole?” I asked.
“No one is going to fall in the whole,” John said.
“What if I fall in the hole?” I asked.
“Don’t fall into the hole…”
“What if Chester falls…”
“Eston!” John said.
“Don’t you watch Heartland? Someone always falls into a hole,” Eston said.
“You watch Heartland?” John asked.
“I like the horses,” Eston said.
John sighed. “Would you feel better if I make a trap door?”
“Yes,” I said.
John made a tap door. He put a spare in the chest. He continued digging. I found the hole unsettling, so I closed the trap door. A nonsense word came across my inner tech screen. It may have been a profanity covered by the censor. That was a good sign: it meant Jetsy was still there, paying attention. I heard John strike up a torch. “Oh, coal!” He continued digging. I sorted through the inventory. I played with the flower under the tool box and made die. I made Chester’s collar blue. I started singing “Johnny, Johnny, John John…”
“Eston, keep the channel clear,” John said.
“Solar, solarcharrriooottt,” I sang.
“Eston,” John said. “You can talk to me.”
“Did you notice all the zombies wear blue shirts?” I asked.
“I hadn’t noticed,” John said.
“What kind of Star Fleet officer are you?” I asked.
“Space Force, not Star Fleet,” John corrected. “Same thing,” I said.
“No…”
“So, what kind of Space Force officer are you?” I asked.
“More iron!” John said.
“You never answer my questions,” I said.
“Eston, I answer your questions all the time,” John said.
Unbeknownst to me, he was climbing. I heard an ‘ouch,’ from the hole and from the tech at the same time the trap door went bump. I screamed. The trap door opened and John emerged.
“What?!”
“You scared me,” I said.
“OMG, Eston, you can leave the door open while I am working,” John said.
“It’s not safe,” I said.
John put the iron he had collected into the stove with coal. He made more torches and gave me some.
“Do you notice anything different?” I asked.
“Umm, no,” John said.
“Are you color blind?” I asked.
“What are you talking about?” John asked.
“Chester has a blue collar,” I said.
John blinked. “How did that happen?”
“You collected blue flowers. I made die. Chester is now blue team,” I said. “You’re wearing blue. So are the zombies. Maybe they’re Space Force, too. Team Mystic sucks.”
John seemed to be considering it.
“I thought only the red shirts died,” I said.
“That’s a myth,” John said.
“How come Captain Kirk’s shirt always gets torn?” I asked.
“Plot contrivance,” John said.
“What’s a plot contrivance?” I asked.
“Seriously? You know about red giants and all the names of all the dinosaurs, and you don’t know that word?” John asked.
“I don’t know everything and google dictionary is still off line,” I said.
“Sorry,” John said.
“I am just tired.”
“You should sleep,” I said.
“I should,” John said, going back into the hole.
“What’s a plot contrivance?” I asked, kicking the trap door shut behind him.
“Having a son and a dog on an away mission,” John said.
I was quiet. I tried to access google dictionary. Nothing. I discovered the suit had an internal mirror. I laughed. I came out and looked at the iron in the furnace. One was about to time out. I collected what was there and explored what I could make. Iron unlocked lots of cool things. I crafted armor chest plate and put it on. I opened the mirror and posed. This was better armor than my hockey armor. Chester barked and wagged his tail. I took out more iron and made leggings. All I needed now was a hat and boots. I went back to mirror mode and war danced in the mirror. I was a ninja turtle. I was Super Eston. My armor was better than Ironman’s armor.
“Oh,” I said. I discovered holographic camouflages. I sorted through a collection of images that were available. Apparently, Jetsy had taken pictures of mobs for categorization purposes, and they were labeled with her nomenclature. That’s a big word that means names. I uploaded a Creeper into the tech projector and became “A CREEPER.” I could see it in the inner mirror. Chester didn’t respond. Maybe he could see through the disguise. Maybe he could smell through the disguise.
The trap door opened and John emerged. He screamed and raised his pickaxes. I put up my hands. “Don’t hit me!” I turned off the projection. John was immediately relieved. He dropped his pickaxe. It seemed to float above the floor. He grabbed me up in a fierce hug. Chester growled. He put me down and went to his knees.
“Don’t do that. You scared me,” John said. “You scared me,” I said.
His relief face slowly became irritated face. “You used the iron?” John said.
“I made armor,” I said. “I see that,” John said.
“I want to be safe,” I said.
John fumed then simmered then was neutral. John tapped the armor. He spun me around examining it. He touched the collar. He articulated my arms and legs. He nodded.
“Good craft,” John said. “You’re not mad?” I said.
“Yes. No. I was. I want you safe. I was thinking of other tools first,” John said. “I want to build an anvil…” He found three pieces of iron left in the furnace. He made a pickaxe. “You want to come down and take a look?”
“Is it safe?”
“Yeah,” John said.
I nodded. John went down first. We came to a level room where one wall opened up to a cavern. The expanse beneath was terrifying. There was a waterfall in the distance. There was a lava fall in the distance. A bat flew by. I am pretty sure I saw a skeleton bouncing on a distant ledge. I was terrified.
“IT’S NOT SAFE!” I said, hitting John.
I suppose having armor added to my hit potential- because I knocked John right off the side of the cliff. I tired looking over to see if I could see him, but it was just dark below.
“Dad?!”
I heard a torch spark and a small area forever away lit up. “Dad!”
“Why?” John asked.
“Because I love you?” I asked. “Your love is killing me,” John said.
“Are you going to die?” I asked.
“I am hurt, but I am alright,” John said, voice coming through my suit.
Then came the sound of an explosion. The torch went out. I ran up the ladder, closed the trap door, hid in the corner, and hugged Chester tightly. When John came through the front door I screamed. He closed the door. He looked furious.
“I told you it’s not safe,” I said. John didn’t say anything.
“Are you still hurt?” I asked. “No,” he said.
“Are you mad?” I asked. “Yes,” John said.
I was silent. Chester coward into the corner with me. John paced. After a couple of circuits, he seemed calmer. Then, he was mad again. He paced hard,
“I lost everything in my inventory,” John said. “It’s just stuff,” I said.
“Eston, it is stuff that can save us! That was hard work. That means I have got to do more work. And you’re going to have to work, too,” John said. “This is not play time.”
“I am sorry,” I said. “Get some sleep.”
I laid in the bed and watched him.
John crafted a new work bench, several stone pickaxes, some fence posts, and went back down the hole.
“Can I come down?”
“Sleep,” John said.
I laid there and looked at the ceiling. Chester walked on the bed.