room was empty, the other laborers already out for their morning assig

d carefully hid the burlap sack deep under her pile of straw. Sh

ntal command, using the temporary name

face was more detailed now, with several new modules lit up.

iption scrolled

ot of land, transforming it into climate-in

t meant she could grow food even in the deadly winter that

scription, a red

Energy Crystals as an

eep price, almost everything she had, but it was an investment s

could see, shrinking into a virtual scroll that hovered in

tapped it, and a waterfall of merchandise cascaded down the screen. Her eyes scanned the list

500 Data Points. She checked her balance. Thanks

ta Points. Besides discovering new species, successfully planting and harvesting cro

it, trade the harvest for Data Points, buy

e almost missed the sound of voices outside

e light vanishing just as the wooden door was shoved open. She threw herself down on

o the room. One of them was complaining loudl

arled, kicking a woode

he floor, bumping into Car

ing under the hide. She played the part perfectly, the sc

ith contempt. "Waste of space," she muttered, then tu

watched the chaotic, violent scene with a cold, detach

privacy, no security. Someone would see the glow

ory was to bind herself to a male during the mating ceremony.

get Brann