I'm The Only Psychic In The Zombie Apocalypse

”System... open Base Building Module.”

The menu appeared, and I stared at it for several seconds without doing anything else.

The crafting tab had always been there, but I just didn’t have either the time or the mental bandwidth to check it out until now.

Turns out, there were considerably more than just a few categories.

Walls.

Doors.

Windows.

Flooring.

Utilities.

Defenses.

Furniture.

Agriculture.

Medical.

Workshops.

Armories.

Living Quarters.

Sanitation.

Storage.

Vehicle Facilities.

Observation Structures.

Escape Infrastructure.

.

.

.

I scrolled, and the menu kept going.

I scrolled further.

Still going.

[This is not a module...] The realization arrived slowly and then all at once. [It’s a fucking construction company... a massive one at that...]

The System hadn’t just given me the ability to put a roof over my head; it had given me the keys to build a civilization from the ground up, one invoice at a time.

”System... Tutorial.” I said, because obviously.

-Ding!

{

Base Building Module Overview:

The Base Building Module enables design, construction, modification, reinforcement, and maintenance of permanent and temporary structures.

All construction requires materials and labor costs.

Inventory materials are consumed automatically if available and valid.

Missing materials are charged via Credits.

Host may use menus to manually select constructions to create or modify, or may issue verbal commands via Consultant Mode.

Advisory: Host is strongly encouraged to divert enthusiasm from blowing up educational institutions toward investing in infrastructure.

}

”I blew up one department.” I got the feeling that the system and I were going to get along very well.

”Alright...” I said, setting the coffee down on the railing. ”I need a temporary isolated sick bay. What’d be the best location for it in the penthouse?”

-Ding!

{

Consultant Mode: Active

Recommended Installation: Field Isolation Ward

Capacity: 3 Patients

Recommended Location: Living Room, South-East Corner, Area beneath staircase

Reasoning:

Proximity to residents.

Natural ventilation access.

Adequate floor loading.

Isolated from primary living space.

Allows future expansion.

Recommended Type: Temporary Polymer Isolation Facility.

Proceed to Catalog?

}

”Sure... Proceed away.”

I grinned at Tikki, who had woken up and was now looking at my probably star-struck eyes with mild concern.

”You’re going to love this, Booger...”

The wheelchair rolled through the balcony doors and into the living room via Telekinesis, which remained genuinely one of the better things in my life.

Kara was still on the sofa with the laptop open, surrounded by the empty cups that marked the archaeological layers of her afternoon.

”I have the grocery list ready.” She looked up the instant I came through.

”Cool...”

I was already looking past her toward the south-east corner of the living room, where the staircase curved upward, and the space beneath it sat occupied by two heavy decorative chairs, an ornamental cabinet the height of my chest, a small table, and a potted plant that had done nothing to deserve what was about to happen to its position in life.

”Where’s Leo?”

”He went upstairs to sleep...” Nora said, from the other end of the sofa, not looking up from her phone.

”Bummer...” I considered briefly, no, actually, I didn’t. ”Okay, kid. You’re up.”

Nora looked over.

”Clear that corner for me... Everything under the staircase, I want it gone.”

”Why?”

”You’ll see.”

Nora looked at the corner. Then at me. Then at the corner again.

”You could literally move things with your mind right now.”

”Think of this as... character development.”

Nora groaned at the ceiling and got up.

The first chair might as well have been a mountain.

It was a solid piece of luxury furniture with no interest whatsoever in moving quickly, and Nora was five-foot-four.

She got it six inches across the floor, stopped, blew hair out of her face, and resumed.

Kara watched over the top of the laptop screen.

”I could help,” Kara offered.

”You could also just watch,” I suggested with a grin.

And Kara instantly made a minor adjustment to her viewing angle.

The ornamental cabinet genuinely had Nora red-faced by the second attempt, and she was openly discussing her opinions of the cabinet’s parentage by the third. But eventually she managed to walk it out of the corner in small alternating jerks that took two full minutes and produced sounds from the floor that the penthouse owner would’ve shot us for.

”This...!” Nora announced, slightly out of breath and highly committed to the point, ”... had absolutely better be worth it!”

The plant went last and was the only thing that came easily.

”Great... Now stand back.”

Nora stood back, hands on her hips, hair on her face, and still catching her breath.

While I pulled up the installation screen, selected the Field Isolation Ward, and hit Begin Placement.

And the living room transformed.

A full-scale photorealistic holographic projection materialized below the staircase, transparent and full colored, three-dimensional, filling the space exactly as the System had outlined.

I could see everything inside it: three gurneys positioned for access from both sides, medical storage cabinets against the rear wall, the negative pressure air handling unit mounted at ceiling height, HEPA filtration running along the interior perimeter, an IV station between beds, a folding examination desk beside the entrance airlock, vitals monitors above each gurney, biohazard disposal at the exit point.

I rotated the projection, then moved the examination desk three feet to the left, checked the gurney spacing, and shifted one storage cabinet to improve the sight line from the entrance.

And after a dozen slight adjustments across the next fifteen minutes, the sick bay looked absolutely flawless; even the entrance was now wide enough for wheelchair access.

”System...” I said, grinning ear to ear, ”This is it... show me the quote.”

-Ding!

{

Centralized Resource Exchange and Distribution Interface Terminal (C.R.E.D.I.T.)

Construction Invoice

Project: Temporary Isolation Ward

Installation Site: Penthouse Living Area, Ground Floor - South-East Corner

Module Type: Field Isolation Medical Bay (Temporary)

Dimensions: 11.4 ft × 10.1 ft × 8.2 ft

Configuration:

Triple-Patient Capacity

Negative Pressure Environment

Independent Air Handling

Sealed Entry Vestibule

Portable Installation Package

.......

Selected Components: Structural Polymer Isolation Enclosure

Material: Medical-Grade Reinforced PVC Composite

Configuration:

Sealed Modular Frame Assembly

Transparent Observation Panels

Chemical Resistant Interior Lining

Integrated Frame System

Fabrication Cost: 4,850 Credits

.......

Negative Pressure Air Handling Package

Components:

Primary Extraction Unit

Pressure Regulation Assembly

Backup Ventilation Fan

Redundant Power Safeguards

Installation Cost: 7,250 Credits

.......

Air Purification Package

Components:

Medical HEPA Filtration Unit

Activated Carbon Filtration

Pathogen Isolation Filter Stack

Replaceable Filter Cartridge Set

Installation Cost: 4,150 Credits

.......

Medical Furnishing Package

Contents:

Patient Gurney ×3

Medical Supply Cabinet ×2

Examination Cart ×1

Utility Workstation ×1

Biohazard Disposal Container ×1

Adjustable Medical Lighting ×3

Package Cost: 5,240 Credits

.......

Monitoring Equipment Package

Contents:

Patient Vitals Monitor ×3

Environmental Sensor Suite

Air Quality Monitoring Assembly

Negative Pressure Monitoring System

Package Cost: 2,780 Credits

.......

Electrical Integration

Configuration:

Dedicated Circuit Installation

Emergency Backup Power Interface

Medical-Grade Wiring Package

Warm LED Lighting Installation

Installation Cost: 1,860 Credits

.......

Labor and Site Preparation

Includes:

Structural Load Verification

Site Preparation

Module Assembly

Environmental Sealing

System Calibration

Final Safety Verification

Labor Cost: 4,420 Credits

.......

Estimated Construction Time: 3 Hours 17 Minutes

Total Construction Cost: 30,550 Credits

Credits will be deducted upon confirmation.

Advisory:

Inventory materials meeting construction specifications will be consumed automatically and deducted from the total project cost.

The selected module is rated for temporary medical isolation only.

Extended occupancy is not recommended.

Host is reminded that ”waiting until somebody starts vomiting” is not considered preventative medicine.

No warranty implied.

}

I stared at the total for a moment.

[Motherfucker...]

30 Grand for a temporary sick bay.

[And the fuck you mean no warranty applies?!]

-Ding!

{One-Year Extended Warranty Package: 9,490 Credits.}

[Suck my...]

I thought briefly about the fifty C4 charges I had detonated at the university last night, which had funded several times this amount in a single evening.

[C4 still remains the best investment in the portfolio...]

”Confirm...” I sighed.

-Ding!

{Would you like to include the One-year Extend-}

[Fuck no.]

And the very next instant, a blue cube appeared without any fanfare whatsoever. One moment, the corner held a holographic projection. The next moment, the corner held a solid, opaque, translucent blue field, roughly the size of the sick bay’s projection, completely silent, filling the space under the staircase from floor to ceiling.

Nora stood there with her mouth wide open, and even Kara closed the laptop.

Tikki, from my lap, looked at the cube with eyes that had gone very wide, while Nora carefully walked to the cube and raised one hand to touch it, and her hand hit a solid mass.

She pawed it a second time with additional conviction, as though the cube might reconsider if she committed harder.

It did not reconsider.

”Okay...” Nora pointed at the cube. ”What?”

”It’s building a medical bay... gonna take about three hours.”

”It’s just...” She pointed harder. ”Dude!”

”I got a Base Building Module in the crafting tab. I can build walls, rooms, workshops, armories, greenhouses, watchtowers...” I paused, enjoying her expression. ”Entire compounds, given enough materials or credits.”

Nora’s brain visibly processed this information in stages.

”Compounds,” she repeated.

”Compounds.”

”Like...” She stopped. ”Nikki. Could you build a castle.”

”Probably.”

”Could you build a castle with a moat.”

”Structurally speaking, yes.”

”Nikki-”

”I’m not building you a Disney princess castle...”

Nora stood completely still for a full second, then turned to Kara.

Kara had already shifted from stunned into practical mode, because that was Kara.

”How expensive are defensive walls?” she asked.

”Depends on thickness and material... The System gives a quote per project.”

”And a greenhouse?” she pressed. ”For food production?”

”There’s an Agriculture tab... Fully integrated with UV systems if you want year-round growing.”

Kara started typing something in the laptop with a focused expression that suggested she had already begun a list.

Nora, meanwhile, was still looking at the blue cube as though her entire mental model of the future had just been rewritten.

And just then -

-Ding!

{

Advisory:

Construction materials stored within Inventory are automatically consumed during installation, significantly reducing Credit expenditure.

Host is strongly encouraged to procure:

Cement. Lumber. Steel. Rebar. Fasteners. Electrical wiring. Insulation. Plumbing supplies, etc.

}

I sat with that advisory for a moment.

Construction sites. Hardware stores. Building supply warehouses. Lumber yards. Scrap metal facilities.

An entirely new genre of loot just got unlocked.

Every single one of those locations had been completely ignored across three years in the previous timeline because none in my group ever had any use for two tons of rebar or forty bags of Portland cement. We used to roll around in an RV.

”Guess I should start raiding construction sites...” I couldn’t help grinning.