LOSS System: Last Store Standing

By late afternoon, Megan, Gordon, and the others finally returned to the trading post.

The Tesla pulled up beside the open area, followed closely by a CUEV carrying eight energy cells strapped securely to the back.

As soon as Megan got out, she called to Gordon, “Take the energy cells straight to the convenience store. There’s no need to unload them here.”

Gordon drove on toward the convenience store while Megan opened the Tesla’s trunk and began unloading the supplies with Vane and Grant.

Jack went over to help when he saw them return.

Along with the electrical components they needed, Megan had brought back two machines Jack had never seen before. Each was about the size of a small carry-on suitcase, with a hard grayish-white casing and a handle on top. An unopened cardboard box had also been wedged into the back seat.

The supplies had nearly filled the Tesla. Once everything was unloaded, Jack examined the two machines and the box beside them.

“What are these?”

“I don’t know what the two machines are either.” Megan pointed to the unopened box. “But that box is full of rechargeable lights.”

“Lights?”

Jack was about to ask why she had brought back an entire box of them when Elias called out excitedly from nearby.

“You found Portable Climate Control Units?”

Neither Jack nor Megan recognized the name. Elias hurried over and crouched beside the machines to inspect them.

“You found these at the electronics mall too? How many are left?”

“Yes. They were in a store that sold household appliances,” Megan said. “Most of them were still unopened. I didn’t count, but there had to be at least several dozen boxes.”

The number immediately caught Elias’s attention.

“What exactly are they?” Megan asked. “I only brought two back because they were small enough to carry. I don’t even know if they still work.”

Elias studied the markings on one of the machines without answering.

“All right, stop admiring it and tell us what it does,” Jack said. “If it’s useful, we can bring back more next time.”

“They’re Portable Climate Control Units,” Elias finally explained. “Basically, portable air conditioners.”

“Oh, portable air conditioners. Is that really worth getting so...”

Jack stopped midway through the sentence as the significance hit him.

“Wait. Portable air conditioners?”

“Exactly.” Elias nodded excitedly. “They were very popular in the old world. They could cool, ventilate, and dehumidify a small area. More importantly, they didn’t need a traditional exhaust hose, and they were compact. Each one was only about fifty-five centimeters tall, thirty-two centimeters wide, and less than twenty-five centimeters deep.”

He patted the handle on top.

“One person could carry one without much trouble, and there was no need for permanent installation. Which means...”

“We can use them in the tents or at the trading post,” Jack cut in. “If one isn’t enough, we use two or even three. As long as we have electricity, we won’t have to roast in the heat anymore!”

Jack burst out laughing.

“Exactly,” Elias said. “And Megan said there are at least several dozen boxes left. If the machines still work, those energy cells could keep everyone here comfortable.”

Jack looked down at the two portable air conditioners, his grin widening.

As soon as the unloading was finished, Jack and Elias eagerly carried both machines into the convenience store.

The moment they set them down, Jack plugged one in and pressed the power button. The machine beeped and started humming. A few seconds later, cool air began flowing from the front vent.

Elias held a hand in front of the vent and immediately broke into a smile.

“It works!”

Jack was just as thrilled. The two exchanged a look and burst out laughing.

Megan returned just in time to catch them celebrating. She smiled at the sight but quickly reminded them, “Don’t forget about the energy cells outside. Help bring them in so we can start charging them.”

Jack and Elias had been so distracted by the portable air conditioners that the eight energy cells had completely slipped their minds.

“You go find Marg and ask her to prepare dinner,” Jack told Elias. “I’ll help carry everything inside.”

Elias left to find Marg while Jack joined Reed, Gordon, and the others outside. Together, they unloaded the energy cells from the CUEV, carried them into the convenience store one by one, and connected them to the power supply.

By the time the last one was plugged in, night had fallen. Not long afterward, Marg called everyone over to the trading post for dinner.

Once they had eaten, no one stayed behind to chat as they usually did. Everyone soon went their separate ways.

Jack and Megan returned to the second floor of the convenience store. Megan had barely sat down before she began discussing the next day’s plans.

“We’ll need to make several more trips to the electronics mall tomorrow. I want to bring back as many energy cells as possible.”

“There are still that many left?” Jack asked.

“A lot. That store must have specialized in selling them. We could see more than a dozen unopened units without even searching very far. There’s also a storage room in the back that we didn’t have time to check. There should be at least another ten or twenty inside.”

“That many?”

“That’s why I want to make several trips tomorrow and bring them all back.”

“All right. We’ll do it your way,” Jack said. “What about the other electrical components? Did you bring everything we need?”

“Not all of it. There are far too many,” Megan replied. “What we brought back today should be enough for now. If we need anything else later, we can always go back.”

Jack thought it over and agreed.

“That makes more sense. If we brought everything back now, we’d only have to find somewhere to store it all.”

“That’s what I thought too,” Megan said. “There are plenty of lights there as well, both rechargeable and solar-powered.”

That reminded Jack of the unopened box she had brought back.

“I didn’t get a chance to ask earlier. What made you think of bringing back lights?”

“Because it’s far too dark here at night,” Megan said. “There’s some light around the convenience store, but the areas where Nolan’s group and Warren’s family are staying are completely dark. It’s difficult to walk around, and if anything approaches at night, we might not notice until it gets too close.”

She continued after a brief pause.

“So I thought we should start setting up some lighting around the settlement. At the very least, people should be able to see the paths around the tents and the places they use most often.”

“I’ve thought about that before too,” Jack said. “I just never had a practical way to do it. All I have are ordinary camping lights, and they don’t last very long on a full charge. If we used all of them every night, we’d have to collect them one by one and bring them back here to recharge every morning. It would be too much trouble.”

Megan considered his words for a moment.

“Have you noticed that all the old-world technology we’ve found here is far more advanced than anything from our world?”

She continued, “The CUEV looks almost exactly like an ATV from our world, yet a one-hour charge gives it a range of eight hundred kilometers. And now we have these portable air conditioners. They’re small, don’t need exhaust hoses, and can be carried anywhere. I’d never seen anything like them before. I didn’t even know such technology existed.”

Jack was a little surprised.

“You noticed too?”

“How could I not? If it were only one or two things, we could assume they were technologies we simply hadn’t encountered before. But almost every piece of old-world technology we’ve found here is far beyond anything available in our world.”

Jack fell silent for a moment.

“There was something I couldn’t figure out from the moment I arrived here,” Jack said. “But after seeing more and more old-world technology, I started to form a theory.”

Megan immediately became serious.

“What is it?”

“The language,” Jack said. “The people here speak English, just like us. Even their writing is in English.”

Megan went still.

Ever since she arrived in this world, she had been able to communicate with everyone without any difficulty. Perhaps everything had felt so natural that she had never stopped to consider how strange it really was.

“You’re right...” she said slowly. “I never even realized that we’ve been speaking English this whole time.”

“So this might not be another world at all,” Jack said. “It could be Earth, many years in the future. We just don’t know how much time has passed or what happened in between.”

Megan fell silent. The idea that this could be Earth’s future raised even more questions about the old world and everything around them.

Jack saw her sinking deeper into thought and waved a hand.

“Forget it. There’s no point trying to figure it out right now. Let’s deal with what’s in front of us and focus on living our lives first.”

Megan still had plenty of questions, but without any way to find the answers, she could only set them aside for now.

“I’m thinking of asking Elias to go to the electronics mall with you tomorrow,” Jack continued. “What do you think?”

“That works,” Megan replied without hesitation. “There are too many things there that we don’t recognize. If Elias comes with us, he can tell us which ones are worth bringing back.”

“Then it’s settled. I’ll talk to him tomorrow morning.”

Jack got to his feet.

“Go wash up and get some rest. You’ve been busy all day.”

Megan was already tired, so they ended the conversation and soon returned to their rooms for the night.

The next morning, noises from downstairs woke Jack.

Something scraped repeatedly across the floor, followed by several muffled thuds. Jack shot upright, hurriedly got dressed, and rushed downstairs.

When he reached the first floor, he found Reed and Vane carrying a wooden pallet out of the storage room. He immediately relaxed.

“What are you two doing?” Jack complained. “Making this much noise first thing in the morning nearly scared me to death. I thought someone had broken in.”

Reed quickly set down the pallet.

“Sorry. We tried to be as quiet as possible. We didn’t expect to wake you.”

“Forget it.” Jack waved a hand and looked at the wooden pallets already stacked nearby. “Why are you moving all these?”

“We don’t know,” Reed said. “Warren went to discuss something with Elias early this morning. After that, Elias told us to bring out as many wooden pallets as we could find.”

“He called Thomas over too,” Vane added. “It looks like they’re planning something.”

Jack’s curiosity grew.

“Where are they?”

“They should still be near the trading post.”

Footsteps came from the stairs behind them. The noise had woken Megan as well, and she came downstairs after quickly getting ready. She looked at the pallets, then at Jack.

“What’s going on?”

“I don’t know either.” Jack indicated the pallets. “Elias told them to move these outside. Apparently, they’re planning something.”

“Then let’s go see.”

Jack turned back to Reed and Vane.

“Keep moving them, but be careful. Don’t knock over Ava’s tent.”

Jack and Megan left the convenience store together.

The morning air was still relatively cool, and plenty of people were already up and working. Nolan and the others were preparing mud nearby, while Edith, Ruth, and Helen had also risen early to prepare for their food stall.

Jack soon spotted Elias and the others.

Warren and Oscar stood in an open area beside the trading post, talking and gesturing as they worked something out. Thomas followed them with his tools. Whenever they settled on a location, he bent down and marked the ground.

Elias stood several steps away, occasionally checking the direction of the convenience store, apparently waiting for Reed and Vane to bring over the wooden pallets.

Jack slowed down and watched from a distance, but he still couldn’t tell what they were planning. Judging by the way they were working, however, they had already decided exactly what they wanted to do.

He and Megan continued toward them. Elias noticed them first.

Jack didn’t ask any questions right away. He examined the markings on the ground, then watched Warren and Oscar continue discussing the layout.

Finally, his curiosity got the better of him.

“What are all of you planning that requires dragging everyone out here so early in the morning?”