With the promise of actually edible, passable food, all of us had a bit more spring in our step as we returned to the HQ. As we entered the main hall, it was not difficult to spot the now attached to the wall. It fit the decor, with wooden paneling and a latched door that gave you access to the control panel inside. Previously, with only one type of food, Maxwell used his access to the HQ to get our meals. Now, with so many different options, we would need access ourselves. Thankfully, the new dispenser came with the variety upgrade, so I didn't need to buy anything extra.

  I let my soldiers go first, poking and prodding through the list of options before each of them made a selection. When they did, it was pushed out one of four slots, still packaged like an MRE but already warmed up and ready to eat. After that came a drink, which they could now select from several flavors. The options were very sports drink-esque, for the most part, but there was also a lemonade and a chocolate milk option that I knew I would be using most often.

  When my soldiers were done, I punched in an order for chicken parmesan, which I happily accepted as it was dispensed. I made my way to one of the tables, noticing that everyone was waiting for everyone to be ready before digging in. Once I had opened my food and laid it out, I looked up and around at everyone.

  "Well? What are you waiting for?" I asked with a smirk. "Dig in!"

  All of us together dove into our food, cutting off or otherwise putting huge chunks into our mouths and chewing. It was a little strange, to be honest, to know something was mediocre and basic, and yet to still enjoy it like it was made by a five-star chef. Any of the meals my soldiers were eating would have barely passed for cheap concession stand food, and yet it filled a hole like it was a freshly cooked, homemade meal.

  All around me were groans, sighs, and grunts of approval, which I honestly joined in with, slurping up a forkful of noodles and washing it down with chocolate milk.

  For nearly ten minutes, we were all completely silent save for the sounds of eating, all of us focused on the flavors. When the last of us were finally finished, I looked over at Joseph and gestured around, an expectant look on my face.

  "I stand corrected, sir," he said, looking completely unconcerned by the admittance. "Those were caps well spent."

  We chuckled, sitting back and enjoying the haze of being well-fed, before we eventually started cleaning up after ourselves. Once we had finished wiping up our mess from our slightly overzealous eating, we took turns showering, with John and Leon both heading to the barracks to shower there. Now that we had proper walls surrounding the HQ, I felt a lot better about casually going out to different parts of the base.

  When we were all freshly showered and ready, we reconvened back at the HQ. I pulled a few tables together, wondering why we hadn't done that before, so that we could all sit around a single place and talk. When everyone else was seated, I finally claimed my own seat.

  "Alright, now that our food is acceptable, and our home is more defended, it's time to figure out what's next," I said, looking around at everyone. "I have just over two thousand five hundred caps, so we do have plenty of options."

  "What are you thinking, sir?" Joseph asked.

  "I'm thinking I want to upgrade the construction yard to see what we're at the next level," I said, pausing to organize my thoughts. "I also want to invest some time and money in the Horizon world. Buying at least the first camp upgrade will at least make the place a bit safer, and we can go from there."

  "What exactly are you expecting to get from the Horizon world?" Madison asked, her arms crossed as she leaned back in her chair. "There doesn't seem like much of a point."

  "I'm primarily interested in two things. One, I'm hoping there is a way to loosen the restrictions on what we can take back and forth," I explained. "If we can do that, the Horizon world turns into a gold mine. Hell, even the dirt would be worth something if we could bring it back and forth."

  They nodded in understanding, Joseph and Carlos clearly thinking about what they had seen on the other side. I let them think for a moment before continuing.

  "On top of that, I'm also hoping to find out what the special, unique thing is that the Emissary hinted at," I added, sitting back with a frown. "According to him, each world has a special thing we can unlock by building on that side. I just need to find it."

  "Then maybe we should start there," Carlos pointed out. "Upgrade the construction yard and the Horizon area. How much is that going to cost?"

  "Four hundred and fifty caps," I responded, looking down at the purchasing tablet. "Leaving us with two thousand and three hundred and fifty four, according to the tablet."

  As I answered, I considered the suggestion. If there was ever a time for experimentation, it would be now, before we stepped into anything crazy. We were flush with caps as well, which meant one failed purchase wouldn't kill us.

  "Alright, let's start there," I agreed. "The construction yard, then the Horizon connection area."

  With a few taps on my tablet, I purchased the upgrade, which was applied immediately. A quick walk outside showed that, beyond a slight improvement of the area, the inclusion of a shed full of basic tools and some more materials, not much had changed. As we looked around, John asked a question that hadn't occurred to me.

  "Sir, can we use these materials?" He asked, peaking under he tarp of concrete bags. "There's a lot of concrete here… enough to maybe patch some of the footholds in the wall."

  "And there was a sledge in the shed we could use to snap off anything sticking out too far," Joseph pointed out. "I would feel a lot safer if we smoothed out the wall, to be honest."

  "I... don't know," I admitted with a frown. "We can ask Maxwell, he might have a better idea.

  After investigating the whole yard, we went inside, sitting back in the main hall. As I pulled up the tablet to see what sort of new things the level two construction yard had unlocked, John asked Maxwell if he knew the answer to his question.

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  "The materials are essential set dressing, so you may use them how you wish," he assured us. "I should point out, however, that any work done on the wall would be lost when you upgrade it. If you manage to work on it in such a way that upgrades it significantly, you may reduce the price of the upgrade, but that would be a lot of work. It would be considerably more than just filling in cracks and breaking off handholds."

  "Good to know. Sounds like the materials might be useful if we ever need to throw something together," I commented, looking up from the tablet.

  While the new level of the construction yard hadn't done anything groundbreaking, it did make a few more buildings available, all of which were at least interesting. A radio room could be attached to the HQ, and I could only guess that would give us access to radios, something I had been wanting for a while.

  The upgrade also made an armory available, an absolute must buy as soon as possible, as it would finally allow me to directly upgrade our loadouts. I doubted I would be able to purchase power armor for everyone right off the bat, but I desperately wanted the option ot upgrade my soldier's kit.

  The upgrade also opened up a variety of improvements I could buy directly for the HQ buildings as a whole, specifically. They were not cheap, but the option to reinforce all doors, present and future, was very tempting, even at such a high price.

  "Alright, let's head over to the Horizon area. We can talk about what's on the list when we get back," I said, tapping the tablet as I stood. Thanks for the help, Max."

  Maxwell nodded and waved, and I led my team to the dark door room. Before stepping through, I purchased the upgrade to the area and then counted down from sixty. When I was done, we stepped through, walking through the tunnel. As we crossed into the Horizon world, I pushed open the simple wooden entrance that marked the tunnel and stepped into the light.

  "Well, I like the wall," I said, the rest of my team stepping out after me. "Very bandit camp."

  A large chunk of the previously flattened space around the connection point was now encircled by an eight or nine-foot-tall,, a palisade made from whole tree trunks buried deep into the ground. Each of those trunks was bound together by wire and cable, as if it had been stripped from various zoomorphs.

  "Well, it certainly looks native," Joseph pointed out. "Though there's no hiding how quickly it was built."

  "Yeah, just going to have to shrug and let the proof cover for us," I said with a wince. "Not much we can do about that."

  I grabbed the tablet for the whole area and started looking through it. The first option was to upgrade the entire area again, improving the walls and giving us access to more options. There was also an upgrade to the connection point building. It would place an actual log cabin-esque structure around the entire thing, and the connection point would be hidden as a fake basement.

  It would also allow a single cubic-foot chest of materials to be transferred between the home and the Horizon world per day.

  "Well, I found one of the things I was looking for," I said, reading through the description again. "Only three hundred caps, too."

  "Which one? Transferring materials?" Madison asked, looking over my shoulder to read the purchase's explanation. "Huh, that's not a lot of stuff."

  "I would have to assume that this is just the first level," I more or less guessed, scratching my chin. "Though I have a feeling limitless trade is not on the table, capping me to one square cubic foot seems pointlessly restrictive."

  "Are you going to buy it?" she asked, turning to watch as most of her fellow soldiers walked around the wall.

  "...Yes," I nodded. "Even that small amount will let us put together a gift package for the Oakanrest tribe. I plan on making that happen soon, now that things are kind of stable back home. Plus…”

  I let out a gentle whistle, just enough to get everyone's attention. After a minute, my soldiers had gathered back around. When everyone was close, I turned to Carlos and Joseph.

  "Take Madison and John out and look for the medicinal plants I pointed out to you," I ordered. "Fill, but don't stuff one backpack per pair, but try not to strip any one area clean. We aren't in our designated hunting area, so I don't want to screw the Oakanrest over."

  "Did you find the upgrade that lets you transfer things over?" Joseph asked.

  "I did, but it's a limited amount," I responded with a nod, miming a foot-wide, foot-tall box with my hands. "One cubic foot only. First up is testing if the medicinal plants here count as medical equipment to the Medbay."

  "That… would be interesting," Joseph said, sounding a bit surprised by the idea. "Would it be worth farming it at a large scale if it does?"

  "I have no idea, we need to experiment with it first to find out," I said, giving him a shrug. "First, let's all look away so I can make the purchase, then head out."

  Carlos and Joseph nodded, and together we turned away from the connection point, taking a few extra steps away as well. As with all my other purchases, the implementation was silent, and when we turned back around, we were presented with a relatively clean,, with no windows and only one door.

  As most of my men left the relative safety of the walls to look for medicinal plants, Leon and I stepped into the cabin. It was dark, unsurprisingly considering the lack of windows, but with the door open, we could see well enough to look around. The building was completely empty, save for the stairway down in the corner, covered by a crude but sufficient wooden hatch. Right next to it was a wooden box, with an interior that looked to be precisely one cubic foot. The exterior of the box was rough and wooden, like everything else so far, but the interior was smooth, like the maker had suddenly found his proper tools halfway through making it.

  "Well, shame on me for assuming, but I think that's where we put whatever we want to transfer over," I said, shutting the box carefully. "Now all that's left is to test it and the medicinal plants and flowers."

  It took about twenty minutes for my men to return, each with a backpack full. I carefully pushed the contents of both bags into the box, having to shove and push the top down to get it to fit. When it was sealed properly, I stood and nodded.

  "Alright. Let's head back home, I'm excited to see how this works," I said, rubbing my hands together in excitement.

  After double-checking that the box was completely closed, we all filed back through the connection, climbing down into the fake basement. As we passed through the darkness and back into the Fallout world, we found a. It was in near-perfect condition as far as I could tell, and when I opened it, it was filled with the same healing plant I had put into the box in the Horizon world.

  "I'm going to go ahead and make a blanket statement," I said as we pulled the flowers out of the box and put them into a backpack. "No trying to cheat the box. I don't care how smart you think you are, if you summon an eldritch enforcer because you wanted to get fucky, I will feed you to them myself."

  My soldiers quickly nodded in understanding, and when everything was packed up, we made our way outside. Well, Carlos and I headed outside, while the rest held back and waited in the main hall.

  It didn't take us long to get to the medbay, crossing the open area with much more confidence now that the walls were up. Once inside, Carlos headed to the chute and started feeding it immediately. Meanwhile, I grabbed the building's control tablet and scrolled to the right screen. Sure enough, as bundles of the relatively intact plant disappeared down into the darkness, I couldn't help but smile as the resource bar steadily rose.