Marcus chuckled, a dry sound that got lost in the wind. "I do. I also remember being called a fascist by a guy in Belgium because I suggested we use gravel filtration instead of sand. He was wrong, by the way. The gravel is holding up much better against the silt." "He ever make it out here?"
"We have to decide on the server expansion," Marcus said, shifting his weight. "The power draw is getting significant, and some of the agricultural guys want to divert that energy to the automated hydroponics in the greenhouse. They say we need to prioritize food security over maintaining the global forum." The Survivalists online
The village was a masterclass in hybrid engineering. Solar arrays, pieced together from salvaged panels and maintained by a crew of former tech workers, lined the highest ridge. Below them, a series of terraced gardens utilized a complex permaculture design that had been debated and perfected online for months before a single shovel hit the dirt. The houses were earth-sheltered, blending into the landscape to protect against the frequent tropical storms. "Thinking about the old world?" Marcus chuckled, a dry sound that got lost in the wind
They were The Survivalists, and for now, at least, they were still online. He was wrong, by the way
Elena felt a pang of resistance. "The forum is why we're here, Marcus. If we shut that down, or even scale it back, we're just another isolated commune. We become tribal. The whole point was to create a network of survival, not just a fortress for ourselves."