Cannifornia - The Cannibal Colony

[Ildac]

Meet the residents of Cannifornia





Lumi: Not a fan of the Y-chromosome, but a hell of a shot with her assault rifle, which we bought off an arms dealer, and just as capable of punching your nose up through your brain.  She grew up riding caravans between colonies on an undeveloped world.  It was here that she had her first taste of human flesh, when the going got tough and they were forced to take extreme measures to survive.



Souta: A veritable human computer, capable of feats of mathematics thought only to be possible through machine computing.  Being the servant of a corrupt urbworld CEO, he had access to several channels that passed under the eye of the law, allowing him to savor the taste of a rare human steak unhindered for many years.



Stumpy: Great with animals and a pickaxe.  Don't ask where she got the nickname.  She tended a concession stand owned by her mother growing up.  Sometimes the product that came in was a little strange, and Stumpy snuck some of the more savory bits away for personal consumption.  By the time she got old enough to be privy to the shipping manifests, she no longer cared for the moral implications.



Snow: The pacifist gardener, responsible for the non-meaty food in the colony.  Not too shabby at building, either.  Snow grew up in a convent that preached the consumption of "the body of the Lord".  One day he took that seriously, and never looked back.



Polo: He's been through some shit.  What does an actor do during the apocalypse?  Apparently he picks up a gun and fights!  He's also the dedicated doctor, and Stumpy's husband.  It was during the apocalyptic event that brought his homeworld to ruin that he had his first bite of people meat.  You do what you have to if you want to survive.

So what do these five all have in common?  They're cannibals!  Their beginnings in cannibalism are all different, but they all eventually found themselves on the same urbworld, where secret societies for dark, taboo, and downright illegal activities were common.  Even among the other illicit passtimes, however, these cannibals were seen as particularly vile.  Eventually, someone talked, and the five grabbed whatever evidence of their macabre culinary misdeeds they could and booked it for the nearest spaceport.

It took a lot of bribery, sneaking, and fast-talking to get them into space (Polo was a real people person--he got their cargo of human meat into the spaceliner).  The group of people-eaters breathed a sigh of relief as they boarded the vessel bound for a new religious colony out at the edge of civilized space--something about the Twin Stars of the Maker or some other such nonsense.  They weren't interested in that, anyway.  No, what they needed was a place to hide, to lay low, to ensure the authorities would give up the chase.

They half-expected to be awakened from cryptosleep in a prison cell, and were surprised to wake peacefully, about an hour from one of the scarcely-populated rimworlds.  The group reconvened and planned their escape.  Lumi caused some ruckus, allowing the others to locate their illicit cargo of human meat, program the pods to follow their landing coordinates, and jettison them into orbit.

The colonists followed suit.  Out here, they would be free.  Out here, on this rimworld, they could eat whatever and whomever they pleased.  Here, in the colony so dubbed Cannifornia.  Because come on--if there was ever going to be a cannibalism diet on Earth, it'd fucking start in California.

[Ildac]

Lumi here!  I'll be narrating the first bit of our recollection of the events in Cannifornia.  We'll need some record of the universe's greatest cannibalistic civilization, so we're keeping track of everything that goes on.

We all got together after we landed and set some ground rules:
-If you live here, you must subscribe to the belief that cannibalism is not only acceptable, but necessary.  Human burials waste millions of pounds of food every year, and has contributed to massive starvation since the dawn of civilization!  This was the founding principle of our society back on Tau Prime, before the feds caught up with us.

-Outsiders captured by the colony will be kept as cattle and used as such.  This includes any slaves purchased.  Outsiders discovered to have an interest in cannibalism may be considered for integration into our perfect society.

-All unrotten bodies will be consumed on a per-preference basis; some like their human fresh off the bone, others butchered but raw, and others seared to a nice, smokey brown.  We don't judge here!

We walked for a while and discovered an abandoned structure set into the mountainside.  We decided to settle here, as it wasn't too far from some exposed minerals, and had a geothermal vent right to the south.  Within a few days, we had it converted into a pretty respectable base.  Gun turrets were built, a walk-in freezer set up, and farms plotted--we can't just eat meat, after all.  You need some fruits and veggies to go with that juicy people-steak!



It didn't take long for our cargo pods to land nearby.  A nice cache of human flesh was delivered right to our doorstep! (Player note: I didn't get a screenshot of this, but it was goddamn hilarious to see human flesh come out of cargo pods in a cannibal colony!) We had it cooked up nice and quick, though some of us really couldn't avoid the temptation of eating it raw.  There's just something so amazing about raw human flesh...



A few days into the building of the base, we had some thug run up and start smacking at the walls with a club.  Definitely slow in the head or something; typical macho man, I guess.  Souta and I went out and put a few bullets in him.  He dropped pretty quick--got some swings in on us, but only bruised.  After we finished tag-teaming the guy, Souta suggested we capture him.  I wasn't against letting him bleed out, since we really don't have a place for cattle yet, but he insisted we at least give him a chance.  I caved, and we stuck him in the battery closet for now.




Polo talked to him the next morning.  Guy goes by "Salt", and interestingly, he came here because he'd heard a rumor about our human meat pod drops.  One of the tribals we traded with probably gossiped about it or something.  Either way, he admitted he was trying to break in and steal some meat, because he hadn't been able to get any on his own.  Souta was right to keep this guy alive--he could be our first convert!  He's resistant at the moment, but I'm sure he'll come around!

Meanwhile, Stumpy's gotten sick.  Gutworm, Polo says; probably from the boars we've been hunting to supplement our true meals.  Definitely not from raw human meat--that'd be ridiculous!

That's all for now.  See you in the next update!

[Ildac]

Souta here.  I guess I'll take the second entry.

Polo managed to convince Salt to join us.  Not difficult, considering the unique opportunities we offer.  He's been most helpful since he joined, and seems friendly enough.  He'll fit in well here.



The extra pair of hands has come in handy.  We're building a new structure where we dug out the ancient sandstone walls to the north.  Strange that the walls were just surrounded by rock; maybe a cave-in?  Either way, we're not sure if we're going to use it for cattle or a guest room for those whiny neighbors of ours.  Seriously, no one asked you to come over.  I suppose it's important in the long run--we definitely could use the trade.

With that in mind, we did decide to give it up for visitors.




The others say it's cramped.  I call it "cozy".

Stumpy has been sick for a few days now--between the gutworms from the boar meat and food poisoning from Snow's shitty cooking, it's a wonder the poor girl can even stand.  But stand she does, working away at the tailoring bench and keeping us all clothed.  What a trooper!  Seriously, though... we need a better cook, or at least a damn cookbook for Snow.  Lumi's getting tired of mopping up vomit.

We've decided to build a tunnel around the bedrooms and near the freezer, leading up to the guest area.  Settling in this ancient structure was good to begin with, as it provided instant shelter, but it didn't leave much room for easy expansion.  Maybe that's just poor planning on our part.  We didn't exactly expect to have to abandon everything we knew and run off into the stars, after all.  It's a wonder we figured out how to hold up a roof.




It isn't pretty, but it serves its purpose.  As long as it doesn't create another entrance to the base.

We saw another pod come down--alone this time.  Snow went out to investigate, and returned not with gear or supplies, but cattle.  She identified herself as Mia.  Finally, fresh meat...





She was in rough shape, but we patched her up.  Gotta keep that blood inside, after all.  Her stomach isn't any happier with Snow's cooking than ours are--her room's covered in puke.  Still, that means less bile when it's time to chop her up!  No one's told her what she's in for yet.

The first wall is set, with traps in the middle.  The traps will probably kill some potential cattle, but at least it'll guarantee us some quick meat.  Assuming they work.



This planet is proving to be incredibly lush and fertile, so much so that we've actually run out of freezer space.  We've still got a harvest waiting to be frozen, not to mention the wild edibles and... Mia...

We're digging out space in the mountain for a second, larger freezer.  Nothing will go to waste.



A woman came running up to the colony today.  Says she knows Salt.  He wasn't too happy to see her, and admitted she wasn't one of our kind.  But I could see the worry in his eyes.  I took him aside and questioned him; turns out this Signild is his ex-lover.  They broke up on uneasy terms--something about him sneaking out for weird things at night.  Go figure.  Signild wanted to join, claiming we looked like we could use some help.




She's naked and carrying a wooden club.  Sounds like she needs us more than we need her.  Still, we could use someone on strict cleaning duty.  And another hauler wouldn't hurt.  Hope she learns to like human...

The second freezer is finished.  It's ugly, but look at all that space.  Imagine how many human steaks you could fit...



It's time.  Mia's sat in the battery closet long enough.  It's been nearly two months since our arrival, and our only taste of human flesh has been from the remnants of the original stock.  We need a fresh kill.  I gave her her last meal.  Maybe that muffin will make her a little sweeter.




Yes... Well-fed...

Snow was given the honors.  He's done nothing but cook and mess around with plants this whole time.  He needs some... stimulation.



Signild isn't very happy about what we did.  She refused to come outside, and looks pretty disgusted.  Maybe we should have clued her in a little earlier.  Doesn't matter--she knows she's outnumbered here.  She's free to leave any time.  Would be a shame if she wandered into one of the traps...



Stumpy seems to be feeling better, and Polo confirmed that her gutworms are gone.  What better way to celebrate than a nice, raw hunk of human meat?  Polo joined her shortly after.  I've never seen such a happy couple!  It warms my heart.




All in all, things are going well in Cannifornia.  Hopefully we won't have to wait long for the next cattle to wander by.  This is Souta, signing off.

[Ildac]

Stumpy here.  Guess it's my turn.

Research is going pretty well.  We're going to have to upgrade that drafting bench to a proper computer so Souta can get some better ideas for improvements for the base.  He's smart, but even his mind has its limits.  We'll probably make that our first priority.  We're also hurting for a new spot for beds--the way we've built things up is making it hard to keep it all to one structure, so we'll likely just start on a second building nearby.

Signild looks more and more uncomfortable every day.  I know she's Salt's ex and everything, and he's still got a place in his heart for her, but I worry about her mental state.  We don't need another problem.

A girl named Erisen visited today.  She's from Brewer's Village, one of the settlements we trade with.  I suppose it'd be in our best interests to not eat her.  Gotta keep friendly with the neighbors, after all.  She's too boney anyway.



The research bench is upgraded, so we've shifted focus to a proper hospital.  I'd really like for it to have sterile flooring, but the blueprint we found calls for silver, and we just don't have enough of that to cover the floors.  It's going to have to be wood for now.  Meanwhile, Erisen left happy.  Said our room was cozy.  Go figure.







Hospital's simple, but serves its purpose.



We finally feel safe enough to have an orbital comms console and some trade beacons set up.  The law won't chase people out this far, and no one's come to try and seek misguided justice on us.  The truth is, there is no law out here but what you make for yourselves.  This is the kind of life we needed--life free of persecution!  Anyway, we pinged a passing trade ship and bought out its stock of machine components.  We even managed to sell that statue we found in this place before we converted it.



Tribesmen came around again.  They're primitive, but friendly.  Didn't have anything to sell, but happily bought Salt's old club for some silver.  Every bit counts.



I was nervous having the grizzlies and timber wolves around at first.  Even with our awesome weapons, they're pretty threatening when they're hungry.  But that's managed to, so far, turn in our favor; every rat, hare, squirrel, turkey, or alpaca that thinks it can wander over and munch on our crops has been reminded (violently) that this place is an herbivore-free zone.



A couple hostile tribesmen came to attack, wielding a bow and a pila.  I say bring on the meat.  They ran up to our waiting guns...



Human: The most dangerous game.



The primitives weren't the problem this time, though.  A grizzly wandered into the line of fire and caught a bullet from Lumi.  It didn't find this very funny, and it charged her.  We put the beast down--so much for natural pest control.  One tribesman went down to gunfire, and the other retreated... right into our northern wall and traps.  Two fresh kills for the butcher block.  Lumi was treated for her injuries from the bear.







I kind of feel like Signild is going to eventually become a liability.  She's continued to protest our way of life, despite her time here.  She's never been in a position where she's had to eat human, so I don't know what the problem is.



Salt, on the other hand, is doing incredibly well.  He's been real helpful, social, and definitely prefers working with us and enjoying the shared bounty over attempting to steal from our freezer.  I kind of think he's lonely, though.  He's always talking to Signild, trying to rekindle things.  She's responsive, but... well, you know her issue already.  Salt hits on me sometimes, and I always let him down easy.  No sense causing any drama; I haven't told Polo about it, and probably won't.  He doesn't need the stress, and I'd never leave him.



The second set of walls is underway.  The first worked quite well, even if in a strange way.  I still laugh when I remember that tribesman running through the traps, rather than the completely open back entrance.  Oh well--that entrance will be covered soon, too!



Salt and Signild got back together.  None of us really saw it coming, but they announced it just a few hours ago.  I had a quick chat with the others, and we've decided to let it happen for now.  Signild doesn't approve of our way of life, but she hasn't done anything to stop it yet, either.  I hope she doesn't think she's wooing into any status, though; she's still stuck on cleaning, cooking, and hauling duty.  Anyone who willingly wastes perfectly good meat has no elevated place in our society.  In better news, Souta finished researching geothermal power, so we'll get a generator up and running as soon as we can.



We dug into the mountains around our base, where we could see evidence of old buildings.  They were mostly empty...



...except for one.



Ancient cryptosleep caskets.  Who even knows how long they've been buried in there?  There was some stuff laying around, too; luciferium (never touch that shit), and some weird-looking staff or rod.  Souta said it's a "psychic insanity lance", a strange kind of weapon that drives a person mad for a short time.  Could be useful if we ever get overwhelmed here.  We're gonna open the caskets tomorrow.  Maybe we'll find some finely-aged meat...

We went in the next day and hit the unfreeze button for one of the caskets.  It opened BOTH, and two guys crawled out, armed to the teeth!  One started smacking Lumi with the butt of his shotgun, and the other readied an incendiary launcher.  Lumi fell back to the autoguns and backup, and luckily the two crazies were too busy puking from hibernation sickness to really aim straight.  They did start a minor fire with the incendiary launcher, but they were injured to begin with (probably the reason they were stuck in the pods), and it didn't take long for us to gun them down.  Shame that they died of their injuries; I'd have liked to ask them when they were interred... right before taking a bite out of a leg.

On the plus side, two dead bodies meant two piles of meat!  Plus, they were carrying some nice stuff.  Weapons, gold, some smokeleaf...







We had a minor electrical short that evening.  We just patted out the fires and fixed up the panels, and we were good as new.  Power fluctuated all night, though.  Batteries completely drained, and we didn't have our thermal generator up yet.



Those two provided a decent amount of meat, but it won't last but for a few days.  We need more...



Brewer's Village sent some people over to help build relations.  They were so happy with our hospitality that they left us some vodka.  Vodka!  I haven't had a drop of alcohol since we got here, and we're enjoying it sparingly.  Maybe we should learn to brew our own.  Get on that, Souta...



It's getting close to the end of fall.  I've made everyone a second set of clothes, but it's gonna get cold.  I'm spinning all the cotton fiber we've got and working on some parkas to get us through the winter.  Meanwhile, storage space is getting pretty thin with all the blocks Polo's been churning out (he's a machine!), so we've gone and started up a big old shed for them.  They're mostly used in walls anyway, so it'll be good to have them further out.



Winter always brings out desperate people, even on more civilized worlds.  Souta researched a simple mortar design, and we've gotten one set up after buying out a stock of artillery shells from a passing arms dealer.  After some careful consideration, I decided to get a wall set up between the mortar and shells so it doesn't blow a hole in our wall if something goes awry.  That was after I took this picture.



The final concerns for winter will be crops and hungry animals.  Some hydroponics basins will keep us growing through the winter, but we're going to have to get rid of the wolves and bears hanging around the base.  They've served an important purpose in keeping our outdoor crops safe, but they're gonna be real hungry while all the herbivores are hibernating or dying of starvation.  I guess it'd be fitting for one of us to be eaten by a large predator, and I'd definitely prefer that over a wasteful burial!  But I'd rather feed my friends over some dumb bear.



Not really relevant to winter concerns, but I thought I'd add that we bought a little cleaner robot from a robotics dealer.  It's adorable!  We named it Scrubby.



Well, that's it for now.  I have to say, things have gone far better than I ever could have hoped.  I thought our lives were over when the feds raided our place back on Tau, but we're doing damn well for ourselves out here!  The neighbors love us (the ones who don't try to steal our stuff, anyway), we've kept the unfriendly ones out of our stocks and in our bellies, and everyone's happy!  Even Signild seems to be doing way better; maybe all she needed was someone to hold her at night, and all the cannibalism stuff is water under the bridge.  Maybe we really can make something of this.  This has been Stumpy, recording the development of Cannifornia.

Maybe I'll get Snow to narrate next, if I can wake him up.  Lazy old man...

[Ildac]

Snow here.  Stumpy says I have to narrate the next bit.  Well, here goes...

Things are progressing pretty slowly lately.  The hydroponics bay is under construction, but we're short on metal, and nearby deposits are becoming scarce.  Souta says he might have a solution to that, but he isn't saying what yet.  Meanwhile, I keep trying to hook up with Signild!  The others give me weird looks, but I say she'd be robbing the grave if she accepted.  I might be fifty years her senior, but that means I've got fifty years of experience on her!



Also, people need to stop talking shit about my cooking.  If I learned anything in my seventy-five years, it's that vomiting is healthy!  It cleans out the esophagus and exercises the gall bladder!  Besides, Scrubby looks bored.





Souta's finished his research on some metallic plants that we can stick in a smelter and get metal out of.  I dunno what weird science-magic he employed to get that, but he's configured the hydro basins to work with it, so I guess it's true.

Meanwhile, Signild dove into the vodka we were given.  She always struck me as an alcoholic, so I guess it was only a matter of time.  Got so bad that she plain blacked out.







Serves ya right, ya elderly-hating bimbo!  Anyway, it's gotten pretty cold.  We used the last of our components to build the hydroponics basins, so we took the primitive route for the time being.



Signild got right back into the booze again.  I swear, this entire planet will be painted green by the time she comes to her senses.



We finally got another trade ship in range.  We bought up all seven of its components  and put heaters where we really needed them.  It was a pirate vessel, so there were some slaves.  Would have been mighty tasty, but we just didn't have the silver to spare.  Buying your food is just plain lazy anyway!

Salt and Stumpy went out to mine and were ambushed by a crazy alpaca!  It pulled the shit outta Salt until Lumi got there to put it down.  I think she shot Salt by accident, too.  Poor guy.





It got incredibly cold, very fast.  Cold snaps are exactly what we were afraid of.  At least the fires are keeping us warm for now.  The heaters can't handle that kind of cold, though; the greenhouse and hospital are gonna get chilly.



As if our luck couldn't get any worse...



Raiders carrying bashing and cutting weapons with personal forcefields landed to the northwest.  Lumi's gone out to test the mortar...



Well shit.  At least she hit something.



Nothing beats good old fashioned up-front violence anyway.  Two died, one ran off.  We'll eat well tonight!



I was on my way back to the base from the greenhouse today, and a fucking boar comes charging out of nowhere!  It scratched me up good, and I made the stupid mistake of running toward the autogun!



Stumpy says she's finished all the parkas, so we won't have to worry about the rest of the winter.  Luckily, it was pretty mild this time around, save for that cold snap.  This way, we're prepared for next winter.

Signild must have said something really insulting to Souta, because next thing we know, he's socked her in the face!  We just let 'em duke it out; no sense getting involved, and they'll feel better afterward.  They're always going back and forth.  No one ever said we'd all get along here, I guess.

I just hope Salt realizes who gets to live if it comes down to one or the other.



Nobody felt like fighting shortly after.  Muscle parasites.  Lumi, Salt, Polo, and I all got it.  We're not sure where; of course, they blame my fucking cooking!  But I know better.



Some people from Bliss's Mesa came by and wanted to hang out, and we'd have been happy to do so... if they hadn't been attacked by a hungry wolf.  Look, I know you guys aren't the most advanced culture on this planet, but you ought to at least buy a gun off someone.  It might have saved poor Flea's life.  Their chief blames us for their stupidity, but there's nothing we can do.

We're not wasting that meat, either.





A trade ship came by and offered to buy our entire stock of human leather.  We were wary of accepting; we thought it might have been a sting.  Had the law found us?  But no, they dropped a pod full of silver for us, beamed up the inventory, and went on their merry way.  Who'd have thought there'd be a market for this outside our little society?

We got through winter pretty unscathed, but these damn parasites were driving me crazy.  I think I lost myself for a bit.  Lumi wasn't faring any better, but she chose a more... chemical approach.





We all eventually came to the same conclusion that smokeleaf was the best remedy for this.  The pain just... melts away.  This stuff is amazing.



A thrumbo passed through!  Such a majestic creature.  Powerful, beautiful, and apparently very wise.  No one really knows how they're seen on multiple planets--we've never seen a thrumbo starship.  I bet they're tasty... but I'm not stupid enough to try and hunt a thrumbo.  I don't feel like getting torn apart by that horn.





Signild and Souta fought again.  One of these days, they're gonna really hurt one another, and we're gonna have to make a decision that nobody will like.



What is with these guys and attacking with clubs?  Seriously, all we've ever done is shoot the bastards.  They don't even have shields this time!



Look at this.  They're smart enough to dig through the wall and make a shortcut, but too dumb to bring guns?



Welp, that didn't last long.  Two dead, one downed.  Looks like we've got cattle!  He's pretty talented, but we're not making any exceptions this time.  Bad enough we've got Signild causing trouble here.  We only let her in because she knew Salt.  This guy's meat.





We just need to get the others before the fucking bears eat them!



A robotics trader flew within range of our comms today.  They had a ton of components, which we eagerly bought up, and a hauling robot.  We bought that, too, and we named it Holly.  What a useful little robot!



I'm not sure if Signild has finally come around to our way, or if she simply feels she has no choice at this point.



Either way, Tom's dinner.  I took care of that myself.



The muscle parasites went away, and I'm attributing it to the smokeleaf!  Also, we got the smelter up and running, and the steel leaf has been harvested.  Wouldn't you know, it actually makes metal.  We'll never have a shortage again!  We've got some silver leaf growing, too, which will be fantastic.  We're literally growing money!



Signild's definitely not content.  She doesn't look happy at all.  Guess she'll never come around.



Well, that's it for me.  I'll have someone else talk next.  Dunno who yet.  I'm gonna go eat and puke...

[Ildac]

RESERVED

[Ildac]

Hey all, it's Polo.  Time for me to caress your ears with a brilliant narration of my own!  Now, where oh where to begin in this glorious recording of Cannifornia's people-eating history?

Well, first of all, we all put our heads together to start redesigning the base.  We decided that it'd be a good idea to make corridors linking every building, so that we can stay 100% inside, should it be necessary.  Cold snaps won't be nearly as dangerous!

We're also setting up a turret wall to the south, and will be doing the same up north.  Holly's been instrumental in getting things done fast; if we set a project to be started in the morning, we wake up to all the materials set out for us.







Did I ever mention that I hate sloths?  Well, no, I guess I haven't, since this is my first time narrating!  But I do.  I hate the shit out of them.  I hate that they're slow, derpy, disgusting pieces of shit, and megatheria are just big sloths.  So fuck this giant sloth!



I kinda wonder if killing the sloth gave me some bad karma.  It's gotten pretty hot out...



I'm honestly not sure how to feel.  My sister Whitney's on this planet.  Did she somehow hear about where I went?  And if she did, could someone else have?  She's living in Bliss's Mesa right now, which is... better than here.  I love my sister, but she's not like us here.





We had a small electrical fire.  Batteries discharged.  And honestly, it's been nearly a year since we've had any electrical problems, so I'm not even bothered.  Nobody got hurt, and we had it out in minutes.



All the clothing Stumpy's churning out is taking up a lot of storage space.  We decided to get a big old closet dug out, just for that.



The heat wave was over pretty quick, but it made it necessary to build a second set of coolers for our freezers.  That pretty much clued us in on our expanding power needs; we've started construction on a second geothermal vent.  This one's pretty far off from any trouble, so it should be well-protected if we just build a small structure around it.

We'll run the power cables through that old base we discovered to keep them protected from the elements.  Holly's already busy laying out the components.



Signild popped the question on Salt, and he agreed.  I guess she really is willing to look past the cannibalism thing.  Really, though, she's been living here for at least a year by now.  She ought to be over it!  Even skeptics have to admit that people are delicious!



Some tribal warriors came charging the base.  They probably worship some thunder god, right?  We decided to call it down on them...





Mortars hardly seem fair.  Two dead, two ran off.  More meat for the freezers, though human meat never truly has time to freeze here...





A textile trader actually had its own inventory of human leather.  Either we're not the only cannibal colony out here, or the universe had a major paradigm shift when we left.



My mom's here... I think my family DID follow me.  I dunno if she's like us, but I don't care.  She's being chased by those damn pirates, and I have to save her.  She's my mom!  We survived the apocalypse together.



She came down in a pod, and we knew the pirates would do the same.  Our turret walls were outside the main base, and we had one autogun inside for just this sort of thing.  We readied up...



They were nothing special.  Put down two and captured one.  Couldn't care less about his bleeding wounds right now.  Serves him right for attacking my mother.  These guys are meat.  The fighting must have stressed out Signild, since she's sucking down smokeleaf again.  Or shit, maybe nothing triggered it.  That girl's a druggy in and out.



Mom's definitely not into eating people.  I don't care, though; we let Signild stay.  Mom's staying, too.  Gotta take care of my family.



Giggles isn't gonna be giggling for long after I'm through with him.  Gonna enjoy eating this guy...



We redesigned the walls a bit to allow a better path up to the upper bedrooms.  Mom's not too happy here yet, but I'm sure she'll come around.  She was used to having a nice bedroom.  Not sure why she decided to follow me out here.



We got goddamn bugs.  They tunneled up through the floor in the freezer, and now they're eating our food and shitting all over the place.  I decided the most prudent solution would be to freeze the bastards out.



The nest froze solid and crumbled, but the freezer doesn't get cold enough to kill the bugs.  I went in for some manual pest control.  Not sure if it was the cold or just the lack of a nest to defend, but the bugs didn't even fight back after that.  Good thinking, me!  I wonder how bugs taste...



We got tired of the goddamn animals eating all our crops, we we walled off the last remaining entrance to the base.  We even stuck guns on the other end for good measure.





Salt and Signild finally tied the knot.  Would have been nice to have some booze or cake or something for the occasion, but that stuff's a luxury out here on the rim.  Still, it was a nice reception, and it was hard not to be happy for them.  Salt's a good guy, and Signild isn't half-bad for a waster.

Yeah, a waster.  That's what we call non-cannibals now.  Lumi came up with it.





And hey, as if the awkward family reunions could ever be over.  My dad showed up, wanting to join!  The others are getting uncomfortable with the non-cannibal residents, but they all know they'd let their families in, too, if they came.  It just happens to be the Berry family reunion this time around.



Our gun wall proved to be effective when a mad muffalo charged it and got a face full of bullets.



We've got so many people here that it's starting to get crowded.  We made some more crafting space to alleviate the cramped nature of the other one, and we've also begun construction on a common room.  We're pretty safe and self-sufficient out here now, and we need something to entertain ourselves beyond the shooting range and horseshoe spike.



We bought enough gold and plasteel to get an addon for Souta's research computer, so he'll be able to get us some new designs!



Common room's finished.  The floor's a bit blah, but we got two billiards tables, some comfy chairs, and even a TV that picks up on some odd channels here and there.  This place is starting to feel more like home every day!



Still, even homes have their drama.  Stumpy's fighting with mom.  Guys, don't make me pick sides...



More raiders from the group that came after mom.  This time they brought some bigger guns.  I spotted a rocket launcher, sniper rifle, and some automatic weapons.  We can't get to the mortars in time.



That was rough for the gun wall, but it turned out to be a good idea, spacing them apart like we did.  Only lost two, and the combined fire of the autoguns and dad's survival rifle drove them off.  We got some meat out of it, too!



I honestly think we're doing pretty well here.  We've got a strong community, though we don't always get along and we've got some wasters here.  I've got my family with me, so I'm happy.  And hey, the base is coming along great!  All in all, can't complain.  I think that's it for me for now.  Maybe I'll have Salt narrate next.

[Ildac]

Hey, it's Salt.  I suppose it's my turn to narrate, so here we go.

It's been close to two years since this colony was formed, and my residency didn't come long after that.  Pretty sure I joined only a month or so after these guys landed.  We've come so far in such a short time.

I'm a bit concerned about Signild.  She has this tendency to rub people the wrong way, and she's gotten into her share of fights.  I don't want anything to happen to her, seeing as she's not one of us.

Lumi got bored one day and started carving a big wooden statue.  It took her a few days, but she finally got it done.  It's not amazing, and her artistic vision is... questionable.  Mr. Berry did a few, too, and I can't say his is much better.  He did one of Signild and I, though, which was real nice of him.  We put it in our bedroom, and he was all happy about that.  Nice guy, even if he is a waster.







The silver leaf is finally ready to harvest.  Stumpy stuck a bunch in the furnace and melted it down.  Four silver pieces from sixteen leaves.  Not exactly a fortune, but it's pretty much free money.  Snow sticks a seed in the ground, waits a few weeks, and out pops money.  Sweet deal if you ask me.



All these tribesmen sleeping in those guest beds... Just watching them mill about makes me hungry.  But they're friends, not food.



There goes Signild again.  Is there anyone she won't fight with?



Traders came by.  They had these real cute arctic foxes, and I'm sure the others would have loved to have them as much as I would, but we really don't need another mouth to feed.  Sorry foxies.



More raiders.  No rockets this time, but one does have an incendiary launcher.  We'll see how many mortars it takes to kill them.



Well, mortars didn't kill any of them, but they softened them up for the traps.  Got some meat out of the deal.



Boomrats attacked!  They went after Scrubby!  Nobody was close enough to help!



All they left was a crater.  Poor Scrubby.



Lumi went and fought off the rest of the boomrats.  She was mad that Scrubby died.  Really, all of us were pretty sad.  Sure, we have no idea if these robots have emotions, but the little guy was fun to have around.  Lumi got pretty torn up by the rats, though.  I swear, boomrats are Satan's pets.



We didn't have to be without a cleaner bot, it would seem.  A robotics trader came by, and we bought a new one.  We didn't want to dishonor Scrubby's memory, such as it was, so we named this one Brushy.



This big machine cost thirty goddamn components, but it'll be worth it in the long run.  It can manufacture components out of steel.  The process takes an eternity, but we'll be entirely self-sufficient if we can keep cranking these out.



Of course, that'll all depend on our ability to find more metal.  We've resorted to digging into the mountains to find more.



These weird pods came down in the middle of the night.  They were circular, and shiny.  Way too shiny for raiders.  We saw these spindly-looking robots come out and make a run for the base.  We weren't about to wait for them to come knocking, so we armed the mortar.



One killed itself in our traps.  The other got riddled with bullets by the autoguns.  These things have some scary-looking weapons.  Too bad they go completely dead when the robots do.  Firing mechanism is completely electrical, too.  No trigger.



The attackers just keep coming!  This time, in the form of boars.



They ran for the guns, and Lumi happened to be out there.  She shot a few dead, but was quickly overwhelmed.  The other ran out and finished off the boars, and Souta dragged Lumi to safety.  She got pretty torn up.  Again.



A couple of guys with shields and knives came running in.  They didn't last.



The wonderful people at Brewer's Village left us a bunch of delicious strawberry wine!  We were just finished celebrating our first booze in months when Polo's sister Whitney came by.  She'd been by the base before, but this time she decided she wanted to join her family.  Shit, we're half-waster already, so why the hell not!



Mr. Berry isn't taking our lifestyle very well.  Hope he doesn't accidentally eat any of the human meat.



The last trader we had--the robot guys--bought a few cases of booze for a really good price.  I never realized how alcohol-fueled the robotics industry was.  Needless to say, we've found our market and plan on exploiting it.  Liberally.



We've managed to get a shit-ton of plasteel, and the bionics table was just begging to be used.  We all put our heads together and decided that Lumi should be the first recipient of a bionic limb.  Her encounter with the boars had left her right eye scarred, and it was messing with her vision.  This kept her from shooting as well as she used to, and of course there's a lot to be said for quality of life.  So we fashioned her a new eye!





She's done so much, risked so much for this place.  She deserves it.  Her vision isn't just fixed--it's enhanced!  She should shoot even better now.  With this successful operation out of the way, we look now to Sidrian and Snow.  Both of them have bad backs, and Sid's been practically drooling all over the prosthetics fabricator since we built it.  I caught her going through Souta's bionic research files one day, and she admitted she feels limited in her flesh and bones.  Well shit, let's hook her up with a bionic spine!  Snow, too!  We'll take care of that once we've got the resources.

Meanwhile, deep drilling is well underway.  These things work miracles, I'll tell you.



Escape pod!  Did somebody say "fast food"?



A wolf attacked Signild!  I took a few swings with my longsword, and Berry sniped it from afar.  He's a good guy, that Berry, if a little neurotic.  The attack happened as we were finishing up the new steel storage warehouse, since we're now drilling up so much that we're actually running out of room to store it.



Some cargo pods full of ear bandages dropped.  Ear bandages.  Where was there ever a need for this goddamn many ear bandages?



You know, it's a good thing we've got enough booze in this place to swim in it, because I honestly don't think Erin is ever sober.



Incoming enraged herd of boomalope.  I think the universe is out to get us at this point.



Turrets got most of them.  We lost one autogun, but that's nothing compared to what could have happened.  Goddamn boomalope.

The universe seems to want to make up for this lack of injury by throwing a hungry bear my way!



And THEN the crops died from a blight!  What the hell, man?!  Some good news, though: We got a good trade deal for some components and plasteel.  Looks like Sidrian's getting her new spine!



And she looks ecstatic!  Snow's next.





I bet the old man never figured he'd move like this again.  Or ever!  Something was sending out a weird psychic call for a while, and it was driving all the guys crazy--myself included.  Thankfully it didn't last long.



Another crazed boomalope went for the base and sprung our traps.  It managed to set the trap on fire, and Holly went over to try and rearm it, not knowing any better.  Now Holly's all burnt, and we're not sure if she'll recover.  What's worse, Lumi went to finish what Holly started and fumbled around the traps, springing one in the process.  It jacked up her jaw, and now she can't speak and can barely eat.  Well, guess we'll just have to make her a new one.



Look, I'm not saying Holly will never fly again--just that we need to be prepared in case that's the case.  Besides, we could always use more haulers.  So when the next robotics trader came, we got two more haulbots.  And wouldn't you know, Holly's good as new.  I guess these things have some level of self-repair.  We named her new sisters Dolly and Molly.



Lumi's new jaw was made and implanted.  I bet she could crack through bone with those choppers!  She'll be a people-eating master now.



Well, I think that's it for my narration.  I think bionics are really gonna play a major part in our lives in the coming years.  We've got plenty of metal, drills to dig up more, and plenty of food.  Really, the only thing we could really use is more people to eat!  I think I'll let Signild take the next narration.

It's been two years now since this place was settled.  Let's hope for many, many more.

[MineYourManners]

I never thought to put the butcher bench outside. Does that create less mess or at least make  people complain less about dirtyness?

I like the efficiency of that - butcher animals outside, then walk into the freezer to leave the meat there. Hmmm...cannibals aside, I'm getting ideas.

[Ildac]

I think it does tend to make less mess, at least on the inside.  Not sure if it makes people any happier, since they still dislike gross stuff when they're outside, buuut... it makes the inside look generally nicer, and it's just easier for the hunters to drop off their kills right there and have the butchers work right from the stockpile.

[Ildac]

Hello, it's Signild... narrating for Cannifornia, for whatever that's worth.  I'm sure the older entries have clued you all in, but I am decidedly not a cannibal.  I'm only here for my husband William, really.

Oh, right, I guess everyone just knows him by Salt.  I'll call him that for the sake of consistency, then.

Look, I'm really not too enthusiastic about this whole thing.  The others know it, and it hardly matters to them.  They've got all the fighters, anyway, save for Sidrian and Berry.  And they're not... Well, I'm getting ahead of myself.

We were beset by a herd of angry muffalo, but they were put down pretty quickly.





The real threat emerged in the form of a new bug nest.  Thankfully they dug up outside of the base proper, where we were digging around for metal before the deep drills were perfected.  They actually seem pretty tolerant of our presence here.  I suggested we wall them in.





The others aren't so generous.  The bugs are dangerous, of course, but I don't think we had to kill them.



We had our first rain since last autumn.  It'll wash away all that blood, at least.  Maybe it'll wash away the awful feeling of watching people get butchered like animals if I stand out here long enough...



Lumi asked for a second bionic eye to balance out the first one.  Guess she figures she might as well go all the way, and I'm sure one eye performing better than the other is just as bad as having one upderperform.  Stumpy had a new eye fabricated, and Polo installed it.  Her real eye's perfectly intact.  They boxed it up, probably to eat it.  Savages.



More crazed boomalopes!  It's tricky business, putting down an incapacitated boomalope.  Still, better that it be a controlled explosion than a wild chain reaction of dead 'lopes.



The people on Bliss's Mesa are always so nice.  They always come by and talk to us, and they ignore the big guns, the blood stains, the suspiciously people-shaped slabs of meat and people-toned strips of leather in our clothing...



Sometimes I sneak a peek at Souta's research.  I don't like the guy--too much of a brainiac, and of course he also eats people.  Looks like he's looking up ship building.  I guess he figures it'd be good to know if we suddenly need a way off this rock.



Sidrian and Snow are a couple now.  Yeah, Sidrian and Snow.  I dunno what kind of charisma a new and improved spine does to someone, but apparently it did a hell of a lot for Snow.  He's 77 years old!  Sid's 52!



We got a second mortar set up.  Figured it was worth it, now that we can just make our own shells instead of buying them off the traders.



Thrumbos!  Looks like a mated pair.  Aww, they're so beautiful... I just wanna ride one!  They're like unicorns!  Huge, dangerous unicorns.



A smokeleaf pod dropped!  Some space hippie is gonna be out of luck, because I intend on smoking every last goddamn bit of it.  If I can't ride a unicorn, then maybe I can get high enough to hallucinate one...



Batteries discharged again, and they take forever to charge under the strain of all our guns and drills.  Guess we're tapping another geothermal vent.



Another shiny pod.  A single mechanoid dropped right on top of the base!



Lumi's amazing!  She just... doesn't miss.  Those bionic eyes did something amazing.  Five bursts, and that thing was down.  Not a single bullet went off track.



I don't feel bad watching these things get ripped apart for their components.  Is that bad?  Living here has changed my perspective, whether I like it or not.  People come in and attack us, to kill us, to take people, to steal things.  Whatever their reasons.  Lumi, Salt, and the others... they shoot back, and I don't blame them for fighting for their lives!  But then they tear the dead apart and eat them.  Not out of necessity, but for pleasure.  For enjoyment!  I know their message boils down to "waste not", but I don't buy it.  They're just indulging in some... fantasy!

Then we kill these mechanoids, rip them apart piece by piece, and we build something else with their parts.  Do the mechanoids even think?  Do the animals we hunt have anything more than an instinct to run and hide, or to charge and kill?  Do they even know why they're doing it?

Do the mechanoids?

I need some smokeleaf to clear my head...



Beavers came the next day.  Definitely less threatening, but Lumi and Sidrian went out to take care of them.  Guess we're eating beaver.  Heh, eating beaver...



Salt and Erin got into a fight.  I'm not really sure what started it, but I'm sure Erin slurred some drunken insult and pushed Salt over the edge.  Honestly, that woman is NEVER sober!



One of the guys from Bliss's Mesa got killed by a rampaging buck.  We tried to get over there in time, but we were too late.  Oh, I know they're just gonna cut him up and eat him, but I can't do anything to stop them!  This is awful!

They're our neighbors, you savages!



Oh god, an escape pod.  Why?  Why did you have to land HERE, of all places?  Lumi saw it come down.  I can't get there in time...



If there's a Hell, we're all going there.  Maybe not Erin or Berry, but I definitely am.  I won't lie, I've chopped up human bodies since I got here.  I looked the dead in the eyes as I turned their legs into prime cut steak.  I've had my part in this, and that's why I can't leave.  That's why, even if I built that ship myself and launched off into space, landed on some glitterworld utopia, and woke up a thousand years later, I'd still be damned.  I'm stuck here.  At least I have Salt...



It's been decided that every shooter should have their eyes surgically replaced with bionics to improve their accuracy.  It's not mandatory, but very recommended.  They must have seen what it did for Lumi.  I'm glad I only swing around this dinky sword in self-defense.  I don't need that kind of pressure.  Polo went first, since he's our second-best shot.



They're evolving themselves.  That's the best way to describe it.  They're forcing themselves to a higher state of being, to become more efficient hunters.  People hunters.  Apex predators.  This isn't just survival anymore.  They're preparing themselves for... something awful.



Snow proposed to Sidrian, and she accepted.  It's weird, seeing someone so old getting married, but I guess they're happy.  Whatever keeps you warm at night, I guess.



The mechanoid landing right out back spooked everyone pretty good, so we had some more guns installed, closer to home.



Polo's ex swung by.  Awkward.  But she was only here to trade.  Stumpy's pretty level-headed, so I don't think it caused any issues.



Textiles were beginning to pile up, and thankfully that doesn't mean we were overflowing in human leather.  No, we sell most of that, because apparently the rest of the galaxy is disgusting and savage, too.  Either way, we set up a new storage room just for leathers and cloths.



Souta and Berry got the flu.  It'd give me some sick pleasure to see Souta die from it, but that pleasure would probably be overridden by watching his friends eat his corpse.



A swarm of boomrats attacked!  This... is not good.



Rest in peace, Brushy.  At least you can escape this place...



I wonder if this is what Hell looks like.





All the rear guns were destroyed.  Pretty big setback.  Good thing we've got a surplus of components.



Berry has zero self-control.  He flies off the handle at the drop of a hat, and I'm pretty sure he's the reason we still have any need to hunt and gather.  Now excuse me, I'm off to smoke a pile of smokeweed.



We had visitors today, and one of them decided it'd be cool to practice at the shooting range.  Which would have been fine if he didn't have an incendiary launcher!



And since anything worth doing once is apparently worth doing twice...



I hope they eat HIM!

Souta was next to get an eye upgrade.  All it means is he'll get to see my fist a fraction of a second before it hits his nose.



Another mechanoid attack, this time from the west.  We tried mortaring them.



Mortars are too slow, and these things are unpredictable.  Luckily, they're too stupid to avoid our traps, and the autoguns took care of the one flanking to the east.  We picked off the others with small arms fire.



That motherfucker looks heavy.



Some of these mechanoids are ancient.  Erin was taking one apart, and she saw a datestamp that went back almost 1500 years.  Amazing.



Snow and Sidrian finally tied the knot.  Love is a strange thing, but they look so happy!  I almost managed to forget we live in a cannibal colony.







She got her bionic eyes as a wedding gift, I guess.  She loves them.  I hear she's really into bionics in general.



Of course, we get through a mild winter, only for it to drop a cold snap on us right at the end.  Typical.



Polo bought a timber wolf from Bliss's Mesa today.  He says he wants to have it trained as a hunting, rescue, and combat dog.  I guess I'll do my part there.  I like animals, and they tend to like me.  We named it Olive.



I guess I wasn't watching where I was going.  One second I was sweeping, the next I'd wandered right in front of Lumi as she was at the shooting range... Lumi couldn't have shot me on purpose.  We've always gotten along, even if she sees me as a "waster".  We're good friends.  Aren't we..?



That's probably a good spot for me to end this.  Getting shot takes a lot out of you.  The base is coming along well, but I worry about all this bionic stuff.  I think they intend on branching out and making this place into a cannibal paradise.  And you know what that means for those who don't eat people.

I'm not sure if I feel safe here anymore after what happened with Lumi, either.  Everyone here acts friendly (well, with some exceptions), but they're really open about what they'd do if one of them dropped dead.  You'd think that'd keep a community like this from spreading, but... apparently not yet.

[Ildac]

Whitney Sidrian here, recording some events for Cannifornia.  Like Signild, I'm really not a cannibal.  It was really weird to hear what my brother was up to, back when I was living in Bliss's Mesa, but hey.  Everyone has their vice, right?  I'm just happy to be here with my family.  So, here we go.

Things get kinda spooky during a cold snap.  Everything's grey and dead, and the trees get all skeletal.



Oh right, Signild didn't mention it, but we got a replacement for our TV a while back.  A nice, big screen!  We're making lots of silver, and most traders are happy to take a bunch of booze, spare clothing, or smokeleaf off our hands.



I guess the people of Brewer's Village aren't afraid of lightning.  Or the dark.  Seriously, all our neighbors visit close to midnight.  I know we aren't exactly closeby, but still.



-Mom and dad decided to try their hands at making new swords for Salt and Signild.  We're swimming in steel, and their old ones were kinda thrown together and not so great.  Mom's came out real well--she did blacksmithing for a while after we got off Rubin's Gambit.  Maybe Polo will talk about that some time.  It was... a hell of a thing.  Dad's sword didn't come out so well, but hey, points for trying!  More silver at the end of the day.



Right, I suppose I should address something.  All our documented ages are close together, and those who may wind up being unfamiliar with cryptosleep might not understand.  We've all spent varying amounts of time in crypto, which halts aging, metabolism, and... damn near everything else.  This has resulted in Polo and I being similar in age to our parents.  It would have been strange back in, say, the 20th century, but it's just so common now that we don't think twice about it.

Anyways, back on track.  Keeping up with the food demand has been tough lately.  Everyone goes for the good stuff, so that's what we tend to run out of first!  I don't mind being delegated to cooking duty so much; long as I keep getting to shoot, too!



Oh god.  Cargo pods filled with PIE.  Fuck YES!



That was a nice treat.  It seemed to give everyone a nice boost of energy, and we took advantage by replacing the interior doors with autodoors.  We have plenty of components, and we've kicked around the idea of building another component workbench to double our output.  Might be worth the investment.

Other than that, dad was next to get his bionic eyes.  Proud of you, dad!



Mechanoids dropped to the east; two centipedes and one scyther.  They might have been scary if we were ordinary humans, and not the bionic masterpieces we are!



The scyther's got some range with its charge lance, but Lumi's got her sniper rifle, and we've got more than enough firepower to take out the centipedes in the meantime.



One of the neighbors, Hunt, joined the fight.  He pissed off some alpacas, but luckily the centipedes are pretty indiscriminate about what they hit.  Sorry, alpacas, but we won't say no to meat shields!



I'm proud to say that I got the last hit on the scyther!  I had to get up close with the heavy SMG, but I blew its leg clean off!  They're all still alive; just disabled.  The centipedes will just be shut down, but the scyther's got some gnarly blades.  We're gonna remove those and see if we can sell them.



Ugh, dad!  Don't fight with the neighbors.  Christ.  I don't even know what set them off, but it's the last thing we need when we've got killer robots after us!



After the last mechanoid raid, I asked Lumi if I could carry something with longer range.  She was pretty happy to hand me the extra assault rifle!  Apparently the others were impressed with my most recent bot kill.  I guess it's probably a good thing to be useful in a cannibal colony, so you're seen as more than just dinner!  That kinda makes me worried... not for my family, no--Polo would never allow that.  But for Signild!  She's always causing fights and making waves.  That's dangerous here.

Anyways, the longer range feels good.  I'll get to the action more quickly, and mom will feel better if I never run up close to a mechanoid again.  Win-win!

Mechanoids are one thing, but beavers are another thing entirely!  Ugh!



Oh god, they want revenge!



Poor Lumi.  She always gets the shit end of the stick when it comes to angry animal attacks.  That's what started this whole bionic eye craze to begin with!



A doe decided it likes us and came to live in the base.  Watching it sleep next to Olive was odd, at best.  We'll probably sell the doe to whoever will buy it.



Lumi's got a new, improved spine.  There was nothing wrong with the old one, save for the inherent limitations of flesh and bone.  She saw how fast Snow and I zip around, and she wanted to match it!  Just like with the eyes, the other shooters decided to get implanted, too.  Polo even let me do the honors for his!





Over the next several days, Polo and Stumpy crafted bionic legs for Lumi.  She wants to move faster, more efficiently.  She's more machine than I am now, and I'm a technofreak!



How did a turkey get past the walls?



Welp, Souta made sure it didn't munch on the corn.



More thrumbos came through.  They have an adorable little one with them!  Thrumbos are so gentle, for how powerful they are.



Raiders with heavy weapons dropped to the south.  Unless they're as upgraded as we are, they don't stand a chance.





You'd think they'd all know this hallway was trapped by now.



Damn I love my new gun!



Off they run, bleeding and broken.



I was never a spoiled child or anything, and I never begged for something once in my life.  But holy fucking hell, I just may for that charge rifle.  These raiders were packing some serious shit!



Well, there they go, butchering more people.  Like I said, I really don't like that we do that here.  I guess I'm more tolerant of it than Signild because my brother's here, and he's... partaking.  I wouldn't mind so much if it were just raiders they chopped up, but they'll do it to anyone!



Those raiders produced a LOT of meat.  Jesus.  That's the most I've seen in the freezer at one time.  The others are real happy, but I doubt it'll last even a week.



Oh damn.  I hope I live to see the day we fire that rocket launcher.  These traders have some heavy artillery sometimes!



Stumpy complimented my longcoat and how long it's lasted me.  She said she wanted to make some for the others, and I was thrilled until I saw what she was making it out of.  Ew!  They're not kidding when they say they don't waste.



Poor Souta.  I keep seeing him try and hit on Lumi, but she just isn't into lovey-dovey stuff.  She's very serious.  Plus I think she's had some bad experiences with men.  Not in the "treachery and abuse" kind of way.  More in the "job hazards of being a bounty hunter" vein, I think.  She doesn't let men get too close.  There's still some humanity under that predator.



I'm not sure how these animals keep getting inside.  I mean, it's more meat and leather for us, but how much meat can you get out of rats?  Especially after they're shot with a high-powered rifle!



Oh god, dad's wearing the peoplecoat.  Maybe he's trying to bond with Polo over it somehow.  Or maybe this place has broken him already.  He never was very good at handling stress.



I guess this is a good place for me to stop.  There's less and less stuff worth mentioning as time goes on.  We mostly document raids, fights, crazy or cool stuff that happens.  But I guess we'll keep it going!  The others are talking about setting up a prison in the old base to the south.  I'm honestly not sure why; all they ever do is kill people who attack us, so what good would a prison do?  We're not exactly buried in human meat, so there'd be no sense "saving" people for later.

I don't know how they think.  Maybe I'll have mom narrate next.  She could use some time away from the booze.

[Barazen]

It's creepy how you have everyone talking about it so casually, but I love that you are making these people not complete monsters, looking out for family and such.
Makes it the best kind of unsettling to read.

[Ildac]

It's creepy how you have everyone talking about it so casually, but I love that you are making these people not complete monsters, looking out for family and such.
Makes it the best kind of unsettling to read.

Signild, the first non-cannibal, is narrating next, so you'll get your taste of unsettled!

[Ildac]

Hello, my name is Erin Sidrian.  I'm a member of Cannifornia, and no, I am not a cannibal.  Let's just get that out of the way.  I only came here to start with because my son was here, and I had no idea what kind of sick things he was up to until I was being chased by pirates and forced to come to him for help.  They've got this documentary thing going on, so I guess I'll add my recounting to it, too.

Summer started off with a heat wave.  It's pretty mild to start with, but you know how these things get.



You know, nobody ever mentions Tamara in this thing.  She's the colony's cat.  Been around since the start of things here, but I don't think I've ever heard anyone talk about her.  Sure, most times she's pretty much invisible with all the crazy shit going on, but she's a good kitty.



They're doing something with the old, abandoned base up north.  Tearing up the carpets, rearranging walls and doors.  I asked, and they said it was for a prison.  Whitney mentioned it in her narration; we don't take prisoners.  Every attacker is killed and eaten.  Something isn't right.



Clark isn't doing too well.  Yeah, Clark.  My husband.  Everyone else just calls him Berry.  I think the heat's getting to him.



Come to think of it, I think it's getting to all of us...



Some of us choose to handle it chemically.  I feel ya, Signild.  I might just have some vodka, myself.



Shit, it's pretty intense out here.  Of all the time for them to have us working outside.  Can't we get some air conditioning in here?



Signild was at it again a few days later.  Got so bad she passed out.  She's worse than me!



A robotics trader came by, and we bought a couple new cleaning robots.  Meet Bubbles and Suds.  Rest in peace, Brushy and Scrubby.  The cleaners are always the first to go, it seems.



Oh, my Whitney's such a smart girl, and a great doctor.  She installed Polo's enhanced legs.  If we ever get out of here, she'll have no trouble finding a job.  Maybe a bionics technician on some glitterworld...



A dry thunderstorm started a wildfire.  It's pretty intimidating, watching a wall of fire creep across the landscape like that.





Raiders dropped in.  Not much in the way of explosives, so we should be alright.



Those bastards killed Holly!  There isn't even a body to bury, since robots are apparently built to explode on death!



We killed a whole bunch and captured a few, even.  I question the decision to keep the carpeting in the prison hospital.  So much blood...



One of the raiders got brain damage from the fight.  I almost feel bad.  At least he'll never see it coming when they eventually execute him or... whatever they plan on doing.  Seriously, why didn't they just kill them like they usually do?



Oh my god... I figured it out today.  They didn't want to tell the "wasters" what this prison was for, but I saw them!  I snuck a look, and I wish I hadn't.  Those bastards--my bastard son!--they're harvesting the raiders' organs before they kill and eat them!



This is disgusting.  How can we live with ourselves after this?  Sure, it isn't the non-cannibals doing it, but... we aren't stopping it either!  They'd kill us if we tried!



It's too much for some of us.  My god, I thought this place couldn't get any worse.



Clark finally lost his head!  He's always been a bit unstable, but he's never gotten violent like this.



Salt stopped him, but he cut him up with his sword!  Oh, Clark...



I just can't take it... It's too much.



You know, I thought I'd seen everything on Rubin's Gambit.  The depths people were willing to sink to for survival.  Theft, murder, dismemberment, organ trafficking... cannibalism.  I only now realize the connection.  I'm sure that's where Polo got his start.  If only I'd been there.  If only I'd been able to stop him, maybe this family would be in a better place today.

It gets real dark after an asteroid hit.  Like perpetual night for the first few months, if it hits right, and doesn't just completely destroy civilization.  We climbed out of the rubble after the shockwave passed, and we spent the next three years just trying to keep ourselves alive.  Only the cryptosleep caskets we managed to find and the SOS beacon we'd cobbled together ensured we even made it off that planet.  I thought we'd crawled out of Hell and would never have to look back.  Turns out Polo's been living in it this whole time.  And what's worse, he likes it.

He, Signild, and Stumpy got the flu, but it passed quickly enough.  I eventually got out of the daze I'd been in, and we all kind of reeled from what we did.  Even Polo realized he'd stuck his head too deep into a dark place.  Maybe this prison thing will end.  We occupied ourselves with a new project; the next geothermal generator.



Alphabeavers came in from the west, but Lumi and Souta took care of them.



Everyone's doing better now.  It's been a week since they took those guys' organs.  There's still one more prisoner, and he's still on death row, but that's fair.  It's justice.  I don't like that he has to die, but he tried to kill us.  They killed Holly.  Sure, it's gross that they're gonna eat him, but it's a far cry better than cutting the useful bits out first and selling them.

In better news, Whitney got her bionic legs.  She looks so happy.



More upgrades to occupy our time.  We replaced the old hospital beds with newer, more sterile models.  There's a light snow outside.  Things feel a lot better now.



Peace doesn't last for long out here.  A big group of tribesmen are attacking from the east.  We haven't seen them in a while.



I'd be surprised if we ever did again.  That was a slaughter.



I honestly hope they don't come back.  I can't unsmell cooked human flesh.



This... is disgusting.



I really worry about Polo.  I never knew how bloodthirsty he was.  Even back on Rubin's Gambit, he was all about survival.  I think the ordeal changed him in more ways than just the cannibalism.  He gets all excited when there's a raid.



We got a male wolf to go with Olive, and what's the first fucking thing it does?



It's been a while since the last raid, and the people meat is running low.  Polo keeps wishing for another raid.  I wish he'd calm down.



I guess that's it for me.  I'm real glad we stopped the organ harvest.  Maybe eventually these guys will get tired of eating people, too.  I worry for the future, and kind of want to sneak off with Signild and try and build that ship Souta researched.  Maybe, just maybe, I can convince Polo to leave with us.  We've all got marketable skills, especially after surviving down here!  That glitterworld might not be entirely out of reach...