The poultry barn smelled terrible.
Lena followed Ruth inside anyway.
Rows of pens stretched ahead of them.
Chickens.
A lot of chickens.
Different breeds.
Different ages.
Different colors.
Some calm.
Some loudly offended by existence.
Lena stopped just inside.
Yesterday, Animal Appraisal had been an interesting reward.
Now she understood what it actually meant.
One thing at a time.
The first thing, apparently, was learning that livestock auctions involved considerably more waiting than Lena had anticipated.
She had imagined bidding.
Maybe yelling.
Possibly people waving numbered paddles.
Instead, she spent the next forty minutes following Ruth through poultry pens while Ruth rejected chickens for reasons Lena hadn’t known existed.
Too old.
Bad feet.
Poor body condition.
Wrong breed for what they needed.
One rooster was apparently “an asshole.”
Lena hadn’t needed Animal Appraisal to confirm that one.
Eventually, they had a list.
Not just layers.
Ruth wanted birds that could do more than one thing.
Eggs mattered.
So did meat.
So did the ability to reproduce without Lena needing to order replacement chicks from a hatchery that might no longer exist.
They settled on a mixture of Plymouth Rocks, Australorps, and Rhode Island Reds, with two unrelated roosters.
Mostly Minimal and Low affinity.
Healthy.
Young.
Good reproductive condition.
Enough genetic diversity that the System seemed satisfied.
Then Lena found the black Australorp.
She almost passed over her.
Health: Excellent.
Age: 11 months.
Production Potential: Very High.
Reproductive Health: Excellent.
Temperament: Calm / Social.
Genetic Contribution Value: Moderate.
Transition Affinity: HIGH.
Projected Biological Alteration: Likely.
Lena stopped.
There it was.
The first High she’d seen all morning.
Ruth noticed immediately.
“What?”
“That one.”
Ruth followed her gaze.
“What’s wrong with her?”
“Nothing.”
“Then why are you making that face?”
Lena looked at the hen again.
High affinity didn’t mean bad.
The System had made that clear.
It didn’t mean good either.
It meant change.
And Lena had no idea what that change would be.
She could build Redtail’s livestock foundation entirely around stable animals.
Minimal.
Low.
Predictable.
That seemed smart.
It seemed safe.
But part of her wanted to know.
What happened to a High-affinity chicken after Transition?
Did it become sick?
Stronger?
Larger?
Did it lay different eggs?
Did it become something that wasn’t really a chicken anymore?
There was only one way to find out.
“She’s likely to change,” Lena said quietly.
Ruth’s attention sharpened.
“How likely?”
“Very.”
Ruth studied the bird.
“And you want her.”
“I don’t know.”
“That’s a yes.”
“It is not.”
“You’ve been staring at her for thirty seconds.”
Lena ignored that.
“I don’t want the flock built around animals likely to change.”
“Good.”
“But one…”
Ruth looked at her.
Lena shrugged.
“Information matters.”
Ruth was quiet for a moment.
Then she examined the hen herself.
Feet.
Eyes.
Feathers.
Body condition.
Finally…
“She’s a good bird.”
“Yeah.”
“If she stays a bird.”
“That’s the concerning part.”
Ruth straightened.
“One.”
Lena looked at her.
“Really?”
“One weird chicken.”
“She’s not weird yet.”
“One potentially weird chicken.”
Lena smiled.
Ruth pointed at her.
“Do not make me regret this.”
The System chimed softly.
Lena froze.
A small notification had appeared.
OPTIONAL OBJECTIVE IDENTIFIED
Maintain at least one High-Affinity animal for post-Transition observation.
Current qualifying animals: 0
Oh.
Well.
That settled that.
“Definitely buying the chicken.”
Ruth sighed.
“I knew it.”
By the time they left poultry, Lena owned thirty-two chickens.
Thirty hens.
Two unrelated roosters.
Enough laying breeds to provide eggs, enough dual-purpose birds to provide meat, and enough genetic diversity that the System finally flashed:
A FARM NEEDS LIFE
Productive Livestock Species: 1 / 3
Renewable Protein Source: ESTABLISHED
Breeding-Capable Populations: 1 / 2
Genetic Diversity: ACCEPTABLE
Transition-Stable Foundation: ESTABLISHED
High-Affinity Observation Animal: ACQUIRED
Lena grinned.
Ruth caught it.
“What?”
“Chickens count.”
“I would hope so.
You just bought thirty-two of them.”
Lena pulled out her phone and sent Marcus a picture of the purchase receipt.
His response arrived before they’d reached the next barn.
MARCUS: Received.
Poultry feed, bedding, transport crates, feeders, waterers, and quarantine supplies will be coordinated.
Lena showed Ruth.
Ruth shook her head.
“Unnatural.”
“Efficient.”
“Same thing, apparently.”
Goats were next.
This was where Lena discovered Ruth’s rules had been specifically designed for her.
Because goats were adorable.
All of them.
Every single one.
“This is a problem.”
“I told you.”
One small doe shoved her nose through the fence toward Lena.
Lena immediately crouched.
“No.”
“I haven’t done anything.”
“You’re making the face.”
“What face?”
“The goat-buying face.”
“That is not a thing.”
The doe bleated.
Lena Appraised her.
DOMESTIC GOAT — NIGERIAN DWARF CROSS
Sex: Female
Age: 1.8 years
Health: Excellent
Reproductive Health: Excellent
Dairy Potential: High
Temperament: Social / Curious
Transition Affinity: LOW
Genetic Contribution Value: High
Settlement Utility: HIGH
Lena looked at Ruth.
“She’s good.”
“You said that because she’s cute.”
“I said it because she’s healthy, young, has high dairy potential, good genetics, and Low affinity.”
That changed Ruth’s expression.
She came over.
“How good?”
“High dairy potential.”
Ruth examined the doe herself.
Then checked the seller information.
“Huh.”
Lena smiled.
“What?”
“Good lines.”
“So I’m right.”
“I didn’t say that.”
“You just made the face.”
Ruth glared at her.
They bought her.
Not alone.
Ruth insisted that if Lena was establishing dairy goats, she was establishing dairy goats properly.
They found three more does from two different bloodlines.
Then an unrelated buck.
Lena Appraised every one.
Ruth inspected every one.
Minimal.
Low.
Low.
Minimal.
Healthy.
Breedable.
Manageable.
The System updated before Lena had even finished paying.
Renewable Dairy Source: ESTABLISHED
Breeding-Capable Populations: 2 / 2
Genetic Diversity: GOOD
Lena stared toward the holding pens.
“I own goats.”
Ruth kept walking.
“Yes.”
“I didn’t own a farm a week ago.”
“I remember.”
“I have goats now.”
Ruth looked back.
“Are you having a moment?”
“A little.”
“Have it while walking.”
Lena followed.
Then they passed the cattle.
Lena slowed.
Ruth did not.
Lena slowed more.
Ruth kept walking.
There was a Jersey cow in the nearest pen.
Lena Appraised her from twenty feet away.
Excellent health.
Bred.
Excellent dairy potential.
Low Transition affinity.
“Oh, come on.”
Ruth stopped.
“No.”
“You don’t even know what I was going to say.”
“Yes, I do.”
“She’s Low.”
“No.”
“Excellent health.”
“No.”
“Excellent dairy potential.”
“No.”
“She’s already bred.”
Ruth turned around.
“Lena.”
“What?”
“Who’s milking her?”
Lena opened her mouth.
Closed it.
“Exactly.”
“I could learn.”
“You are currently learning chickens and goats.”
“And pigs, apparently.”
“And pigs.”
Lena looked wistfully at the cow.
“What if she’s genetically exceptional?”
“I don’t care if she’s the queen of cows.”
Lena laughed.
“Fine.”
They kept walking.
“Later, though.”
“No.”
“That’s not a reasonable answer.”
“It’s the answer you’re getting today.”
The pigs surprised Lena.
Mostly because they had been Ruth’s suggestion.
“Really?”
“Really.”
“I thought you’d tell me I wasn’t ready.”
“You aren’t.”
“Encouraging.”
“But pigs make sense.”
Ruth explained while they walked.
They could convert some crop waste, damaged produce, and appropriate kitchen scraps into useful calories.
They produced manure.
They reproduced quickly.
They didn’t require pasture in quite the same way cattle did.
They were also, Ruth emphasized repeatedly, intelligent, destructive, strong, and absolutely capable of making Lena regret underestimating them.
“So tiny bulldozers.”
“Smart tiny bulldozers.”
“Excellent.”
“That was not enthusiasm bait.”
They found a small heritage group being sold together.
Three young sows.
One unrelated boar.
Healthy.
Good reproductive potential.
Manageable temperaments.
Two Low.
One Minimal.
The boar was Moderate.
Lena hesitated.
Ruth noticed.
“What’s wrong?”
“He’s more likely to change.”
“How much more?”
“Not High.
But more.”
“Other options?”
There were.
None as good.
One had poor reproductive health.
Another was older.
A third had a temperament assessment that simply read:
Aggressive / Poor Handling Tolerance
“Nope.”
Ruth didn’t need magic for that one either.
They went back to the Moderate boar.
Lena studied him.
Stable foundation didn’t have to mean every single animal was Minimal.
And Moderate wasn’t a guarantee of catastrophic mutation.
Just a higher probability of alteration.
“Your call,” Ruth said.
Lena looked at her.
“I thought you were the dictator.”
“On whether you’re buying a stupid animal.
This one’s not stupid.”
That was probably the closest thing to permission she was getting.
“Okay.”
They bought the group.
The System appeared immediately.
PRIMARY OBJECTIVE COMPLETE
Productive Livestock Species: 3 / 3
SETTLEMENT LIVESTOCK FOUNDATION ESTABLISHED
Current Production Capacity:
Eggs
Meat
Dairy
Breeding Stock
Organic Waste Conversion
Manure Production
Quest Completion: 71%
Lena stared.
“Still need more.”
Ruth glanced over.
“What’s left?”
“Mostly feed.”
That was the ugly part.
Ninety days.
For thirty-two chickens.
Five goats.
Four pigs.
And whatever else Lena acquired before she escaped this place.
Ruth made her sit down.
Actually sit down.
They found a bench outside the feed-sales office, and Ruth started calculating.
Hay.
Poultry feed.
Goat feed.
Pig feed.
Minerals.
Supplements.
Bedding.
Waste.
Storage losses.
Then Ruth added more.
“Why are you adding ten percent?”
“Because animals don’t read spreadsheets.”
Fair.
Lena sent the numbers to Marcus.
He called.
That was new.
“Hi.”
“Ms.
Mercer.”
“Marcus.”
“I have the quantities.”
“That sounded ominous.”
“I need clarification regarding your ninety-day requirement.
Is that a minimum physical reserve maintained at Redtail, or may scheduled replenishment satisfy it?”
“Physical reserve.”
“Understood.”
Keyboard sounds.
“Do you require delivery today?”
Lena looked at Ruth.
Ruth shook her head.
“Not today.
But soon.”
“Tomorrow morning is feasible for the first deliveries.
Bulk hay may require multiple shipments.”
“That’s fine.”
“Storage capacity?”
Lena looked toward Ruth.
“That’s another problem.”
“I’ll coordinate with the infrastructure team.”
Of course there was an infrastructure team now.
“Marcus?”
“Yes?”
“How many people are currently working on Redtail?”
A pause.
“Directly?”
Lena closed her eyes.
“Never mind.”
“Understood.”
She hung up.
Ruth was staring.
“What?”
“I don’t know whether you’re preparing a farm or invading a small country.”
“Currently farm.”
“Good.”
“Country Tuesday.”
Ruth snorted.
They were heading toward the exit when Lena heard barking.
She stopped.
Ruth did not.
Three steps later, Ruth stopped too.
“No.”
Lena hadn’t said anything.
“I didn’t say anything.”
“You stopped walking.”
“There are dogs.”
“There are always dogs.”
A handwritten sign pointed toward the far end of the grounds.
WORKING DOGS — PRIVATE SALE
Lena looked at it.
Then at Ruth.
“No.”
“You want a dog.”
“I have livestock now.”
“You’ve had livestock for forty-five minutes.”
“Which means I’ve been dangerously dogless for forty-five minutes.”
Ruth stared at her.
Lena smiled.
“Five minutes.”
“No puppies.”
“Agreed.”
That made Ruth suspicious.
“You agreed too fast.”
“I don’t want a puppy.”
That part Lena meant.
Puppies required training.
Time.
Uncertainty.
She had nineteen days until Transition.
She needed animals that could do their jobs now.
There were six dogs.
Two puppies were immediately eliminated.
One adult herding dog was eleven years old.
Another had Moderate affinity and a temperament assessment that made Lena uneasy.
The third-
Lena stopped.
A massive white dog lay beside the livestock trailer.
Not asleep.
Watching.
People passed.
Children yelled.
A goat screamed somewhere behind them.
The dog’s head moved slightly with each new sound.
Calm.
Alert.
Working.
Lena focused.
GREAT PYRENEES × ANATOLIAN SHEPHERD
Sex: Female
Age: 3.8 years
Health: Excellent
Body Condition: Ideal
Temperament: Stable / Independent / Protective
Training:
Livestock Bonding — ADVANCED
Perimeter Awareness — ADVANCED
Predator Response — EXCELLENT
Recall — Moderate
Human Socialization — Good
Livestock Compatibility:
Goats — Excellent
Poultry — Excellent
Swine — Good
Cattle — Good
Transition Affinity: MINIMAL
Projected Biological Alteration: Very Low Probability
Settlement Utility: VERY HIGH
Lena stared.
“Oh.”
Ruth had heard that sound enough today to recognize it.
“What?”
Lena read the important parts.
Ruth’s expression changed.
She looked at the dog.
Then at the handler.
Then back at Lena.
“Don’t move.”
Lena blinked.
“You’re investigating?”
“Shut up.”
Five minutes became twenty-seven.
The dog’s name was Scout.
She’d spent her entire life working livestock.
Mostly goats and poultry.
She had lived outdoors, slept with her animals, patrolled acreage, and had enough experience with pigs not to consider them either prey or entertainment.
Her owner was selling his property.
Downsizing.
Moving somewhere Scout wouldn’t have work.
Ruth asked questions Lena wouldn’t have known to ask.
Predator history.
Fence behavior.
Food guarding.
Children.
Strangers.
Veterinary history.
Storm response.
Vehicles.
Other dogs.
Whether she wandered.
Whether she’d ever killed poultry.
The handler answered all of them.
Finally Ruth walked back toward Lena.
Lena waited.
Ruth looked at Scout.
“This one makes sense.”
Lena blinked.
“Really?”
“Don’t make me say it twice.”
Lena grinned.
“Really?”
Ruth sighed.
“One dog.”
“Absolutely.”
“One.”
“Yes.”
“No puppy.”
“Agreed.”
“No second dog because you decide she needs a friend.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it.”
“You’re lying.”
“A little.”
Ruth pointed at her.
“One.”
Lena turned toward Scout.
The System chimed.
OPTIONAL OBJECTIVE COMPLETE
Working animal suitable for settlement function acquired.
Settlement Function:
Livestock Guardian
Perimeter Warning
Predator Deterrence
Lena smiled.
Ruth saw it.
“What now?”
“She counts.”
“Good.”
Scout stood as Lena approached.
She was even bigger standing up.
Lena stopped a few feet away and let the dog decide.
Scout sniffed her hand.
Then Lena’s jeans.
Then apparently concluded Lena was neither interesting nor threatening and looked past her toward the livestock pens.
Lena was immediately in love.
Which was dangerous.
“Hi, Scout.”
One ear moved.
“You’re going to have a very weird month.”
Scout had no idea.
Probably better that way.
Lena paid.
Sent Marcus another receipt.
This time his response took almost thirty seconds.
MARCUS: Dog noted.
I will add appropriate guardian-dog supplies to Monday’s delivery.
Then:
MARCUS: Please advise if additional species are acquired.
Lena looked toward the cattle barn.
Ruth followed her gaze.
“No.”
Lena typed:
LENA: No additional species planned.
Ruth leaned over.
“Planned?”
Lena hit send.
“Don’t start.”
They left before Ruth would have to physically drag her away from the cattle.
By the time they reached Redtail, the first animal transport was only an hour behind them.
The farm wasn’t empty anymore.
Chickens filled the quarantine enclosure with immediate outrage.
The goats investigated everything.
The pigs began testing the fence with the focused professionalism of creatures Ruth had accurately described as smart bulldozers.
Scout wandered around.
Not aimlessly.
Working.
Lena watched her pause near the eastern fence, nose lifted into the wind.
Then continue.
Something settled in Lena’s chest.
Yesterday, Redtail had been infrastructure.
Buildings.
Fence.
Water.
Supplies.
Potential.
Now there was movement.
Noise.
Life.
Ruth came up beside her.
“Still want cattle?”
Lena watched one of the goats attempt to climb something that absolutely should not have been climbable.
“Ask me tomorrow.”
“Wrong answer.”
Lena smiled.
The System appeared.
A FARM NEEDS LIFE
Productive Livestock Species: 3 / 3
Renewable Protein Source: ESTABLISHED
Renewable Dairy Source: ESTABLISHED
Breeding-Capable Populations: 2 / 2
Genetic Diversity: GOOD
90-Day Feed Reserve: IN PROGRESS
Basic Veterinary Supplies: IN PROGRESS
Transition-Stable Foundation: ESTABLISHED
High-Affinity Observation Animal: ACQUIRED
Working Animal: ACQUIRED
Quest Completion: 78%
Not complete.
But close.
And tomorrow, trucks would start arriving with enough feed to keep every animal she’d bought alive for three months without a functioning supply chain.
Lena looked across Redtail.
Twenty days ago, she hadn’t known this place existed.
Six days ago, it had belonged to someone else.
Now she had a farm.
A real one.
Almost.
Ruth nudged her shoulder.
“Come on.”
“Where?”
“You bought goats.”
“So?”
“So now you learn how not to kill them.”
Right.
Lena followed her toward the barn.
One thing at a time.