Erik was not a recluse. He was a self-invoked recluse, but that wasn’t the same thing.
Or at least that was what he’d tell people if he wasn’t so busy isolating himself. His situation was a double-edged sword. On one hand, quietly settling down in an auto repair shop on the outskirts of Downtown Austin provided him with the privacy of pursuing his experiments in peace. On the other hand, it was driving him a little stir crazy.
He did keep an eye on the Freenet in his spare time. Secluding himself didn't mean he should be completely oblivious to what was going on. He hadn’t bothered to insert himself into the online community. Not yet. Maybe when he really couldn’t stand the silence any longer. It had been well over a month since he’d reached this city and consequently well over a month since he last had a decent conversation with anyone.
He'd been far too busy getting the interior of the shop renovated. It was a large compound and it hadn’t been decimated as badly as a lot of the other stores in the area. Actually, it had been left relatively untouched if not for a couple broken windows and overturned furniture (probably from people who were desperate to find food or loot on their way out of town). He’d fixed the windows, reorganized the structure of the building, and then fortified it with explosives.
His lab had been set up for the most part. He’d managed to separate an entire section on the second floor for it. Since he had limited supplies, he had to make do with what was available to him in the surrounding locales. He didn’t have any plans to travel further into the downtown area until he had to. It’d helped a lot that he didn’t have to look for much since the auto repair shop had most of the tools he needed to build his equipments.
As far as it went though, Erik still had to find certain components. He had found a junkyard near Downtown Austin that he’d started to visit whenever he needed to gather more materials. It was a treasure trove of scrap metals and broken parts that previous owners thought useless. Well, he had to thank them for their under-appreciation because it was serving to be a favorite spot for him to hunt for supplies. He was inspecting an old alternator when he’d heard the warning. Instinctively taking a step back, he shielded his face with his arm as he looked up to see several objects clatter down onto the ground where he’d stood seconds before.
But his interest was not on the items. He was much more interested in the young woman sitting on top of the pile. “Thanks,” he said, shoving the alternator into the sack in his hand, “You should be careful up there.” Zipping up the bag, he slung it over his shoulder before continuing, “So, out of curiosity, what are you doing up there?”