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Erik had his notes all ready. He had been working on them for quite some time, but he was finally ready to present a case to Jarvis. He approached the longhouse at his scheduled time with a couple of books in hand, and moved in through the door.

Jarvis sat behind a small table, on an old, but large, lounge chair. “Ah, Erik. How are things in the home?”

“Quite well, thank you. The family has gotten pretty used to me.”

“So I hear. It's all the talk of the town... young Kelsey is pregnant.”

Erik grinned. “They're right. And I'll be having a lot of responsibilities coming my way. It'll be a juggle, but I'll manage. Kelsey, too, she's trying to work herself into a wife mode. She's new to it, but she made a rather exotic meal the other night with her mother's help.”

“And? How was it?”

He nodded with a smile. “Quite good. I'm surprised they managed it while missing so many ingredients I'm used to, but they managed. I'm proud.”

Jarvis couldn't help but feel the enthusiasm. “Good to hear it. So, you had a proposal for me, yes? It seems you've come prepared.”

“Yes, I have.” He nodded. “I've lived a while now, and seen a lot of things. I remember a lot of things, and did a lot of things, and most of that was in the Before Times. Humans may have made their mistakes, but they made many more advancements. I want to try to bring some of those to Goldenmere.”

“Hmm, how so?”

“I want to be a sort of teacher.”

“Teacher?”

“Right, a kind of adult teacher. I would hold a class occasionally, one for anyone who wanted to show up, and try to teach people about the good human advancements, like mechanics and engineering, or just helping to come up with solutions to town problems. I think there's a lot we could do if we all really put our heads together.”

Jarvis tapped his hands together. “Hmm. Give me an example.”

“Well, one I've used recently is the making of grain. How do we get flour here?”

“Gibbs mills it by walking in a circle all day.”

Erik nodded. “Right. That works, but it's time consuming, right?”

“Sure, but it's funny.” He, Tom and Terry all chuckled.

“Heh, right.” Erik picked up a book and started leafing through the pages. “But what if... he had... one of...” He stopped at a page and presented the book to Jarvis. “These?”

Jarvis looked at it, with Terry and Tom over his shoulder. “What is it?”

“A windmill.”

“What does this... do?”

He turned the page to a series of doodles of gears and axles. “The wind blows and spins these large arms here, which, though a series of gears, turns an axle, which turns the millstone. Gibbs would be free to do something else on the farm while the wind mills the grain for him.” He explained. “It would take a lot of work, some trial and error, but I bet the town could make one of these. Or, some other contraption that's more useful. There's lots we could do, but we'll have to focus on one thing at a time.” He patted his chest. “I could help brainstorm ideas with people, while we go over history, science and technology. Rot, I'm the only person around who can draw you a map of the entire world.” He shrugged, trying to use their terminology. “Except maybe Vera.”

Jarvis looked to his advisors, who all had an eyebrow movement to describe their feelings for the idea. None seemed opposed to it.

“Sounds like an intriguing idea... you would have to share a space with the teachers who are already working, though. Maybe your 'classes' could be an evening thing. Take it to them, and see what they say about it.”

He nodded in agreement. “That's a good idea, since I still have farmhand duties to attend to.”

Jarvis shook his head with incredulity. “That old man still hasn't let you off the hook for the farm?”

Erik chuckled. “Well, I sort of kept the duties on. Besides the fact that they do need help, it's worse now that Kerry is injured.”

“Responsible... well, don't take on too much. Being a father, a teacher, and a farmer is going to eat your life.”

He sighed a little. “I know...”

Later on that day, Erik ventured through town, to the other end, to get to the schoolhouse. And old, run-down storage building awaited him; like any other, patched up with old planks from skids and sheet metal salvaged from less fortunate buildings. It was as small and unassuming as most other buildings in town. Inside, an old, water-stained chalkboard had been salvaged and put up on the wall. Next to it, a map of the world, also water-stained. Numerous areas had been wiped off of it across North America thanks to the damage. Numerous chairs, currently empty, and a desk in the corner, with a doe sitting behind it, head resting in one hand as she looked over notes by candle light. She was wrapped in an off-white blouse and grey skirt, very muted, that betrayed sparkling green eyes. She looked up with curiosity as Erik strode up.

“Hm? Oh, the human. Erik, was it?” She corrected her posture, having a visitor in these off hours.

“Yes, that's me.”

“Well, this is a surprise. Celia Burke, principal and teacher, pleased to meet you.” She offered a kindly nod. “What brings you to the schoolhouse?”

“I've spoken to Jarvis, and he seems receptive to the idea of me doing some teaching.”

“Really?” She seemed surprised. “Well, I'm sure you have lots of interesting things to talk about. Old inventions, unknown history... topics of the more adult variety, correct?” Her voice was calm, and she was well spoken, good traits for a teacher.

“Exactly. I brought up the subject of mechanisms for improving productivity to Jarvis and he seemed interested.”

“Ah, engineering, more of a Jenny subject, I'm afraid. She is the tinkerer. But history, I would be interested to hear. I might just attend your class myself.” She smiled and arched her hands on the desk in front of her, cool, but calculating. “On that note, your class would be better suited to an evening position, as we are busy through most days. Perhaps a friday evening? ”

He shrugged, relatively easy to get along with. “I think that works for me, sure. I've never taught before, but I'll do my best.”

“We'll make sure you have an aide, and together, I'm sure you'll manage to find your footing.” She nodded. “In case you're unsure of where to start, your first class should be introductory. Introduce yourself, get to know those who have come, and learn about them. Learn what they want to talk about and know about, and you can branch out from there.” She explained, long-winded, but helpful. “Good to see you're interested in branching out from farming and fighting.”

Erik chuckled sheepishly. “I don't usually fight, it tends to just cause problems. But, well, I guess you saw my bout.”

“Oh yes, most of the town was there. You put on quite the show.”

“You think so? I was just kind of standing my ground most of the time.”

“You accidentally impressed a couple of other women I know of. Had you survived a loss, I'm sure you would have picked someone else up right away, even if you are a human.” She winked at him. “But, it's good that you and Kelsey both got what you were after. She's a good soul, and deserves a good man.”

He had to agree. “She's a fantastic soul. Given a lot to me. This town, really, has given a lot to me, it's part of why I want to teach, to give back to them, and help make their lives easier.”

She smiled at the sentiment. “Well, we'll all work together on that, starting friday evening. Meet us here by six, I'll spread word for you.” She nodded again as she stood up, sliding the chair out from under her with her legs. “Now, you should return home, spend time with your wife, and prepare for friday. Tell her Celia says hello.”

“Ah, okay. Will do.”

Erik wove through the pathways of the town on his way back to the farm. Every trip he made through town felt less and less alien. People regarded him better, and less children called him stinky. Did he truly earn his place? Was the fight really that impressive? Was marrying Kelsey making him like one of them? Or did he just smell so much like her that nobody cared anymore? He really had no way to be sure.

Returning home, he sat down on the couch with a sigh, and immediately attracted the attention of Kelsey.

“Hey, you're home! How did it go?” She rushed over to him and cuddled right up next to him.

“Hi, honey. It went well, I think. Jarvis likes the idea, Celia likes the idea – she says hi, by the way.”

“Hah, she can be a handful sometimes.” She laughed, but shrugged. “So can I, I guess.”

He smirked and pulled her a bit closer. “Oh?”

“Yeah. And I know things are going to be busy soon, but... I want to go out scavenging again. You can look for more stuff to help with whatever you'll be teaching! And baby things.” She looked up at him. “We're going to need baby things. And it'll be best to do that before I get too... big.”

He ruffled her hair lightly. “Yes, we do. Maybe in the spring, we can actually hunt for a place of our own to start the family. But we'll see where life takes us.”

“Uh huh. So, when do you start teaching?”

“Friday evening, Celia said. She wants time to get word out and get me prepared.”

She pet his hair a bit, always interested in playing with him. “Ah, that's like, five days away. We should totally go out again!”

It had been a little while since they were last out on a scavenge, and with winter and a baby coming, it was going to get a lot harder to do that.

He nodded. “Sounds like a good idea. There's a lot of things I want to look for.”

“Oh? Like what?”

“Well, if they're as interested in my ideas as I think they will be...” Erik started listing off things. “Construction tools. Not just the obvious like saws and hammers, but utilities like measuring tapes, squares, writing instruments. And with winter coming... I need clothes.”

“Clothes, huh?”

He shrugged. “I'm not fluffy like you and the rest, dear. My skin will crack off and I'll die if I don't find more ways to keep warm. And before you ask, no, I can't just stay in bed all winter.”

“Aww.” Kelsey smirked, sarcastically. “Right. So warm clothes?”

“Winter coat, hopefully fur or down-filled. Hat, hopefully fur. Snowpants. Gloves, maybe. And boots and thick socks for my poor, dumb feet.”

She sat up, her ears perking up. “They're not dumb. You have cute feet.”

“We've been over this, they're dumb and way too sensitive. And they smell.”

“Shut up, they smell fine. You just don't understand smells.” She shook her head at him.

“Can't change my nose. But I can cover up my dumb feet.” He looked to her playfully.

“No!” She pushed him lightly in jest. “Okay, so warm clothes, very important for the squishy human. And those tools. I'll let you do most of the looking for... technical things. You know what you need there. But warm stuff, I can hunt for that.” She beamed, happy to be planning another outing. “Adventure! Scavving! It'll be just like old times! But now that we're married, with some more fun.” She stroked a claw lightly up his chest.

“That sounds good. Hopefully we'll have fewer... surprises. I'll bring the sword this time.”

“Heh, you do that.”

The next day, the two prepared and went out again. They couldn't be gone for long, with Erik's new bit of work starting, and harvest season rapidly approaching, but it was enough for them to have some quiet time to themselves. Fate smiled on their efforts a bit. Kelsey found a key to a locked workshop, which held many of the things Erik was looking for. Of note, a couple of measuring tapes, a square with a level, grease pencils, chalk, a hacksaw, a dirty grey mackinaw for light warmth, numerous drill bits, a couple of dremel tool bits, some rusted files, and a battery drill with charger. He knew he could, over a long period, charge it up with the solar charger. Aside from that, Erik and Kelsey loaded up on as many tools as they could stuff into their bags. It was heavy, but it would surely be worth it, sometime. Most of them would be surrendered to the town's warehouse, where potentially-important things went until they were needed. If only they had access to power, they could run all of those machines. But, without it, they thought it best to lock it back up again.

It wasn't long before they returned to town, dropping off some of the salvage, but Erik kept the mackinaw, and Kelsey kept the key. He spent the next bit of time he had left tending to the farm through the day, Kerry trying to supervise, and working on notes and ideas through the evening by candlelight, Kelsey cuddled up with him often, following along and learning before others got a chance to. Wife's prerogative, she insisted.

On his first evening for class, she excitedly followed him to the schoolhouse.

“Heh, I'm so happy for you, dear. This is a big thing you're doing!”

“Well, it's only the first class, it should be pretty simple, right?”

“Well, hopefully. But you're smart, you'll manage either way!” She hugged his arm as they walked. “And when you're done, I'll try to have a nice warm meal ready for you.”

She had become extremely affectionate in recent days. The hormonal shifts in her body were likely, but she had also grown very comfortable being around him. “You sure are leaning into the housewife aspect a lot.”

She looked up at him, slightly concerned. “I-is that a problem? You want a good wife, right?”

“Oh, I didn't mean it's a bad thing. I'm just surprised how fast you've been making the change.” He didn't want to offend her, and ruffled her hair. “It's adorable, love, and you're amazing.”

“Then I'm going to be the best wife! Just for you, the best husband!” She licked him as they got near the building. “Now, go and impress them all. I'll be at home!”

Erik entered, to find Celia and Jenny already there. Celia, in the same thing she wore last time, Jenny, with her ears down and back with her hair, tied up loosely.

“Ah, there he is. Hope you're ready for your first class.” Celia crossed her arms.

“Me too. I'm not really a public speaker or anything.”

“Well, you were pretty good at it during Kelsey's suiting. You should have no problem with this!” She smirked, then motioned to Jenny. “Jenny here is going to be your aide, I hear you're already familiar with her.”

“Yes, we met briefly.” He nodded. “Good evening, Jenny.”

“Good evening, Erik.” She responded simply. “So, I'm just going to help you with this, since you're new to the whole 'teaching' thing, but since this is mainly an adult course, my simple advice is to start a conversation, and allow it to flow. Let people ask questions, and pique their interest with your own.”

It seemed like good advice. “Hmm. Okay.”

“Otherwise, anything else you need during the lecture... just let me know. If I can, I'll get it for you. I'm your helper!”

Not long after, people began to show up. Jarvis, Tom and Terry. The mountain lion man from the bath house. A saw-whet owl woman and her young son. A golden retriever man. Several more. Soon, the room was pretty well full. Will rounded out the room, come to see what Erik could really do.

Jenny elbowed him lightly, egging him to start.

“Well, I guess that's my cue. Good evening everyone, I'm Erik Barnes. As most of you are no doubt aware, I've only somewhat recently come to Goldenmere and been allowed to make it my home. I'm doing my best to fit in and help where I can, and I want to spread knowledge that humans had gathered, and hopefully, help the town, and the world at large.” He explained. “That's a pretty big step, so for now, answering many of the various things you're curious about will be a good starting point.” He nodded, and put his arms out. “So, who wants to start off with a question?”

Jarvis immediately took the opportunity. “I do.”

“Heh, alright. Go on.”

“What did you do in the past for a living?”

He chuckled. “Well, I used to work shipping and receiving. Scheduling things to be shipped out of a business, and taking note of things that came in. Building and repairing skids, boxing up products... all kinds of stuff. Every business needs things, including where I was, so it was important to have someone in charge of managing all of the logistics, and ensuring that they arrived intact and on time.”

It sounded so simple, though half of the words were meaningless to them all. “And, how will this benefit your ability to teach?”

“Perhaps not a lot. We don't have any of the technology around, but I've seen a lot of things, and learned a lot of things over the years. I may not be an engineer or mathematician, but I'm determined to help improve things and not let my experiences go to waste.” He explained simply. It seemed more like Jarvis was testing him rather than actually trying to ask a real question.

“And, what did your business make, exactly?”

“Wooden furniture. However, I didn't do any of that work, that was other people's duties. I only sometimes saw what they were doing.” His answer seemed to satisfy Jarvis for the time being. “Who else wants to go?”

The young owl made himself known. “Ooh, me.”

Erik acknowledged him. “Go ahead, young man.”

“What were you wearing in the fight pit? That shiny thing?”

Erik chuckled. “Well, now. That's a good question, with a lot to unpack.” He looked to Jenny. “Jenny, chalk? Thanks.” She handed him a small blue piece, the color would have to do. He approached the chalk board and tried to draw the armor. Hastily scrawling boxes next to each other to make a lamellar design, he completed the cheap armor. “What I was wearing was something humans called armor. It was a type of clothing made for fighting, made of metal and crafted with some of the greatest of care. This particular style was a recreation from an old empire in human history, called Rome, which was one of the most powerful in all of the world. It ruled over two thousand years ago.”

The young owl's mother responded. “Hm, and where was this 'Rome', was it here?”

“No, Rome's borders never expanded this far.” He walked over to the map on the wall, and using a stick, pointed to Italy. “The Roman Republic, and later Roman Empire, was initially centered around its namesake city, Rome, in the country that people of my time knew as Italy.” He tapped the map with the stick. “Before its eventual collapse, the Roman Empire stretched from Portugal in the west, to the Euphrates river in the east.” He tapped both on the coast of Portugal then on the Persian gulf. “And from halfway through England in the north, to the far reaches of the Nile river in the south.” Two more taps.

The information was interesting, but perhaps somewhat pointless. Terry spoke up. “And what caused Rome's collapse?”

“Numerous factors, but chiefly of all, the empire simply grew too sprawling. It was so large, so far from home. It had absorbed too many disparate people, too many dissidents, too much political intrigue, too many rivals on its borders. Eventually, it couldn't maintain itself and started breaking apart into new, smaller countries. All of their advances in science and technology couldn't make up for the fractious nature of man, and entropy.”

It was an interesting story, for sure, even Jenny and Celia listened with rapt attention. Tom spoke up.

“What kind of 'technology' did these people come up with so long ago?”

“Nothing as fancy as you might suspect, but things that were previously unheard of. Roads; solid, maintained paths for people to move easily from town to town. Bridges; structures to cross over water or difficult terrain. The aqueduct; a large stone tunnel that let water flow from far off places to where they really needed it. Dams; to control water, the way beavers do. Carts, wheeled ploughs, sailboats, newspapers, glass, surgery... Romans invented a great deal many things that we mainly just see as being 'normal' now. Or, well, humans did anyway. Some things came in their wake, like more complex machinery, that further improved their lives.”

“But what kind of machinery could we adapt for our world? Surely, we aren't as far ahead as Rome was, right?”

Erik raised a finger. “No, we're far behind where Rome was, unfortunately. But, still with remnants of the past that can be used. It's a very unique position. What can be used is something I've thought about much myself.” He drew a simple looking gear on the chalk board. “This is one of the simplest inventions, the gear. The teeth in a gear match up with the teeth in another gear, and because of that, we're able to transfer motion in different directions with them. With an axle,” he drew a cylindrical post, “we're able to take a spinning motion in one direction, and move it to another. I bet you've seen something that can do this before. Anyone?”

The golden retriever answered after a moment of silence and contemplation. “A fishing reel.”

Erik pointed to him and began drawing a simple reel on the board. “Great example! Spinning the handle this way, moves a gear here, and here, on here, to turn the entire spindle, and wind the line.” He explained it pretty easily, and the people seemed to be getting the grasp of it. His lesson was really more of a ramble, but it helped make people think. “Now, think about this. What if we had really big gears?”

The mountain lion spoke up. “We could make really big machines.”

“Right. Really big machines, that can do really big things.” He nodded, and began to bring up his standby example, drawing the mill on the board. “Gibbs, when he mills his flour, he has to push that big stone around, again and again, and again. That's gotta be exhausting, right?” He began to draw a mechanism attached to the millstone, leading up to the windmill blades. “But what if we made this giant fan, and attached it to the millstone? When the wind blows, it catches the blades, and turns the axle, which turns a gear, turns this gear and this axle, and then turns this assembly... which turns the millstone.” They looked at the drawing with odd intrigue, including Celia, though Jenny had already seen it.

Jarvis spoke up again. “Right, you mentioned this thing. Do you really think we can just build this?”

“Sure. It would take some planning and time to build it, probably in the spring, but it could be done. Would save Gibbs a lot more time milling, that's more time he could be harvesting, or doing something else.”

The owl mother spoke up again. “Mister Erik.”

“Erik is fine, but yes?”

“This is all very fascinating, and I applaud your knowledge, but I believe we are lacking... construction materials for such a project. No doubt, you have seen the state of the town. Our walls have holes in them, most are made of junk. Perhaps improving our living spaces is more important than productivity at this time.”

“Hmm. Yes, perhaps you're right.” He nodded, and leaned back a bit to think. A thought crossed his mind. “Tell me... where does the town get wooden planks for fixing things up?”

The answer took a moment to come out. “Salvage.”

“You don't make new planks?”

“Nobody knows how, I think.”

The answer was stunning. “Really? Nobody knows?” He turned to the chalk board again. “Well, then planks might need an explanation of their own. Alright, didn't think I'd have to do this one. Uh, little history, first. Man first began making planks regularly using a hammer and chisel, then later, a tool called an adze, and smoothing them down with another tool called a plane. An adze is like an axe, but sideways, and a plane is a sharp blade that stays fixed at a certain angle, so you can scrape down things that stand up. This is how people started making planks to make better walls and floors, one board at a time.”

“Oh, I see. Most interesting...” She studied the board closely, though his descriptions were certainly lacking in clarity.

Celia even spoke up, interested in what connections were being made here.

“These were all operated by hand, yes?”

Erik nodded. “Until much later when mechanics and power was introduced, yes, a plane or an adze was operated manually, with time-consuming scraping and chipping.”

“But now, I have to wonder, how would one improve efficiency in creating planks by using gears? Make the plane move by itself?”

Erik smirked. Leave it to the principal to link his earlier ramblings with these ones, like one gear to another. “Well, now. That is another large construction, but yes. We had electric planers to smooth down whole boards, and all manner of circular and reciprocating saws to cut the wood.” He made the motions with his hands while explaining these future tools. “But that's something far into the future. Boards have to come first.” He had to start erasing things off of the board this time, to start drawing something much bigger, with various parts. “This would have to use several parts... but this is... what people came up with, long ago...” He backed off from the board to show the cheap scribbling of a pseudo-three-dimensional building. “The lumbermill.”

“Lumbermill...?”

“The lumbermill was a complex but relatively simple invention, powered usually by river water running under - or sometimes, straight down over - a water wheel. This large wheel, pushed by water, turned an axle it was attached to, which turned a crank, attached to a connecting rod, to a large sawblade, that makes it reciprocate, move up and down.” He waved his hand over various parts. “If one were to make a stopper, and put a log next to it, the sawblade would cut off the same thickness of board, every time, the length of the tree trunk.”

The students who could understand it were dumbfounded. “That is... actually a really good idea.”

“How did they get the tree trunks to the mill?”

“Sometimes they just dragged them over by horse. But because the lumbermill was usually on water, they sometimes would drift them down the river and then grab them, and pull them up a ramp instead.” He erased a part of the mill to add a ramp up from where the water would be.

“Brilliant...” Jenny commented quietly.

The mountain lion turned to Jarvis. “Hey Jarvis, that's like the Creekhouse, isn't it?”

“Kind of. It's outside of town, out of our influence. They don't take kindly to anyone else messing with their property.”

“Think they would let us inspect it and see if it can be used for anything?”

“Doubt it.”

“Come on, be the leader, let's go talk to them about it. If it's good, we might be able to do some of the things Erik is suggesting.”

Jarvis groaned and stood up. “Well, Erik, it seems you've already gotten some ideas across. I guess I'm going to get piled on about it soon if I don't do something.”

Erik could only shrug, as Jarvis began walking away, with his entourage in tow. “Uh. Well, maybe we've covered enough today. I don't want to overload everyone with Information. I'm glad the notions of mechanics and the lumbermill are resonating with people, though!” He nodded happily. “There are a lot of old things around that may not work right now, but could be made to work in some capacity. Before next class, I want you to think on the things that are around you, and how it works, worked, or how it could be made to work by use of simple machines: gears, axles, wheels, levers or pulleys. Don't take what exists for granted, because we can learn from it and make it ourselves. Together, I'll bet we can cobble up some creative solutions to our problems.”

As people got up, clearly considering the things he had spoke about, Jenny and Celia spoke to him.

“Well, that was brief, but quite informative.” Celia nodded. “You certainly know much, Erik, but you should keep it going a little longer next time.”

“Definitely too short. But it sure is quite helpful to have a human around.” Jenny agreed.

“Thank you, it wasn't all that much, but the idea of a lumbermill I think is something good to aim for. The town is going to need to make better use of wood if it's going to expand properly.”

“Well, I look forward to the next class. Say hi to Kelsey for me.”

Erik nodded and made for the door as well. “Will do.”

Erik returned home, arriving to the smell of cooking. She heard the door open and rushed out to greet him. “Hey, you're back already! Did it go okay?”

“Yeah, it went pretty well, I think. Short, but I think I reached people.”

“Oh, good! What did you talk about? More machines?”

“Yeah, the subject came up about planks, then I found out they don't know how to make them.”

“Ah, you're going to teach people how to make planks, huh?” She grinned. “Well, I'm sure if anyone around town can get them made, it's you. I'm cooking some potatoes with mom, so I hope you're hungry.”

“Of course, whatever you're making is good.”