In the four years since he escaped from TRICOR, scavenging the wasteland for useful items becomes Nikko’s daily routine. But his guard is always up, and he soon senses someone watching him. Becoming more emboldened, the mystery person steals from his shelter, but other times leaves him gifts. Most recently some sturdy cord and barbed wire, which Nikko fashions into a device to catch food. The nearby coastline teams with fish, but it’s arduous and dangerous and day after day he returns home empty handed. Undaunted, he perseveres, managing to catch a bounty. But that’s when the mystery person makes themselves known – She is Anika and he is trespassing in her clan’s territory. If they found him first, they would kill him. But she is not his enemy. She leads Nikko to a burnt-out husk of a house, long since abandoned where Anika has created a sanctuary for herself away from her tribe. She decorates it with knick-knacks that she has scavenged from the chaos. An odd mixture of old tech and kitsch that she doesn’t understand but concocts fanciful stories about. Nikko is intrigued by her, but he’s wary of strangers and time will tell if she can be trusted.