Dododex
ARK: Survival Evolved & Ascended Companion
The Arks: Over Heaven
Chapter 25: Bob's Back
Original Post Date: Feb 14, 2024
Note: Story starts in Wyvern, Aerial ABC backwards filter and has a Prologue. Last chapter in Fjordhawk, next chapter in Dimorphodon.
~
Thwack!
Thwack!
THWACK!
With one final swing, Bob had managed to chop down another tree with his trusty metal hatchet. He let out a sigh of relief, as he bent over to chop the tree down into small little bits.
“Just enough wood to finish my base up,” Bob muttered to himself.
Ever since Bob had been sent to the ARK by that evil, obsessed lunatic, the President, he had been planning his moves carefully and strategically. He knew that he needed to progress as fast as he could, as he didn’t know if the President would try to sabotage him if he grew too powerful. He couldn’t take that risk, and plus, he didn’t know how far the scholars that were placed on the Ark before him had progressed either. He didn’t know if they were still at the bottom of the food chain, struggling to survive against basic predators like Raptors or Dilophosaurus, or if they were already capable of creating metal tools. Either way, the faster Bob got his base built and started his hunt for taming beasts it would make the path to ascension easier.
“I hope the President didn’t mess with anything here on the Ark,” Bob thought as he collected the pieces of wood and began to haul stacks and stacks back to the construction site, “Otherwise, the knowledge I have may be outdated.”
One thing Bob knew for certain was that he had no implant. Bob knew that the President had altered the implants to be special gems that gave special abilities, rather than how they were in the original game. It made it harder for Bob to get started on his base, because without the implant he wasn’t able to craft anything of use. He had to travel around the area to collect blueprints and loot from beacons to give himself a head start, and even then it was still dangerous considering the area he was placed in.
Whatever. The more Bob thought about it, the harder the game would be. He needed to focus on building shelter, then going out to tame an Argentavis so that he could keep scouting the area for more beacons and potential settlements he might need to keep an eye out for.
“It won’t be hard whatsoever,” Bob thought, “But it sure is a lot more stressful when you’re in the game itself.”
As Bob returned back home, he dropped all of the wood onto the sand. Bob had decided to settle near the river he had arrived at, which was located close to the Redwood Forests, a hotspot for dinosaurs that would be useful for the future. He took out a blueprint for a ceiling made of stone, looked up at his stone base, and smirked.
“Good. We’re almost done here,” Bob said as he put the blueprint away.
The next hour he spent smashing stone, wood, and thatch together to create ceilings for his base. He had always remembered a saying that stuck to him whenever he played the original game, “Big bad dinosaurs can blow down straw and stick, but not brick.”
Bob just hoped it would apply here too.
But as Bob hauled the ceilings up onto his strong shoulders and attached them to the walls, he heard chatter outside of his house.
“Oooh, this house looks cool! I wonder who lives here,” a voice echoed outside the house.
“There’s no way. Someone’s out there,” Bob thought with a groan. He reached for his hide pockets and pulled out a bola. He took his torch out, and with a flicker the flame burst from the top.
Bob began to wind the bola up in the air, and then afterward he kicked the door open with his foot. He turned to the side, and quickly threw the bola at the unsuspecting scholar. The string and rocks tied around the boy’s limbs, and he let out a scream as he tripped and fell onto the sand. Bob ran forward to whack him with the torch, but the scholar yelled,
“Wait, wait, stop, stop! I didn’t mean to trespass!” he cried as he shielded his face, “I just, I was just scouting the area out, because someone ordered me to.”
Bob lowered his torch for a second, and after seeing his face his eyes widened.
“Agent Jackpot?” Bob asked with his mouth agape in shock.
“H-Huh? Who are you talking about? Who’s that?” the boy asked, confused and looking around for any potential ‘agents’. But Bob couldn’t believe it. The boy in front of him was quite literally, Agent Jackpot. The President’s most loyal messenger, someone who’d been through thick and thin to protect him. It didn’t make sense that he was here!
Bob began to walk around the scholar, inspecting him intently and looking at every single aspect of his body. He was still wearing cloth clothes still, and had literally no tools or weapons to his disposal. Plus, he was pretty big too. Giant, even. He looked to be at least seven feet tall, it was almost as if he was Goliath!
“You’re quite a big boy, what’s your name?” Bob asked the mysterious figure.
“A-Alan. My name is Alan,” the boy answered. He moved his hands to the back of his head as he lay on the ground, “But, now that you mention that name, I was called a jackpot. But in a different way. The football team called me the ‘Jackpot’ and the ‘Apex Predator’, because I was so tall and giant. The football coach really REALLY wanted me to be on the football team, b-but I don’t really like football so I didn’t join-”
“Hm. Okay. Well Alan, you don’t seem like a threat. What the heck are you doing all the way out here anyway?” Bob asked, “I’m all the way out here in the center of the island. No one dares tread inward where all dangerous beasts are with no weapons.”
“Some mean lady ordered me to go inland to find people, or else…” Alan replied, “Or else she’d beat me to a pulp!”
Alan sniffled a tear. Bob sighed and facepalmed.
“Come on, Alan. You’re like the tallest guy I know! No one can pick on you.”
“But, but you just did. You just had me tripping over nothing.”
“I’ll make you stronger, how about that?” Bob proposed, lending a hand to help Alan up, “I’ll take you in.”
Alan looked up at Bob reluctantly, but then eventually gave in and grabbed his hand. Bob helped him up, and Alan hugged him.
“Woah!” Bob shouted.
“Thank you, thank you!” Alan wept with joy, “Thank you so much! W-Who even are you? Are you a teacher or something at Terran High? You look so old. But, you know you look a little familiar, like I’ve seen you on television.”
Bob paused, and then nodded, a bit frustrated with that old comment.
“Yes. I was a coach at Terran High. I was the… tennis coach,” Bob said, “You can just call me, Bob. No formalities needed. I’m not a coach anymore, now that we’re here.”
“Oh, okay, well thank you so much Bob!” Alan said with tears in his eyes.
“Of course, of course.”
“So, so what will we do first?” Alan asked giddily, jumping around like a puppy, “What will you teach me?!”
Bob smirked at the sight. He had never seen someone so excited about being taught by him. It reminded him of the good old days, back when the original game came out, and beginners flocked for help…
“Well, let’s start with something easy,” Bob replied, “Taming a T-Rex!”