After a few rounds of exercise, Stephanie turned to Fade and asked, "What about food? Did you find a way for us to get more?" "About that, I have something to show you," Fade said before sitting up and stretching his hands in front of him. He knew he didn't have the energy to materialize the machine whole, so he decided to summon it in parts. Having created the reactor that morning, he was still a bit tired, so he chose to summon the invertor he would need to connect the machine to the reactor. As a wave of dizziness hit him, he heard Stephanie gasp in amazement. "What? Why? How?" she asked him, both happy and confused about what she saw.
"This was how I made the gun," Fade said, before describing his ability. "With this we never have to worry about food again," she said happily before jumping into his arms, but he shook his head. "No, I can create seeds, but I have not been able to make any food or meat. So, I tried to create animals for meat, but that failed as well," he explained before giving her a wry smile, "But the machine I am making will be able to make food." "When will you be done?" she asked. "The day after tomorrow at the latest. So, be ready to stuff yourself silly," he said before poking her in the side. Stephanie let out a squeal of laughter as she was tickled, it soon devolved into another round of exercise before they both fell asleep.
The next morning, having fully rested and recharged, Fade got started making the most crucial part of the machine, the replicator. It should be able to make anything if you have enough energy, but in the show, he saw it on, they only ever used it to make food. Short sighted if you ask him. He ended up passing out again, but the machine was made, the next step was to create the computer that would run it. This morning, they ate the last of their food, putting all their hope into Fade's ability. That night Fade was unable to make the computer due to a lack of energy, so, they left it for the next day. The following morning, Fade attempted to make the computer again, but this time, he was able to succeed. After a short rest, he got started in putting it together, and a short while later a humming sound came from the apartment. Fade stood in front of the completed machine with Stephanie standing next to him.
"What now? How does it make the food?" she asked in anticipation. "Well, it uses energy to make things from air, I also made it to be voice activated," he explained. "Then what are you waiting for, ask it for something," she said with a stary look in her eyes. Fade cleared his throat before walking up to the machine and saying, "Cheeseburger, medium well, curly fries, and a cup of soda," he spoke to the machine. After words a high pitch came from the machine before a tray appeared with a Cheeseburger with curly fries, and a cup of soda on top. They looked at each other before she urged him forward, forcing him to grab the tray and head to the dining room table. As they sat there, they continued to stare at each other, before Fade could no longer delay, Grabbing the Cheeseburger he slowly brought it to his mouth before taking a bite and slowly chewing.
"Well, how is it? Does it taste good?" she asked in anticipation. "No, awful. You shouldn't even bother," Fade said before taking another bite of the burger. Seeing him eat with such relish, she grabbed a fry from his tray and at it. She was shocked for a while before she jumped up and ran to the food replicator. She came back with a large pepperoni pizza to the dining room table, she than picked up a slice before slowly taking a bite. A look of bliss crossed her face as she continued to eat, that day they stuffed themselves on food. While the pizza satisfied Stephanie, Fade went back not just for seconds, but thirds as well. Sated, fade went back to thinking about another problem he discovered when he came back from the swap meet, and that was finding a way to ensure a person's loyalty in this new world. He couldn't make them wear slave collars as that would cause others to doubt him. As Stephanie sat across from him, she starred at his face before saying, "You know, besides being more muscular you have actually become more handsome and younger, you look like your twenty now. Your bone structure looks more symmetrical now as well." Fade looked at her with a strange look in his face before he went to the bathroom to look at himself in the mirror. He then noticed that she was right, besides the baby fat on his face being gone, his skin was smoother, and his facial features were sharper. As he looked at himself, he thought about having black eyes instead of the common brown, and to his surprise the iris in his eyes changed colors.
He then took out a razor blade and cut his hand, only to see it close up on its own. "This must be the nanite I made; it must have replicated enough inside my body to change things. If only I could create nanites that would give them abilities while being under my control," Fade thought to himself as he looked at his hands. That was when he felt a tingling sensation in his hand, before a small silver ball formed. He exclaimed in surprise before taking it to show Stephanie. "What's that?" she asked when he shoved the small silver ball into her face. "Remember how you wondered why I was healthier now than before the apocalypse. It was because of this, nanites, I thought I had failed, but I didn't. If you swallow this, you will never have to worry about getting hurt or sick ever again. I do not know how it works against the ravager's virus, so it would still be best to not get hurt by them though," Fade explained. Hearing his explanation, she stopped hesitating and directly swallowed the ball. Fade smile when he saw this, because he could still feel his connection the nanites that were now inside of her body. Afterwards, Fade sat at the dining room table thinking about the next stage of his plans. He tried thinking of a way to build a fortress without killing himself or spending all his time creating it piece by piece. He wanted to create robots, but he did not yet have the energy to human sized ones.
That was when he heard a knock coming from the front door. Fade and Stephanie turned to each other before he stood up, took out his gun, and went to the door. Looking thru the peep hole, he was surprised to find someone familiar on the other side, opening the door he said, "I was wondering if you would come." It was the brothels boss lady standing outside the door with her bulky partner and eight other women. "Hello Fade, my name is Claire. We came to talk about your offer," the curvy woman said. "Sure, why don't you ladies come inside," Fade said stepping back to allow them into the apartment. Once everyone was inside, he closed the door and waved to Stephanie saying, "This is my woman, Stephanie. Stephanie, this is Claire, she is the leader of this group of women." Stephanie came forward and shook hands with Claire. "We would like to know what the terms of the cooperation are," said Claire. "Cooperation? There is no cooperation, you guys either submit or be subdued. This is the apocalypse, and strength determines everything now," Fade said to Claire with a smirk on his face. This caused a frown to appear on the girls faces as well as a trace of fear. "And what do get if we submit?" Claire asked, unable to hide the fury in her voice. "Strength, food, and weapons, for starters," said Fade, which caused a look of confusion to appear on Claire's face. "How?" she asked. "Well, besides guns I have plenty of food, so you won't have to sell yourselves again. As for strength," Fade said before poking the concrete wall and drawing a smiley face, "Get it now?" Fade created ten nanite balls in his hand using the nanites inside his body before showing them to the older, worn-out women standing in front of him. "Swallow these if you wish to submit and you will have this strength, but be warned, once you take them there will be no going back," Fade told them as he stretched out his hand with the nanites balls in it to show them what it was. They hesitated for a bit, before Claire showed a resolved face, walked up, grabbed a ball, and swallowed it. Seeing Claire take the initiative, the other girls came forward one at a time and took a ball before swallowing at. "I don't feel any different," said Claire. "Of course not, it takes a while for it to expel the toxins from your body before it strengthens it," Fade explained while rolling his eyes.