Ilyaas yawned as he awoke. Another sleepy day, another night survived without having been killed in his sleep by mechanised steel.

Working in the crew's only electronics workshop, the place was pretty much his home. He could return to the surface, yeah, his powers pretty much guaranteed that, but he knew his place was down here, helping what remained of the metahuman species survive.

He knew his place. Everyone knew. If someone had something that was broken, like a radio or a cellphone, they'd bring it to him. Any electronic scrap or machine or gadget that someone found, they brought to him. He'd use his rudimentary smarts, combined with what little manuals and texts he'd scavenged from the world above, to fix or remedy what problems he was given. Then the objects would be returned to their owners, or the scrap kept within his workshop for future projects. He wasn't much of an inventor, but anything to help the cause was appreciated, at least.

He wiped his face with a wet rag, then wrung it and laid it out on a rack to dry. That was the problem with trying to be self-sufficient underground, no renewable resources. The water was one of their most valuable, and he could only make so many trips aboveground to buy or steal what he could carry. No one else possessed his particular powerset, so anyone that dared venture aboveground risked death or worse, capture. Twice a week he made the adventure aboveground, raiding convenience and grocery stores for whatever they had that he could carry. Water, food, medicine, or any other supplies that were in demand.

Thinking back to his earlier days, he knew that he was happier here. He had people, friends that knew him and appreciated his company, not like his former colleagues in his previous job. Last he'd heard, he'd found that one of his former bosses had been a Super, and he'd been promptly exterminated by one of the Technopath's bots.

Happier.

He stretched a little and went outside. His little workshop sat in one of the corners of the underground labyrinth that was their collective home, and the only way people knew he was awake was when the sign that hung from the ceiling said 'open', which was what he did. The sign swung around easily on its chain and he smiled. Another day for business, another day to spend working on something that could beat the Technopath's bots, hopefully.

Then he remembered: today was supply run day. He swung his sign back around and sighed to himself. This morning, he'd dedicate to mostly going around to all the various residences and other places to ask around for supply requests. To make a shopping list, essentially, and to do that he'd need paper and a pencil. He grabbed those from within his workshop and set out to his first destination: the clinic. Hopefully Wendy was still there for him to -

Oh, there she was, just heading out. He smiled and waved to her, quickening his pace so he'd catch up to her.

"Wendy! Have a moment? Today's supply day, and, um, I'd like to know if you need anything. Mind if, um, I walk with you?"