Gerrick became a celebrity. That was hardly surprising.
But he didn't seem to like it much. Though he had been quite happy at first, the enthusiastic uncles and aunties had thoroughly frightened him by now. The once filthy little garbage worker had been scrubbed clean, dressed in new clothes brought by the rescue team, and pushed before the public to be fussed over by everyone. In less than half an hour, he came running back, shouting at the top of his lungs.
We had now transferred to a large Transport Ship headed toward the Great City. Because its micro-warp system had malfunctioned, it could only travel at atmospheric cruising speed, so the trip would take about an hour. We still had over ten minutes before arrival. The Transport Ship was much roomier than a small transport craft like the Contender-class. Thanks to basic spatial expansion equipment, its hangar was about as wide as a football field. The disaster victims had gathered into several groups throughout the hangar, quietly discussing the current situation and lamenting the destruction of their homes. Of course, some were also imagining their new lives. Overall, the atmosphere was far better than we had expected.
That was probably easy to explain. In this world, "personal property" was not a particularly important concept. Most means of production were collectively owned, while necessities had to be collectively distributed by Food Synthesizers and drinking-water synthesizers. Everyday clothes, medicine, and all other daily necessities came from various synthesis machines. Personal homes and furnishings, meanwhile, were mostly scavenged from the ruins and could be found everywhere. In this peculiar state of "communism," residents did not react too strongly to any level of property loss. And because material output in the Ruins World was unstable, many ordinary people were constantly on the move,