Dilemma #3: Empty Shelves, Full Hands?

Make your choice known in the input survey linked below

Jun 04, 2025

∙ Paid

people walking inside building with escalator — Photo by Mick Haupt on Unsplash

So, you’ve decided to reach out to the gated community and focus on collaboration to secure resources.

(Another 100%, though one quarter of survey respondents were more concerned with safety than resources)

Great choice!

With the abrupt crash of the Internet, global supply chains have been in free fall.

For the seemingly 100th day in a row, you wake up hungry.

Your pantry is down to its very last can.

At the local store, shelves are bare, delivery trucks stopped arriving weeks ago, and no one knows when—or if—they’ll return.

Before the blackout, apps told you where food was, how much it cost, how long until it arrived. Now, you rely on word of mouth and handwritten notes posted at community centers.

Thankfully, your community mutual aid network makes sure that you never go to sleep hungry—you get just enough calories to keep going.

Shared community plots have been thriving, though it hasn’t been quite enough to get enough food for everyone. To feel truly full again.

So, you join the envoy group that seeks out the fortress-style camp.

There must be a way to collaborate, and get enough food for everyone.

So with equal parts caution and determination, you approach what appears to be their front barricade…

A Surprising Proposal

Behind their newly reinforced walls, you come upon the most lush urban farm you’ve ever set your eyes on.

Apparently, their leaders have a connection to a reliable potash source another region away.

Large, lush and full peppers, zucchini, tomatoes, carrots, kale…huge strawberries and peach and nectarine trees almost ready for harvesting.

vegetable stand — Photo by Alexandr Podvalny on Unsplash

You struggle to keep it together as you’re brought in to meet with their leadership team with your proposal: there are a few chemists and pharmacists in your group who could help to make old fashioned medicines, tinctures, salves and the like.

With healthcare systems struggling, you know it should be an attractive offer, not to mention all the labour your community could provide in exchange for food and safety.

—

Without missing a beat, their leader offered a counter-proposal:

“Medicine, labour, all good. But what we really need is tech support in setting up our own Local Area Mesh Network. To communicate, and run more effective surveillance…for our security of course.

“You would also benefit from this security, and access to a limited version of the Web. You would all have move into our growing compound though, of course.”

You depart the compound to take the offer back to the rest of the community.