Finding other groups: meeting points, radio, couriers and custodians

Meet your neighbours now, make a household plan with two meeting points, give a copy of your archive to another household, and after a crisis send two people to the next settlement within a day. Trade news, seed and skills.

Part of Day Zero, the plan for an AI-related crisis that gets out of control. Why it exists. General information, not medical advice: how these guides are reviewed.

No single group can rebuild alone. Several small groups sharing knowledge, seed, tools and news recover faster, and a loss in one place does not erase everything.

Before it happens

1. Meet your neighbours. Know who has medical, farming, repair and radio skills.
2. Make a household plan with two meeting points (near home, and outside your area) and a contact person far away.
3. Share the archive. Give a copy of your drives to one other household and agree to refresh them. This is the role of a custodian (the monthly habit).
4. Agree who goes where. If the area is unsafe, have a destination with water and farmland and a route.

After it happens

• Day 1 to 3: meet at the first meeting point; leave notes with the date, who is here and where you are going.
• Week 1: send two people (never alone) to the next settlement within a day's walk to share news and learn what they have.
• Weekly: meet at a regular point (market day) with news, trade and a messenger.

Signals and radio

• Written notices at crossroads, notice boards and meeting places.
• Messengers on foot or bicycle between groups: simple, reliable and no power.
• Radio: handheld radios (PMR446 in Europe, FRS/GMRS in the United States) reach a few kilometres; amateur (ham) radio can reach far with a licence and training. Check your local laws now. Agree a daily time to listen (for example, on the hour) and keep messages short.
• Do not broadcast your supplies or locations.

What to share

• News and warnings (disease, hazards, bandits).
• Seed and animals (to keep the gene pool broad).
• Skills: send an apprentice, or a teacher for a season.
• Copies of the archive. The group that has the reader and drives is a school for the others.
• Labour for big jobs (harvest, building, mills).

Agreements

Write down: shared water and paths, trading terms, how disputes are settled, how strangers are treated, and what is done if one group is in famine. A written agreement that both sides know holds longer than a handshake.

Custodians

A custodian keeps a verified copy of the Toswo archive, tests it, copies it for others, and teaches people to use the reader. If you hold a copy, tell your neighbours. If you do not, find the nearest one.

Review status: not yet checked by a named professional. Read how these guides are reviewed and check anything medical or dangerous with a qualified person where you can.