When a lonely teenager, raised by intelligent machines, dreams they are lying about the extinction of humankind, he decides to run away on a perilous quest to find other humans.

RE:?I never said he lived in the outback

You wrote in an earlier comment:? "...go south of Australia (he is near Lake Amadeus)."? So I assumed....

Whatever, my general point stands:? the setting should confront him with insurmountable obstacles, life-threatening jeopardy from the git-go.

RE:?I never said he lived in the outback

You wrote in an earlier comment:? "...go south of Australia (he is near Lake Amadeus)."? So I assumed....

Whatever, my general point stands:? the setting should confront him with insurmountable obstacles, life-threatening jeopardy from the git-go.

>>>He is tired of waiting for something to happen

I thought the incitement to action was the dreams.? Which is more compelling and fitting it seems to me given he's being cast as a dude with a destiny.

>>>He is capable of living from the fat of the land and confronting the perils that have been evolving on this island

?Fat of the land? in the middle of the Outback?? I venture that's not the image the word ?Outback? conjures up in most people's minds.

Whatever, if that's the way it is in the world of your story, it's seems to me to be overlooking some of the archetypal gold of the plot: to wit, he undertakes a hero's journey; trekking out of the Outback is a rite of passage. It seems to me that every step of the way his survival should be in doubt; he faces seemingly insurmountable obstacles, life-threatening? jeopardy.?

fwiw