Project Alpha 2

by R. A. Mejia

  Chapter 14

  Jeff is surprised to see me when I return to my college apartment and asks where I’ve been. I’m able to postpone answering his questions with the excuse of being tired. I’m not sure what I’m going to tell him. I mean, he knows I work, but I’ve never explained what I do. After all, I’m not supposed to go around telling people about fighting monsters and clearing dungeons. Still, it’s a conversation for another time.

  The next week is spent thinking about how much I screwed up with Lillian and catching up with the classes I missed. Lillian’s words come back to me again and again, ‘how what I do affects other people’ and ‘that I need to think about other people’. While there’s truth to what she says, I also know that I think about other people all the time. Just not when I’m supposed to. I mean, I worry about my mom and sister. I think about Lillian and trying to be good enough for her. But everyone always seems to slip my mind when I’m angry or when the chance to get stronger rolls around. I want to be better. But maybe that means something besides just being strong or independent?

  While I contemplate things, I still have missed classes to make up for. It’s week six of the semester, and it’s time for midterms. My public speaking class is honestly the easiest, which is probably why we only meet once a week. Still, every class, we have either individual or group presentations, which I think are supposed to force us to apply the things from the textbook. By the way, the course provides one of the flimsiest textbooks I’ve ever seen. It’s 50 pages and includes full-page illustrations that have word bubbles about poise, using visual aids like charts, and tips on speaking to a large crowd. I’ll be honest: I read the textbook in an hour, and most of it is fluff. The teacher at least has independent slides about how to research your topic, organize your research, present it, and evaluate its effectiveness. The midterm, as I’m sure you can guess, is another presentation. But thanks to the class, my Orator skill has increased to level 8.

  The class on United States history has been more informative than I thought it would be. It covers history from the end of reconstruction in 1877 to the present. It’s mostly reading the textbook, but there are also firsthand accounts of events from compilations like Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States. My memory has improved so much due to my high Intelligence stat that the midterm’s multiple-choice test and essay are a breeze.

  My micro-economics class has a lot of little sections on the midterm test, and they’re mostly theory, definitions, and graphed models. There are lots of terms and concepts like PPF model, opportunity cost, efficiency and growth, the elasticity of demand and supply, and utility maximization. My mental math skill gets a little bit of a workout, but that’s about it. In all honesty, the class is my least favorite, and I would have dropped it except that it is a graduation requirement.

  My favorite course this semester is the forensic anthropology class. I’ll admit that I initially signed up because it fulfilled a graduation requirement and that I’ve always had a secret fascination with those crime shows where they used forensic science to catch the bad guy. While I’ve found the reality of forensic anthropology to be much less glamorous than those TV shows, it’s even more interesting in its own way. In the class, we learned about human anatomy, specifically osteology, which deals with bones and how they work. We did a little work with animal bones, but most of the lectures relate to the bones in the human body. Many of the students in the class have struggled to remember all the names of the bones, where they’re located, and what they do. I thankfully have an advantage with an Intelligence stat of 20, a speed-reading skill, and Bone Identification which enhances Inspect, allowing me to get information about bones.

  The lectures, while mostly slide presentations, are informative, but the lab work is really interesting. Each lab is practical, hands-on work with bones. We are given instructions on how to use measurement tools, and combined with the information we learn in class, we determine the deceased's race, age at death, sex, height, and other aspects such as indicators of health. Sometimes, in the labs, we’re given partial information about the deceased like race and sex and asked to determine the height of the person based on the length of the bones that we’re given. Or, at other times, we’re given a cranium and asked to determine age range based on observation of teeth and whether cranial sutures are closed or open.

  In class we’re taught that the sagittal suture, a fusion of two parietal bones in the skull, only begins after the age of 29 but completes after the age of 35. Also, that a person’s sex can be determined by measuring pubic bones and places in the skull. Pubic bone measurement is the most useful since skull bones can change with age and health, which makes using them to determine sex less accurate. Also, apparently, prepubescent sex may be impossible to determine strictly from their bones because their bodies haven’t undergone the changes to their skeletal structures. Race, which is apparently different than ethnicity in anthropology, only has three to five groups and is based on geographic ancestry. It’s determined mostly by cranial landmarks and features.

  Later in the semester, we’ll learn how to estimate how long a body has been decomposing and thus be able to approximate time since death and how a person might have died. After 6 weeks of regular labs, I’ve raised several skills: Speed Reading to 8, Analysis to 9, and Bone Identification to 6.

  My purchase of the item Magnifying Glass of the Detailed Detective has been really useful in the anthropology class. I’ve tested the difference between using Inspect and the item. Inspect, using Bone Identification, gives me basic information the same way it would if I were inspecting an item--which, in this case, is the name of the bone and the species of creature it belongs to. The Magnifying Glass of the Detailed Detective, on the other hand, seems to compile the details that I’ve learned in class and through the labs and automatically fills in data that I could get if I just measured and looked up references. I’d feel like a cheat if I didn’t realize that it does not present information that I do not know or would not be able to reasonably look up if I had time. When I first used the item, for example, I hadn’t memorized the height regression formulas for the long bones of each ancestry and sex, so it didn’t show the formulas or the results. Now, after memorizing the information, all the measuring and formula work is done when I look through the magnifying glass. It’s a good tool that I bet many a forensic anthropologist would love to own.

  The instructor for the class doesn’t mind me using it during the labs or tests because she tested it out, and to her, it’s just a magnifying glass. But for me, it’s an invaluable tool. During our midterm, we are presented with a series of bones, which are laid out on one of the lab tables, and told to find out all the information we can using the methods we’ve been taught. Each student is assigned to a group and given time to examine the bones, take measurements, and write down any information they could glean as well as the reasoning behind their conclusions. I am placed in the last group, and while I work on the written portion of the midterm, I see group after group come back from the table of bones looking frustrated with their lab papers only partially filled. When it is my turn, however, I pull out the magnifying glass and carefully examine each bone. A small blue box appears along with the bones’ features, giving measured information and details about bone structures.

  Femur - Female Caucasoid

  Length: 45.2 cm

  Estimated associated height range: 2.47(45.2)+54.1±3.72 = 162.024 cm to 169.464 cm = 5’3” to 5’6”

  Cranium and Jaw - Male

  Incisors - shovel shaped, exposed wisdom teeth, sagittal suture unfused, complex cranial sutures

  Estimated age: 21-25

  Estimated race: Mongoloid

  Pelvis

  Present: Wide pubic bodies, wide subpubic angles, ventral arc

  Sex: Female

  The information I’m given by the magnifying glass is more than enough to ace the lab portion of the mid-term, and the only problem I have is making sure that I can write e
xplanations for my detailed observations.

  Despite how busy school keeps me, I keep thinking of the last dungeon and everything that I got there. I’ve been testing my new abilities at school, most of which I acquired from dungeons are combat-related, and I’ve never even thought about using them outside of a dungeon. Well, that’s not entirely true. I’ve briefly considered throwing a fireball at one or two drunken jerks I’ve come across at some of Jeff’s parties, but those were only wild thoughts. Unlike my other skills, however, Sneak, Hidden Vision, and Shadow Step all come from a dungeon that was more stealth-oriented with puzzle solving, and the abilities and skills are very usable in real life. For example, there’s been this girl Marcy in one of my classes that seems very interested in chatting with me during class. I think I made the mistake of complimenting her outfit once. She’s a pretty girl, but she talks about nothing but reality TV shows and celebrity gossip. I’ve used Shadow Step and Sneak several times to duck out of conversations with her. Hidden Vision has been useful the few times I’ve lost my keys, and it came in very handy once when Lillian and I went to one of those ‘escape room’ events that trap you in a room and give you sixty minutes to solve all the clues to get out. It seriously felt like cheating when I turned on Hidden Vision, and all the hidden areas in the room were highlighted, including the place where the combination to the door lock was. Still, I tried not to ruin everyone’s fun and only ‘suggested’ looking in certain areas when the group got stuck.

  There isn’t much news on the dungeon-clearing front, but clearing the dungeon in Paris seems to have had a positive impact on tensions there between the government and the citizens. The Prime Minister has agreed to step-down amid scandals over the misappropriation of public funds, and the citizens have agreed to compromise over their demands: raising the minimum wage, protecting workers, and other social issues.

  Also, since I increased my level twice while clearing the Paris dungeon, I have 21 skill points and 4 stat points to distribute. Unfortunately, it’s a matter of either guesswork or spending my credits to find out exactly which skills are worth leveling up to 10. I’ll have to grind out my abilities the hard way, though, since I can’t spend skill points on them. I have Roll, Bash, and Hidden Vision to evolve. Roll can be evolved to: Splat, Dash, and Bounce. Bash has choices of: Smash, Crush, Break, and Hidden Vision has the evolution choices Dark Sight, Heat Vision, and All Seeing. Even after looking through the System store, there’s no direct information on these particular abilities. From the evolution names, however, I can guess that these abilities are going to become something new. Having no real basis for guessing, I go with what sounds the coolest.

  Bounce - Level 1

  F

  Active

  An evolution of the ability taken from a slime, bounce mimics the slime’s elastic ability to jump by bouncing. When activated, it imparts a rubbery spring to the User, allowing for longer distances to be jumped. To activate ability, just think or say ‘Bounce’ with the intent to use the ability.

  Cost: 10 TP/sec

  Break - Level 1

  F

  Active

  An evolution of an ability taken from a goblin, this is special ability reflects the goblin’s love of breaking things. The ability increases the chance of a blunt weapon breaking the target object. To activate, think or say ‘Break’.

  Cost: 30 TP

  All Seeing - Level 1

  E

  Passive

  This ability will now constantly passively look for hidden people, objects, spaces, or special items. The chances of finding hidden items is dependent on a number of factors including how well they were hidden. Actively looking for a particular item increases the chance of this ability triggering. When trying to locate a hidden person, the level of this ability is factored into the search. Each time the ability is activated, it will consume mana.

  Cost: When hidden item found - 100 Mana

  My abilities’ descriptions make it a little clearer why I wasn’t able to find any information about them in the User databases available. I’d almost forgotten that most of my abilities were gained by absorbing them from monsters and enemies I defeated in dungeons. So, of course, it was likely that no User had ever evolved them. I probably would have had a better chance at seeing what the evolution choices were if I researched the creatures I’d taken the abilities from.

  I’m not unhappy with the evolutions for the most part. I mean, Bounce sounds weird and could cost a lot of TP depending on how long I keep it active, but it may also be really fun. I’m a little disappointed that I’ve lost an ability that added guaranteed extra damage, but the ability to break what I’m hitting may be more useful. All Seeing is potentially the most powerful evolution because I don’t have to turn it on, but it is also the costliest at 100 mana. I’m also not thrilled that I don’t have control over when it may go off. I can imagine that it may become a liability if in the middle of a fight if it activates and deprives me of the mana I need to win a battle. Unfortunately, there’s nothing I can do about it, so I turn my attention to my skills.

  Trap Making is the only skill I have at level 10, not counting Inspect which I have already evolved, and has evolution options of: Damage, Range, and Duration. In this case, it’s pretty easy to infer that choosing one of the evolutions will increase the potency of the trap in that aspect, either doing more damage, increasing the trap’s effect range, or increasing either the trap’s duration or, possibly, the duration of some of its effects. It’s a tough choice since any of the possible evolutions would be useful, but in the end, I reason that increasing duration is the best choice since it’s one aspect that I can’t improve with better-designed traps.

  Trap Making II - Duration

  Current level: 1

  Trap making is a crafting skill that uses parts and raw materials to create traps that may either damage, incapacitate, or inflict a status on the one tripping the trap. Increased levels improve trap setup speed and allow access to higher-level trap designs.

  Bonus: Speed of trap setup: +33%, Duration of status effects: +10%

  The major bonus of +10% to status effects makes me realize just how powerful a skill’s evolution can be, and I wonder if the bonus will increase as the new skill levels. Either way, I understand why a User may horde skill points to get a skill to level 10. I look over my character sheet and look for any skill that is even remotely close to level 10.

  Anthony Tinoco

  Level 12

  Unspent stat points: 4

  Unspent skill points: 21

  XP to next level: 192,747

  Health 270

  Mana 320

  TP 370

  Strength 10

  Dexterity 12

  Constitution 15

  Intelligence 20

  Wisdom 25

  Charisma 14

  Credits 6,600

  Skills Level

  Analysis 9

  Armor design 2

  Bone Identification 6

  Bludgeoning Weapons 6

  Chemical Mixing 2

  Computer Interface 5

  Computer Knowledge 4

  Cooking 3

  Deception 5

  Dungeon Inspect 4

  Dungeon Mapping 9

  Dungeon Scan 4

  Explosives 5

  Firearm 4

  Gadget 4

  Grenades 3

  Guilt Trip 1

  Haggle 3

  Handgun 2

  Inspect II 2

  Inventory Management 6

  Laser Technology 3

  Mapping 8

  Mental Math 5

  Orator 8

  Piano 3

  Piercing Weapons 1

  Ranged Combat 7

  Resist Sleep 5

  Rifle 4

  Slashing Weapon 1

  Sneak 6

  Speed Reading 8

  Throw 5

  Trap Making II 1

  Tutor 5

  Vector Analysis 3

 
Weapon design 4

  Writing 6

  With the increased cost of raising a skill level, 1 skill point to get a skill, 2 skill points to raise it to level 2, 3 skill points to raise it to level 3, etc., I can only bring one skill to level 10 with the 21 free skill points that I have. Alternatively, I could purchase a whole slew of new skills for 1 point a piece. I’m stuck with the old conundrum of choosing between specializing and becoming a master at a few things or having many low-level skills.

  Ultimately, I decide that I’m not in a hurry to push any remaining skills up to 10 right now. My skills will get there on their own with enough practice. Instead, I decide to horde the skill points for a rainy day or in the case of a particularly tough dungeon.

  Chapter 15- Interlude 2

  The trip to his little project is not without risk. The Oversight Committee is looking for him, and even with his Mask of the Hidden Majora, a legendary artifact that he was given by his old sponsors, he’s still worried that he may be tracked somehow. But as long as he has it, those agents won’t be able to use System powers to find him. The downside is that his own abilities are muted too, but it’s worth it to stay hidden.

  The basement window sticks a little as he slides it open, but his stealth capabilities, even diminished, are more than enough to get him into the woman’s house. As his body slides through the opening and his feet touch the ground, he notices that the red miasma from the planted dungeon has already receded. Perfect. The dungeon has already attracted a suitable candidate.