Earthdom: A Post-Apocalyptic LitRPG (Ether Collapse Book 3)

by Ryan DeBruyn

  In the center of the room, a large, square column rose from the floor straight up to the ceiling and probably continued up into the tower above. “Is this a counter, or a half-wall?” Rocky wondered. He patted the circular chest-high slab that ringed the base of the column.

  Sela took a few steps up to stand on a platform that ran inside the circular counter. “This looks like a guild headquarters, from everything I have seen so far. This would be the receptionist area, where adventurers can come collect their promised rewards or find parties for questing.” She pointed to the walls.

  Rocky followed the path of her finger to several stone pillars of varying sizes, each displaying a flat-screen-like face and a small circular indentation.

  “Those look like Guild kiosks for finding active quests or creating quests. The little indentation is for your hand. It almost feels like I am standing in the Cathodiem guild offices, in the Silver Spires,” Sela said. She shivered and struggled to contain her tears.

  He climbed the few stairs up to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. He hated to see her in pain but never knew what to say or do.

  She looked up at him, tears welling in her eyes, and flung herself at him, wrapping her arms around him and burying her face in his chest. Zippo made a disgusted sound, which earned him a warning glare, and Rocky patted Sela on the back as she trembled.

  He couldn't be sure, but he thought he heard her mutter, “Don't you miss those bastards.” She stopped crying but held Rocky a heartbeat longer before pushing herself away. The tears were gone, and a fierce look took their place.

  He knew what that meant. He’d had the same look when he thought about his family.

  “Anyone see something that looks like a place to connect the power converters?” asked Rocky.

  Zippo nodded, and his elongated shadow bobbed on the wall along with his head. “Yeah, if you two would stop being all gross, maybe we could get some work done.” He stuck out his chin. “I think it's right there.”

  Rocky ruffled Zippo’s hair as he walked by him. The young man protested and tried to flatten his beautiful bed head, 'that Rocky had just ruined.'

  Tao and Gamma stood sentry as the three humans approached the recessed portion on the side of the central pillar. Rocky pulled out an Ether converter from his bag. Unfortunately, the dimensions of the recess could only contain one of the contraptions.

  He placed the converter inside and felt something at the back of the recess, akin to a magnet, wrench the converter from his hands. He must have done something right as it clicked into place. Lights on the central pillar flickered to life, accompanied by mechanical noises.

  A ding sounded from the opposite side of the pillar, and the group jogged toward it.

  Rocky stared into a hollow shaft through double doors that had receded into the walls beside them. Beside the doors was a button with a lit, red arrow pointing up. An electronic plaque that read, ‘Reception’ hung above the opening.

  Scratching his head, he asked, “An elevator?”

  “It’s a lift,” said Sela.

  Zippo chuckled softly at her unneeded correction. Clearly, the term elevator wasn’t widely used back in her day. Rocky just nodded—he was used to her doing this.

  Gamma and Tao waved their hands in front of themselves, excluding themselves from the ride. “Why don’t you all try it out first? If you don’t die, we will test its capabilities in the future,” Gamma said.

  “More loot for us then, you big concrete chocobos,” said Sela.

  Zippo, now fireball-less, Rocky, and Sela walked through the doors onto the platform. Once inside, Sela approached a wall that displayed three buttons.

  Observatory and Crew Quarters

  Control Room

  Utilities & Medical Facilities

  She reached for ‘Control Room,’ and Rocky stopped her.

  “Utilities might be where we place the other Ether converters?”

  She nodded and pressed ‘Control Room’ anyway. “Let’s take a quick peek while we still have privacy.”

  The doors closed, and his knees jerked in response to the increased pressure of the accelerating lift.

  He caught his breath as the group exited the roof of the dome. The elevator was glass, and the tower was transparent from the inside. They were now well above the trees. Below them stretched their Territory, and beyond that, the recovering, blackened Earth. It had only been a week, but the green tendrils crawling across the scorched landscape indicated that plant life was regrowing quickly.

  Guess I should have known Bathilda’s cleansing would heal absurdly fast, thanks to the system.

  The view opened up further, out past the cleansing. The world was alive and vibrant. Leafy green contrasted the crystalline blue skies, and fluffy white clouds. From his vantage point, he spotted small shapes of terrifying creatures scouring the terrain outside of the sooty-cleansed Earth. A shadow thumped into the tower wall as they sped past, and everyone jumped.

  “Azoth thinks that the moving box is his new toy,” laughed Sela.

  During the ascent, Azoth managed one further ‘assault’ before they reached the second sphere atop the tower. The whole ride had lasted no more than thirty seconds.

  The doors dinged open to a pitch-black room. Zippo stepped forward and conjured another red ball. Rocky hadn’t noticed earlier, but Zippo no longer had to hold a hand under his creation.

  The illuminated room held a familiar, if slightly rearranged, sight. Smith had been right—it was the same room that had previously been located deep underground. The altar stood straight out from the elevator, and the starshipesque captain-chairs still occupied the space behind it. The place had always felt like a cockpit from the distant past. The workstations all around him only added to that ambiance.

  After a quick look around, the group didn’t find anything that looked like an area for a power converter.

  “Alright, I think that is what we expected. Let’s head down a floor and see if we can find a way to ‘pay our hydro bill,’” said Sela.

  Zippo groaned, but Rocky was impressed by her relatively proper use of the saying. She was acclimatizing to this world far faster than he thought she would.

  They made their way down to the utility floor and discovered a considerable number of contraptions that Rocky couldn’t identify. At least Sela knew what they were.

  “Those are water tanks—” she pointed to a pile, “—those would be batteries, oxygen scrubbers, plasma generators, missile ports, forcefield generators, supplement converters, and back there is all the infirmary and medical equipment. Don’t ask me what the things are, because I have only been on the receiving end of their use.”

  Rocky hated any reminders of how Sela had died slowly at the hands of a potent poison in her first life. He pointed to two open, hollow rigs near the batteries. “Those look like the places for these converters. Is this thing a ship?”

  “I was wondering the same thing,” said Zippo.

  “I don’t think so. I think it just has some defenses and some large reserves in case of sieges.” Sela scanned the room. “I don’t see any engines, just some alternative power sources.” She patted what she had deemed the Plasma Generators. “Probably only to be used in an emergency.”

  Like when the entire planet lost Ether?

  He pulled the converters out and handed one to Zippo. They put the devices in place, with the same magnetic assistance and click.

  Everything around them came to life. Mechanical clicks and electric beeps resounded through the room, and a progress bar notification appeared in front of Rocky and Sela.

  Satellite found.

  Connection to Goggle Satellite XZ143 established.

  Uplink successful.

  Downloading Atlantean Net Updates

  0%

  An explosion of announcements followed the first notification. They scrolled through the corner of his interface so fast that he knew it would take a while to get through them.

  Chapter Ten

/>   “So, all of those notifications were available quests in the region?” Rocky asked as they rode the elevator back up a floor.

  After supplying power, Sela had been preparing to enter the elevator, only to find Rocky and Zippo trying to sort through hundreds of notices.

  “Yes, they are something akin to the billboard advertisements you explained to the Ottawa Knights. You can go to the quest kiosk and see what exactly each one entails before accepting them,” Sela said.

  The elevator doors opened, and they entered a scene from a Sci-fi movie. Each surface was lit up, with a screen dominating its controls. Some of the stations had scrolling text on screen, others had three dimensional representations of—the Territory?

  Those caught his attention, but one—one screen glued his feet to the floor.

  “Quests are broken down into categories. For example, system generated quests, survival quests and the like. People can create quests down below as well. Since those aren’t system generated and only one reward is available, those quests need to be handled differently. Only one group, no sharing—” Sela hadn’t noticed she was walking by herself and turned. “Is this the first time you have seen interactive screens? No, you both told me about computers, I think. These are mostly the same thing.”

  Rocky hadn’t been staring because of the computers, at least not entirely. There were so many computers in the room, but one specific screen caught his attention. The screen displayed a real-time satellite image of the earth. Zoom buttons dotted the sides of the screen.

  Rocky ran over to the screen. “No, Sela, we have seen computers. This is a world map in real-time. Right now, we can see North America, Greenland, and even some of Europe!”

  Sela turned and studied the map, head tilted back and eyes wide. The landmasses on display were far different than the Pangaea continent she would have grown up on.

  Before he zoomed in on anything, he pointed out the more significant land masses they could see. He tried to name some countries, tracing borders where he recalled their existence.

  Once finished, he zoomed in on the Greater Toronto Area. To call it a mess was an understatement. He couldn’t get close enough to make out much more than the overall state of the ‘city.’ The school campuses and hospitals in the city had, like Ottawa, become the only buildings left. Grey gravel still marked where roads once were, but the vegetation was slowly growing in.

  Something strange stood out to him. He squinted at the map, focusing on the few patches of remaining buildings. A few of them seemed to be encircled by golems.

  Some time ago, the Ottawa Knights had accepted a quest to protect humans. Was that what these golems were doing?

  Out of the hundred billboard notices he received, he recalled a specific one. ‘Save the Survivors of North Bay.’

  He zoomed out and in again and found the remains of the city just north of them. Like Toronto and Ottawa, it contained patches of remaining buildings where schools, hospitals, and other spared buildings still stood. Unlike Toronto, every parcel of buildings was surrounded by golems. Save them from what?

  Oh no.

  “Can you see the system quests from up here?” asked Rocky.

  “I am sure you should be able to. Why, what is it?” Sela replied.

  Rocky wasn’t sure if he should voice his suspicions and instead, ran from screen to screen.

  “Over here, Rocky,” Zippo said.

  He sprinted over and searched the quest list, using an on-screen keyboard to type ‘North Bay.’

  The quest came up, and his gut clenched as his heart attempted to stop beating.

  Preservation of Champion Life Quest

  Chain Party Quest – Atlantean Net Generated

  Save the North Bay Survivors I

  ● Champions in North Bay are starving. While they are being protected by the golems, they haven’t been able to hunt for food. Bring them food and find a way to handle the situation.

  Rewards:

  Etherience

  Possible Increased Reputation with Survivors

  Atlantean Statutes, Preservation of Life, Section XII

  Sela and Zippo read over his shoulders and growled. He went to the filter function, cleared the search tab, and chose the option to sort by distance. A few townships in and around Algonquin Valley popped to the front of the queue. The closest were Brent, Madawaska, and Barry’s Bay.

  An overwhelming weight settled onto his shoulders. People were starving to death. Too weak to free themselves from guarded isolation. Unable to find a way to collect food and water. His family might—he sharply inhaled through his nose and banished that line of thinking. They had to do something.

  Rocky tapped the screen. “How do we accept these quests? Will they give us directional arrows to help?” The majority of small townships could be in a great many directions.

  “The list keeps growing,” Zippo noted, scrolling through the quests.

  The total continued to climb. He checked the progress bar for the uplink to the Ethernet—one percent.

  Is this only one percent of the quests?

  “There is a lot of other information the Ethernet will pass onto the Control Room. It has probably packaged the quests in the first few percentages.” Sela rested a hand on Rocky’s shoulder. “Yes, we can definitely go help as many of these survivors as possible. I think our group should try to target groups slightly farther away first and organize some of our hunting parties for the groups closer in. What do you think?”

  Rocky was already walking toward the elevators. “Sure, that’s fine. The kiosks let you accept quests, right?”

  Sela put herself between him and the doors. She extended her hands toward him, and they collided with his chest. “We need to collect some food and organize some groups first. Rushing off on our own will save only a few, Rockland. Taking thirty minutes now will save countless.”

  Rocky restarted his walk, pushing her along in front of him. “We will save others as we go. My family might be out there!”

  Sela’s jaw clenched and she slapped him across the face.

  He stopped and raised a hand to his cheek. Realization of what just happened struck him like a freight train, and his face darkened. “Get out of my way, Sela.”

  Sela pointed her finger in his face. “No. You are acting like a child with power. Right now, those people out there need a leader. Someone who will create a chance for thousands instead of hundreds. What are you going to give the people you rush to rescue? Raw meat to eat? Your small water bottle to drink? Think like the leader you are, not the man scared for his family.”

  He felt the blood drain from his face as quickly as it had flooded it. She had hit his trigger word—twice. She was right. He had the bare minimum of travel rations and water in his Bag of Holding. To perform multiple quests, they would need far larger quantities.

  He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Then nodded.

  The group rode the elevator down to the ground floor, and the air was charged with tension.

  Rocky’s skin tingled as his blood pumped heat through his limbs. “How come we didn’t get these quests earlier?”

  “Without a connection to the Ethernet, these quests are only available if you can see the people in need. Then the Atlantean system pushes out the quest to you. Now, we are able to see all the quests currently generated by the system.” She hesitated before adding, “It’s going to be impossible to get to everyone, Rockland.”

  There was truth in her words, but he wasn’t ready to accept them.

  The rest of the descent was blanketed by the return of heavy silence. Zippo was the only one unaffected as he bounced from foot to foot, eager for what came next.

  The doors dinged and opened to the Atrium. To his surprise, the room was still empty. “Why didn’t the doors open to admit people?” Rocky asked.

  “Permissions,” Sela murmured as she navigated through her status screens.

  Now with the interior lights on, it was clear that the atrium had four large ha
llways leading off it. Each corridor was identical and led to two double doors, similar to the others they encountered.

  Tao and Gamma turned to face a hallway as one of the double doors they had struggled so hard to open coasted inwards with an electric hum. The doors held themselves ajar, and then the three others followed suit with similar buzzing.

  “There are a lot of permissions to sort through. For now, I gave everyone access to the building. Only Smith and the three of us have access to the elevator, though,” said Sela.

  People streamed through the doors into the new Guild Hall and Control Tower.

  Sela yelled, “If you can hear me, go collect everyone else. Grotto meeting right here, right now!”

  Rocky clenched his fists. There she went again, taking on the leadership role. He breathed out a sigh and shook his head. He knew he wouldn’t have come to that realization as quickly as she did. He couldn’t become a perfect leader with one pep talk.

  Some people turned around, jostling back through the crowd and conveying her orders to others.

  Rocky approached a kiosk and chose a quest for a town he didn’t recognize—Burk’s Fall. He had never been to Burk’s Fall and had no idea where it was geographically. He wanted to see if the system would guide parties to their destinations. Sure enough, a gold thread appeared in his interface, and he sighed with relief.

  ***

  The meeting took the place of the usual morning training, causing a stir among the citizens. Rocky and Sela explained the predicament of the surrounding towns and many of the hunters committed to help.

  Smith volunteered to organize the teams and coordinate. Mr. Pips tried to sneak away, and Smith grabbed his riding leathers, pulling him back.

  “Pips, I need you to get up to the Control Room and figure out what everything does.”

  “But, Smith, I can help out there. I am one of the strongest hunters in the village.”

  “You also know the groups of hunters better than anyone else. You are hands down the best choice for deciding which groups can handle this and which can’t. I also know that you loved rebuilding electronics and working with computers. Well, we have a room filled with them up there, and we need that expertise.”