POWERLESS

by Antony W. F. Chow

  Smoothing his face, Odiene turned to face Schmendrick. "We built a robot replica of the dune worm and it needs to be tested in simulated combat." He then turned toward Malkus. "Your friend will not be in danger if that is your worry. The system will intervene to prevent the replica from inflicting serious injuries. I'm ordering you to take Schmendrick to the simulation room," Odiene commanded. "Now, go!"

  Malkus stood up and bowed deeply. "Let's go," he said quietly.

  Schmendrick bowed to the Headmaster and then followed Malkus out of the office.

  Malkus led the newcomer to the end of the corridor and opened the red door. A bright light shone into the dark corridor. He exited the building.

  When he stepped through the doorway, Schmendrick was surprised to discover that he had left the academy building through a back door.

  Malkus continued walking. This time he was heading toward a large warehouse that was four stories tall. When the guide opened the front door and entered, Malkus was accosted by a white ball.

  "Please state your name and purpose for entry," the metallic voice demanded.

  "Greetings, Warehouse Manager. I am Malkus. With me is Schmendrick. He has been assigned by Headmaster Odiene to test the replica of the dune worm in simulated combat," the Gifted answered.

  The white ball connected to the system and retrieved Schmendrick's file. "Assignment confirmed. Schmendrick may enter. Malkus will leave at once," the ball ordered.

  Malkus turned to face Schmendrick. "Well, I guess I'll be seeing you soon." He waved goodbye and left the building.

  "Please follow me," the white ball instructed and started flying deeper into the warehouse. The ball headed for the basement. When Schmendrick arrived on this floor, after two flights of stairs, the ball activated the replica dune worm.

  The teenager was amazed at the size of the monster. It was at least fifty feet long! How was he supposed to fight this monstrous thing?

  The dune worm slithered on the ground at an unbelievable speed. When it was close to the boy, the upper half of the giant worm rose off the ground. The head of the giant worm opened, revealing rows of sharp teeth. Abruptly, it dove straight for Schmendrick to engulf him whole!

  The teenager dove out of the way and fearlessly ran toward its body. He stabbed at the worm with his dagger but the outer scale proved too hard to breach.

  The dune worm dove again, forcing Schmendrick to roll away.

  The teenager continued to run forward and soon he reached the worm's tail. Purely on instinct, he stabbed both daggers into the tail. A green text appeared over the wound: "-33% Vitality."

  The worm spasmed and screeched in pain. It tried to slither the vulnerable tail away.

  However, Schmendrick refused to let it escape. Ruthlessly, he continued following the tail end of the dune worm and stabbing at the tail. "-33% Vitality." "-33% Vitality."

  Suddenly, sparks broke out from the interior of the replica. Smoke started emitting from the worm's mouth. The dune worm shuddered and abruptly ceased movement, landing on the floor with a giant "THUD!"

  Green text floated in front of Schmendrick: "Dune worm replica defeated. +5,000 points."

  The white ball returned to the floor. "Congratulations on defeating the replica dune worm. Invaluable data has been collected from this combat session. The system has authorized me to distribute your experience points. Please assign your attribute points now."

  The Reborn called up his menu screen. Schmendrick saw that he had gained another character level and assigned the 20 attribute points to Physical; the score was now 140 points.

  The Warehouse Manager hummed softly and then a green portal opened. "Please head to the Charging Station," the metallic voice ordered.

  Schmendrick stepped through the portal.

  * * *

  Schmendrick found himself in a room full of Reborn. They were standing in several lines. The teenager peered over people's heads to see what was at the front of the line. He saw a large blue crystal that glowed as the Reborn approached, one by one, and pressed his or her hand against the crystal. "What's that?" he asked the person standing behind him.

  An older man looked at him. "You're new here?" Seeing a nod, the man continued. "We Gifted are required to charge these Power Generators with our Aether. We charge them three times per day before each meal. No charging means no food for us." The man leaned closer to Schmendrick. "It's a dirty little secret of how Rezdi City stays alive. By using the Gifted to recharge its power generators."

  "Does it hurt?" the teenager asked.

  The man made a face. "Sometimes, I get a dizzy spell when my Aether is drained. But I've never fainted." He chuckled.

  Schmendrick waited for about a half-hour until he reached the large crystal. He noticed guards standing next to the crystal. He reached out with his right hand and touched it. The crystal felt warm to the touch. But nothing happened.

  Suddenly, an alarm blared. "UNAUTHORIZED ENTRY! A POWERLESS IS PRESENT!" a metallic voice announced.

  The guards started looking around until their eyes laid on Schmendrick. Suddenly, they realized why the crystal was not glowing upon his touch. "Seize him!" a guard pointed a finger at Schmendrick.

  Purely on instinct, the teenager ducked and eluded a tackle by a guard sneaking in from behind. Schmendrick tripped the man and pushed him into the other guards. Then the teenager ran for the exit, pushing the Gifted out of his way. Once he left the building, the fugitive turned his head back and forth to assess his environment. He was standing on a street; the building behind him was a silver dome. To his left, he saw sails. To his right, he saw the academy. Schmendrick quickly decided to head left. To cross the sea and try to reach The Shar. He ran toward the sails.

  The guards burst out of the exit behind him and started chasing the teenager.

  However, Schmendrick proved to be faster than any of the guards following him. Finally, the fugitive dove off the pier and into the water. He started swimming out to the sea.

  Part III - Scavenger

  3.1 - Drifter

  "Why am I such a fucking idiot?" Schmendrick asked himself this question for the thousandth time. He replayed the scenario again in his mind. He was sent to the Charging Station by mistake. The warehouse manager apparently didn't know the teenager was a Powerless and that Schmendrick wasn't supposed to be there. So he touched the lousy crystal and it didn't glow. The guards were then ordered to capture him. What harm would it have done if Schmendrick allowed himself to be captured?

  Yet, his instincts had told him to run. The revelation that the Gifted were being used as battery chargers by the system was supposed to be kept a secret from the Powerless. Schmendrick was not supposed to learn of this. There were serious consequences from acquiring this knowledge, this dirty little secret of the system. The most likely outcome being that he will be executed once captured. Or they will tamper with his brain chip or even his brain to excise the memory of the Charging Station from his mind. Since he didn't want these things to happen to him, he ran. There was only one place he could go and escape from the system: The Shar.

  When Schmendrick thought more about the way The Noob Academy was set up to make it easy for the newly Reborn to reach Level 5, it made sense now. The sooner the noobs reached Level 5 and were Evaluated by the Testing Center, the sooner they could potentially turn into the Gifted. The more Gifted Reborn became part of Rezdi City, the more batteries the system had to keep everything running smoothly. Schmendrick wondered how long this system had been in place: For decades? Centuries? Millennia?

  Furthermore, the Priest-King was an equal partner in this scheme. He was systematically replacing the Powerless with Reborn who had the potential to become the Gifted by refusing to resurrect the deceased Powerless. Otherwise, why wouldn't he resurrect a useful mechanic like Drey? But if Drey wasn't generating power for the city, then he was worthless in the eyes of the system. Even though Drey's skill as a mechanic was sorely needed by residents of the Recovered Land.

  "Oka
y, break's over!" the teenager said aloud. He had been drifting in the sea for God knew how long. From Ruffus' brief lesson on the subject at The Noob Academy, The Shar was supposed to exist beyond the sea. That was the only option left to him. He couldn't go back to Rezdi City or the Recovered Land. If he returned, the system will assign Reborn to hunt Schmendrick down and kill him.

  It would not surprise Schmendrick if the system chose Powerless hunters who were close to reaching Level 10. The 20k+ experience points from his death would then be distributed to the hunters, and they would be Evaluated a second time for suitability as Gifted. Wouldn't that be the ultimate irony?

  Schmendrick was now an outcast. He could only move forward. That meant heading to The Shar and becoming a Scavenger. However, to cross the sea and reach The Shar meant swimming because he had no access to a boat. Nor did he have any sailing skills for that matter. Thus, Schmendrick treated this task of swimming across the sea as something similar to running 50 laps around the gym. It meant pacing himself. He alternated between swimming and drifting in the water to rest. Schmendrick continued swimming until he felt tired again. And then he drifted.

  When day turned into night, Schmendrick refused to sleep because he was afraid that something in the water may attack him and he needed to remain alert in order to defend himself. Instead, he continued with the swim-or-drift cycle regardless of day or night. After four nights, Schmendrick finally saw landfall.

  The teenager was hungry, thirsty, and tired. The only thing that kept him moving was his iron will, his refusal to die out in the sea. He WILL reach The Shar. He WILL start a new life as a scavenger of the ruins. He WILL find food and shelter. He WILL survive. Schmendrick took a deep breath and willed his arms to move. He began to swim. He started slowly but picked up his pace after a minute or two. He swam at a steady pace for countless hours until he finally reached the shore.

  Schmendrick was too exhausted to pull himself up. His arms and legs refused to obey his commands. Left with no other option, he used his chin and his torso to wiggle like a worm out of the water. When he finally succeeded in pulling his body out of the water, he collapsed in exhaustion.

  * * *

  "Kiddo, today I'm going to introduce you to your new best friend. Now pull aside this curtain!" grandpa ordered.

  The kid was standing in the basement of their house. A curtain partitioned the basement in half. He pushed the thick curtain aside and saw a wooden figure with small wooden sticks protruding out. "What is this thing?" He was not impressed.

  "It's an authentic Wing Chun wooden dummy, young man. I had to pay a pretty penny for it. I'm going to be away on a business trip for a week. In the meantime, I need you to practice your attacks on this dummy. When I return, I expect to see it ripped to shreds. You got that kiddo?" the man said.

  "Yes, grandpa," the boy sighed.

  The man stared at his grandson. "Well? Start practicing already!"

  In a huff, the boy grabbed his practice knives from the table and started attacking the dummy.

  * * *

  Schmendrick slowly opened his eyes. He was staring at an unfamiliar night sky. He noticed a flickering campfire nearby. Suddenly, he realized that someone had put a warm blanket over his body. In spite of himself, the teenager moaned. His body was still exhausted from his improbable journey out in the sea. His heart started beating rapidly as he recalled the life-threatening experience and how he managed to survive. A part of him wanted to scream at the top of his lungs. But the emotional wall held up and his mouth stayed shut.

  "You're finally up, kid?" a raspy voice called out.

  Schmendrick rose from the ground and looked at his surroundings. To his surprise, he discovered that he was no longer at the beach with sand around him. Instead, he was surrounded by rocks. "Where am I?" he asked, pausing after each word because talking was exhausting to him.

  "You're at my campsite. My name is Kanorell. And you are?" the voice replied.

  "Schmendrick," the teenager replied. He took a good look at his rescuer. The man was older, in his fifties or sixties. His skin was dried, patchy, and dark from spending too much time in the sun. He wore spectacles. His brown hair was receding from the side. "Thank you for rescuing me."

  "Don't thank me yet," Kanorell replied darkly and held up a gun for the boy to see. "Tell me how you got here," he asked in a sharp tone of voice.

  "I swam."

  "From where?"

  "Rezdi City."

  "WHAT!" The old man looked at the boy incredulously. However, Kanorell remembered the condition he had found the boy: wet, exhausted, and unconscious on the beach. Reluctantly, he put the gun away. After all, the boy was too weak to put up a fight with the man and therefore, the boy wasn't a threat. "Have some soup," the man said. The rescuer slowly approached the boy and handed the bowl to him.

  "Thank you," Schmendrick replied and began to drink straight from the bowl. He was not intimidated by the gun. Nor was he upset at the fact that the rescuer had pointed it at him. If the man's intentions were dark, Schmendrick wouldn't be alive and breathing right now. Furthermore, there was a connection between his rescuer and Rezdi City. Schmendrick noticed the glimmer in the man's eyes when the teenager mentioned the city. He hoped to gain Kanorell's trust and convince the old man to reveal his connection. In any case, the teenage boy did not wish to turn his rescuer into an enemy.

  "Slowly, kid," Kanorell cautioned. "If you're telling me the truth, you might have been out in the sea for a week. I don't know how you survived without any food or water. Your stomach will need time to readjust to food. Even if is a simple soup," he noted.

  The teenager nodded and forced himself to slow down. He hadn't realized he was starving until the first gulp of the bland tasting soup hit his stomach. He finished the soup a few minutes later. "I was telling the truth. I swam from Rezdi City," he said.

  "Why?" the man asked with a neutral expression.

  Schmendrick looked him in the eyes. "The guards were chasing me." Seeing a nod from the man to continue, the boy said, "I saw something I wasn't supposed to see and the system ordered my capture. I jumped into the water in order to elude capture. They were going to kill me. I decided to swim across the sea and try to reach The Shar."

  Kanorell stared at him for a long moment. Finally, he nodded. "I don't know why but I believe you. I can't think of any reason why you would lie to me. And I've never seen you before, either." The old man decided not to press the boy regarding what he said. There was plenty of opportunities to ask in the near future. Additionally, the old man could use an ally. Especially a strong kid like Schmendrick.

  "Where am I?" the boy asked.

  The man smiled. "You have reached The Shar."

  3.2 - The Shar

  Schmendrick looked at his surroundings again. This time he looked more closely. The rocks nearby did not look natural. They appeared to be charred and blackened due to a fire. "Are we in the ruins?" he asked.

  Kanorell grinned. "What did they teach you about The Shar at The Noob Academy?" he asked.

  The boy took a moment to recall the lesson which mentioned The Shar briefly. "It's supposed to be a wasteland. And buried within are ruins of an ancient civilization," he answered.

  The man nodded. "I'm part of an expedition sent by the system to search for technology remaining in the ancient ruins in The Shar. I was an archaeologist in my past life. Originally, there were three of us. Unfortunately, we encountered a dune worm and I was the only survivor." The pain and horror of his encounter with the dune worm burned a deep hole in the man's heart.

  Schmendrick said, "I'm sorry."

  "Me, too," Kanorell sighed loudly. "This place used to be a village for workers building the nearby pyramid. The village was destroyed by a fire a long time ago. But the dune worms do not come here near the water. It's a relatively safe place to stay for the night aside from the giant snakes and scorpions that wander into camp on occasion. Which is why I have a loaded gun to chase them off. My sailboat is on the be
ach and I go there daily to make sure it's still there. It's my transport to cross the sea and return home. I happened to come across your body on the beach. You were wet like a dog and unconscious but still breathing. When I discovered that you were still alive, I decided to bring you back to my camp. I hope I'm not making a mistake," he said.

  "No, you're not," the boy replied. "Are you a Gifted or a Powerless?" he asked quietly.

  "Powerless," Kanorell replied.

  "Me, too," Schmendrick said. "I was sent to Rezdi City for a special assignment and while there, I saw something I wasn't supposed to see."

  The man immediately held up his hands. "DON'T TELL ME WHAT YOU SAW!" he yelled nervously. "I don't want to know. Please," he begged. Kanorell did NOT want to be hunted down like the boy was. No information was worth his life.

  The teenager nodded his head slowly. A part of him was very disappointed in the man's cowardice. Schmendrick felt that the Powerless needed to know that the system was exploiting the Reborn. The Gifted was treated no better than the Powerless. If the Powerless learned of this and convinced the Gifted to join the rebellion, they may be able to force the system to make changes to improve the lives of the Reborn. Either that or the system will kill off all the rebels. Which, the teenager had to admit, was the more likely outcome because the Priest-King will simply bring in several new batches of Reborn to replace the rebels. Perhaps, the Powerless was better off not knowing after all. "Are we still connected to the system?"

  "No," Kanorell shook his head. "We're too far away right now. However, I do plan to return home eventually. When I do, the system will reconnect to the brain chip inside my head. It will see my memories, including my encounter with you. If you're in trouble with the system, I don't want to be a part of it. But while we're both here in The Shar, I would like you to stay with me and help me with my excavation work at the pyramid. That's not too much to ask for saving your life, is it?"

  "No, it's not," Schmendrick smiled faintly. "I can be your bodyguard and protect you."