by Tao Wong
I nod slowly, grimacing. Great. And the deal’s open-ended. The only advantage is that like any permanent alteration in the System, the major’s got to be paying for the contract through his Mana, so it’s not something he’d want to keep forever.
“All right, boy-o, up and at them. You need a bath,” Ali says after I’ve been sitting there for a bit.
“I…” I frown then shake my head. “No. Let’s head in. I think… I think I need some company.”
I slowly stand up and look back at the fort. Company, safety, perhaps a place to put my head down. The Hakarta aren’t likely to come back, but… tonight I’ll sleep in my house in Whitehorse.
Chapter 3
“John!” Xev chitters, hunched over and waving its claws in my face.
I plaster on a smile for Xev, looking it over. With six legs and a pair of three-fingered hands on a black, hairy body with a bulbous abdomen and front, Xev looks like a giant black spider with hands. It’s a little disconcerting, and the first time I saw it, I had to work really hard at not shooting it and I’m not even scared of spiders. It’s no wonder Xev mostly hides in its store.
“Is Sabre good?”
“Not bad, just some minor structural damage.” I gesture at the bike as I turn it off in the parking space outside Xev’s workshop.
Xev chitters angrily, waving me away before it starts prodding at Sabre. As Xev scrambles around the bike, fitting a variety of wires into various slots, it pokes at one of the armor points and peels the point away with its tools, staring at the insides of the bike. “This is old! You should bring it in faster next time. Even if your nanite upgrades fix the armor, the structural damage is still there.”
“Sorry,” I say automatically.
Really, the structural damage was so minor it didn’t seem to matter. Putting all that money into the Omnitron Class II Nanite Armor Upgrade has saved me a ton in repairs, even if the armor class didn’t go up. As Xev mutters to itself, I have to clear my throat to get its attention.
After a quick discussion, I leave Sabre with it for the evening and head for the butchering yard. The butchering yard is what used to be the old fire hall, a single-story sprawling building with wide barn doors that face onto the old prospector train tracks. The train tracks aren’t connected to anything anymore, and before the Apocalypse, they were mostly used to gouge tourists during the summer. The entire area from the fire hall to the old train station is part of the yard now, with the newly made compost piles making up the third portion of their rather smelly triangle next to the river.
Thankfully, low-level enchantments keep the wind blowing into the river, keeping the smells of butchered and rotting carcasses away from downtown Whitehorse. Occasionally a mage will come along and cast a Purge Disease spell to keep things sanitary. Or as sanitary as anything can be around here. Of course, sending all those lovely smells out across the river brings its own problems. They’ve recently had to add guards on the other side of the river to deal with the increased monster presence.
At the yard, I follow directions and watch as the bodies from my Altered Space are pulled apart, weighed, and portions of the body separated for both Sally, the town’s leading Alchemist, and Xev. As usual, I get a Quest completion with a small amount of experience and Credit bonus for turning in the meat, which is partly why I do so. The other reason is that while we’re doing well with food for now, come winter, food will be significantly more difficult to acquire. Even now, the city is desperately attempting to stock up for winter since we aren’t getting deliveries from down south anymore. I wonder how they’re doing down there?
Shaking my head, I dismiss the thought. Not really my problem. I watch the men and women swarm the bodies, harvesting the body parts and dumping them into carts, moving with grace and strength that would have been impossible even a few months ago. As I turn away, my eye is drawn to the futuristic, towering monstrosity of an office building that sits smack dab in the center of the city, its mirrored silvery appearance at odds with the quaint two-and three-story 1920s era commercial buildings of the town. That tower is one I know well—it’s where the Shop is, and where Lord Roxley resides and reigns over us all. Once upon a time I was a regular visitor there, till things fell apart. Once upon a time…
I shake my head, dismissing the matter. As I walk up Main Street, I notice that more and more buildings are coming back to life. We have a grocery store with handmade local luxuries, an armorer with locally crafted low-level armor pieces, a couple of competing alchemists, a trio of clothing stores, the Guild, the hotels that have been purchased, and of course, the only open pub in the city.
As always, the pub is noisy and busy. What kind of Adventurers would we be without a pub? It’s not as if the Yukon led Canada in the highest alcohol consumption per person. Or that our local brewing company was set up two weeks ago as one of the first major private enterprises.
I feel my lips twist as I stare at it, wry humor and irritation sparking alongside one another in my mind. I don’t even know why I’m angry… I shove it aside, bottling up the anger once again as I step into the establishment. The inside of the Nugget is all dark faux wood and worn, mismatched furniture. The Apocalypse came on fast, and rampaging monsters and panicked humans destroyed the old furniture sets. Now, it’s catch as catch can.
At eight in the evening, the Nugget is busy and noisy, filled with people resting, eating, and drinking after a long day’s work. Hunting parties sit together and dominate the room. A few craftsmen sit in their own groups. Skimpily dressed young women do most of the serving, dropping off beer, steaks, and fish and chips in large quantities. As I survey the inside, a waving hand catches my attention. Jason, a thin, weedy-looking teenager who looks way too young to be in here.
For a moment, I consider not going over. However, Jason hasn’t done anything to me and I do want to check up on the kid. I walk over, letting my gaze slide over the group with him. Richard, redheaded and dashing with a new young lady on his arm and Shadow, a pony-sized husky, curled up beside his feet. Mikito, her ever-present naginata resting against the wall behind her, a look of strained patience plastered on her face. Constable Mike Gadsby with his metal arm and tired eyes. The first two were my former party members; the last was one of the leaders of Carcross.
Jason Cope (Level 38 Elementalist)
HP: 230/230
Constable Mike Gadsby (Level 37 Guardian)
HP: 940/940
Mikito Sato (Level 32 Samurai)
HP: 530/530
Richard Pearson (Level 31 Beast Tamer)
HP: 250/250
I look around, spotting Rachel with the Brothers of the Wolf, the First Nation’s exclusive group of teenagers, and my eyes narrow. Did she quit to join them or…?
I shake my head as Jason pulls a chair to the table for me, squeezing it in so I can take a seat. My back is to the door, which makes me twitch slightly, but I’m the last to arrive, so beggars can’t be choosers. “Evening.”
“John, we wanted to ask Ali about something,” Jason says immediately, not even bothering to greet me.
A passing waitress drops a pint of beer on the table for me, assuming I’ll be drinking. No need for questions of what I’ll drink—it’s either water or beer here and I’m not drinking water.
“Questions are five Credits, answers are ten,” Ali says as he floats after one of the waitresses. “Toots, I need a drink too.”
I see the quick flash of irritation before the waitress’s face smooths out. She returns to drop a glass from her tray before she heads back to the bar, where the bartender works feverishly to keep up with the nonstop flow of orders.
“You drink?” I stare as Ali picks up the pint glass before chugging it down.
“I do now.” Ali smirks, clearly proud of himself.
Jason blinks at Ali before he shakes his head. “It’s about Stats, man. We’ve been talking about it and I’ve been charting the growth. It just doesn’t make sense. Like, I’ve got a Strength of 20 now. So tha
t should mean I’m, like, twice as strong as a normal human, or maybe double the peak? And I sure aren’t.
“Even dumber? The non-physical ones don’t even make sense. I’m smarter than before, but I’m not, you know, making physics breakthroughs. Richard’s all kinds of sexy and he’s getting laid like crazy, but so’s Mike. No offense, old man. But for the level of his Stats, I should be wanting to sleep with Richard and I ain’t. No offense.”
“None taken. I don’t do kids,” Richard replies, and the pixie-haired blonde next to him frowns, looking at Richard then Jason.
“So what the hell? I don’t get this shit,” Jason says.
“Ali, I got this,” I think to my friend. As the waitress comes up, I point at the chalkboard menu. “One of everything.”
Having delayed it long enough, I turn to Jason and grin, a little cruel streak popping up. “First, stop swearing. Your mom would be angry. Second, you sure you’re old enough to be drinking here?”
“Har, har. Funny. I was talking to Ali.” Jason prods at his nose in an attempt to adjust non-existent glasses.
I chuckle, leaning back, and pull a chocolate piece from my inventory. “Seriously though, I can answer this. It’s very simple—it’s the System.”
Richard groans and Mikito snorts, sipping on her beer. The others just look puzzled at the inside joke.
I elaborate. “The System’s the System. No use trying to figure it out. It doesn’t make sense.”
“Oh, come on! I know you said this isn’t a game, but we still need to understand!”
I grimace then glance at Ali, who sighs, putting his third pint down half-finished. He lets out a large burp before he waggles his fingers, a glowing blue screen appearing. It’s filled with symbols, circles, dashes, and dots that combine in distinct groupings much like Egyptian hieroglyphs. “Right, System basics 101. One hundred Credits. And I won’t ever give this talk again.”
“A hundred!” Jason sputters, glaring at Ali, who nods before Jason relents, sending over the payment.
“Good man. You see that? That’s what it actually says for ‘Strength.’ That’s in System,” Ali points. “That gets translated to this”—the screen shifts, the language changing to a series of scrawls now—“which is Galactic Script. That then gets translated to your respective human language. As you can guess, the translation is actually a lot more complex.
“When you increase your Strength attribute, you’re adjusting all of that. The change actually adjusts the way you manage Mana via the System. For example—Gadsby. You should have shattered the table and your pint glass by being that rough. After all, you probably could punch through steel right now. However, your Strength comes from the System. So the System alters the density and strength of things you interact with, thus, non-breaking tables and ground that can handle movement at speed. Hell, Mikito even bends beam weapons ever so slightly around her as she dodges. The System ‘helps’ all of you without you consciously knowing it.”
Jason opens his mouth then shuts it while Gadsby and the blonde look on in interest. Richard and Mikito look bored, having heard this before. Me? I just get to eating as the first plate arrives. Funny thing about adventuring—you end up eating a ton.
“So your points aren’t a straight line. They literally are a kind-of-approximate tool to let you understand the System better. The Council cobbled it together from the way you guys understand the System and what it’d bring about.
“As for Intelligence and the other intangibles, well, as I told John a long time ago, Intelligence increases don’t necessarily make you smarter. Physically, your brain has been altered a bit. But you can’t do higher physics because you never learnt the basics. You have faster neural processes, but if all you’ve done is fight, those new neural connections might help you think and react faster in a fight but that’s it. Also, don’t forget that much of those increases and changes are going to help you control and manipulate Mana itself.” Ali shrugs. “I’ve heard of a few people who have managed to become super-geniuses from increasing their intelligence, but most of them were already on the borderline anyway.”
Jason shakes his head, trying to put it together. “What are you saying? That Intelligence isn’t intelligence? That it’s more Mana pool?”
“Yes. No. Maybe,” Ali answers. “Look, think of it like your Earth computers. You got a motherboard—your body. Intelligence increases help adjust the motherboard and the RAM, increasing both. Sometimes it upgrades your motherboard, sometimes it upgrades the RAM. Sometimes it adds a new graphics card or new slots so you can plug in more things, like Psionic powers. However, you still need to run the right programs to make your computer work. That means getting the right Skills. Doesn’t matter how good a computer you have, if you’re doing 1+1, it’s still 1+1.”
Jason frowns then opens his mouth before shutting it. Kid’s trying to game the System again, just like he did when he started. Still, the fact that he’s filled out a bit and doesn’t look like a stiff breeze will send him over probably means he’s been putting points into something other than Intelligence. Which is good.
“How about Charisma? Am I sleeping with Richard because I want to or because he wants me to or because the System does?” the blonde queries, brow furrowed.
I push my plate aside and tackle the next one—a plate of cross-hatched ribs stewed in a really tasty barbecue sauce. Even as I dig in, I make sure to listen to this answer. I know I have… issues with that ability. It’s part of why I turned down Roxley. And Lana. I don’t like the idea of being told to like someone.
“Sort of.” Ali shrugs and opens his hand. “It’s the same answer. Yes, his Charisma trait makes him look better to you, makes his pheromones more powerful and enticing. No, it’s not directly affecting your emotions or thoughts. You need to use a Skill for that.” Left unsaid is the fact that a successful Skill use would leave no traces when it came to Social skills like that. “Maybe the System is affecting things to some degree. Then again, if Claudia Schiffer came along, I wouldn’t say no.”
The girl opens her mouth then shuts it, looking at Richard then back at Ali. Unconsciously, she edges away from Richard, putting space between them.
Richard rolls his eyes at Ali, mouthing, “Thank you,” as he leans back and folds his arms.
Mike, on the other hand, is frowning, rubbing his chin. I guess the question of consent really bites considering his former profession. Must be tough being one of two living constables in a couple of hundred kilometers.
I push my other plate aside, grabbing the third and last one, a bowl of stew. Not much choice yet, but what there is is good. As the others devolve into discussing details, forcing Ali to pull up descriptions and going into them line by line, I turn back to my own thoughts. One thing I don’t add is that it’s quite likely whoever created the System is purposely nerfing Intelligence. I’d lay good money down that whoever built this didn’t want a bunch of super-intelligences running around. After all, if we get too smart, we might figure out a way to survive without the System and that, I know, is something the creators don’t want. I’ve called the entire System a scam, and the more I read and learn, the more certain I am that it is. It’s like one of those multi-level marketing schemes where the moment you buy in, you have to keep buying in.
“Coming tomorrow?” Mikito says when she manages to catch my eye.
I blink, raising an eyebrow and she sighs.
“The Boss attacks?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I say.
She frowns, shooting a look at Richard, who has joined in the discussion. “That’s why Jason and Mike are here. We’re grouping up to take on some of the Bosses. You should have been invited.” Concern tinges her voice.
“I’m not exactly Mr. Popular around here.”
“I don’t care. Are you coming?”
I shrug. “No idea.” I lean back as I push the stew aside, wiping my face before sipping on my drink. “Maybe. You guys probably can handle it.”
“It’d be good for you. For us.” She sighs. “Fine, you baka.”
Yeah, well… I don’t really see a point. I don’t owe the city anything, not anymore. And whatever she thinks, my presence might cause more problems than I fix. As she falls silent, shrinking back into her seat, I listen in on the conversation. It’s moved on, thankfully, from the System to town gossip, and I make sure to pay attention. After all, you never know what I might learn, and I’m getting paid now. I think.
“Lana,” I greet the redheaded stunner as I walk into my house.
She’s tucked away in the kitchen, waving at screens only she can see. Richard and Mikito left the pub hours ago, both of them heading home to get some rest for their big day tomorrow. I have to admit, I was kind of glad to see them go. While I might not hold much animosity toward them, the camaraderie we had is now strained. By the time I decided to leave, I was getting more than a few dirty looks from the tired bar staff as they worked to clear up for the evening.
Lana looks up, and Richard’s sister, as always, takes my breath away. Piercing bright blue eyes that turn green and violet in certain lights, and her version of a uniform—a simple blouse and pair of jeans—does nothing to hide her ample curves. There are people in this life who, if you’re real lucky, you have that inexplicable “it” with. Call it chemistry, call it a biological urge, some even call it love, but there’s an instantaneous attraction. As Lana smiles at me, I can’t help but think it only took the end of the world for me to meet not one but two such individuals at the same damn time. Of course, it would require the end of the world to meet a Truinnar like Roxley. All in all, it’s about about par for the course with my luck.
