by Tao Wong
After playing with the other options, I pull the one that I’m most interested in.
Structural Upgrades Available for 89 Alsek Rd.
Security
Structural
Utilities
Décor
Miscellaneous
I’d love to look at Security a bit more, I’m sure there’re fun things to have but funds are limited and Utilities make more sense. I pull it up and after scanning the information available find what I want. An atmospheric hydro generation machine that connects directly to our existing plumbing, providing both drinkable water and showers. Cheap too at less than 2,000 Credits after I add the upgrades to make it possible to produce hot water.
Nothing seems to happen after I confirm the prompt and for a moment, I wonder if nothing actually happened. A quick check shows that the upgrade is there, but then I notice the rather annoying notation that the generator would need a few hours to fill the tanks.
Well, that sucks.
I sigh and head back upstairs, holding my towel and rifle in one hand. Cold bath it is. In the kitchen, Lana is hard at work making a meal and I pause long enough to let her know about the recent changes. She stops chopping up her vegetables, staring at me in silence and I have to repeat what I say before she acknowledges it. Guess she was concentrating pretty hard on finishing dinner.
Cold. The water in the rain barrel is cold. I shiver, toweling off quickly and glad that this is my last cold bath. When I get inside, towel wrapped around my waist, Lana calls me over before I can get dressed.
“One second, let me get dressed,” I reply but she snorts and waves me over.
“Food’s ready now. Just sit down. I have something to talk to you about,” Lana gestures to the table and after a moment’s hesitation, I comply. The lady can cook after all. Whatever she has to say, it gets set aside as we delve a bit deeper into what I was up to, Lana asking a few probing questions about Carcross and the fort.
“That’s pretty interesting.” She smiles slightly, turning her glass of plain water in hand as she peers at me over its rim. “It seems they’ve gone down a more community model of development, where everyone is working together.” At my nod, she continues; “Won’t work here though. Too many people.”
I raise an eyebrow and she waves her hand, speaking; “Barter and community systems like that break down over time due to the lack of personal bonds between all participants. It’s fine when the community is small, but in a larger community, there is nothing to stop free riders from derailing the system.”
Seeing my raised eyebrow, Lana explains, “Business major with a minor in Economics. Richard dealt with customers, I dealt with the books. We both took care of the dogs of course.”
“Doesn’t explain why people aren’t doing anything though,” I grumble as I remember the large swaths of people just sitting around the schools.
“They are, you just don’t see it,” Lana explains and then shrugs. “What we have is a lot of manpower, but no resources. Most of what we had before doesn’t work and though some have Skills, they don’t have the tools or resources to actually do anything. The only people with any Credits are the hunters and most of their money is being devoted to upgrading weapons and themselves.”
I grunt, acknowledging her point, “Kind of hard not to, what with death being the alternative if you are one of the hunters.”
“Oh, it’s understandable but it’s not true for all,” she points to the sink and continues. “You just spent what? A few thousand Credits on getting hot water? What if you had used that money to buy a basic toolkit and passed on some of the materials like those Ant carapaces? They’d be able to start training their skills just like Carcross.”
I grimace, wondering what it is with people making me feel like a selfish idiot. I risked my life for the guns, for the Credits. Shouldn’t I deserve something for it? Still, I hadn’t even thought about her point either.
“Nope. Not happening toots,” Ali focuses and begins visible, floating next to me. Lana reacts poorly, screaming and falling off her chair to which Ali giggles a bit over. It takes a few minutes to get her to calm down and to explain who he is before we can return to the conversation.
“It’s all puppy dogs and rainbows, but we’re not giving away shit for free. First rule of living in the System, it’s all about me,” Ali waggles a finger at her.
“Did I say anything about charity? It doesn’t work, not in the long run,” Lana replies bitingly, glaring back at the foot and a half tall brown man.
“So what are you thinking?” Ali says.
“Microloans,” Lana replies promptly.
“Ooooh… I like you. John, keep this one. She’s got great tits and a brain!”
I roll my eyes at that and Lana, after realising that she can’t actually hit the Spirit, starts expounding on her point. I check out at that point, going to get dressed. I did not survive the Apocalypse to listen to economic theory or whatever the heck they are discussing now. I’d rather watch paint dry.
Problem is, staring around my suite I realise I’m at the same point as I was before I left. Not a lot to do these days and I can feel the edges of my emotions, my worries worrying at me. I should really spend some time, think and feel. I take a deep breath, closing my eyes and trying to open the boxes and realise that I don’t really know where to start. I shut the boxes tight, but it’s not as if I have a key, that I can just switch off the blocking and it comes back to me. I prod at it cautiously and realise I’m not sure how to do this, not without tearing the entire thing down and I can’t, won’t, do that. Too much, too fast.
I flex my hands, staring into space and then take a deep breath, exhaling. Alright, find something to do.
Outside in the backyard, I shoo the dogs aside and begin. It’s strange trying to practise a fighting form that doesn’t really require you to hold on to a sword. It’s entirely different from the memories and skills I’ve purchased from the Shop, so much so that the forms that I practise don’t really seem appropriate. Without an enemy to work with, it seems strange to attempt to swing the sword and make it disappear and appear at unseen enemies. Eventually, I settle on splitting my practise in two parts – firstly, on recreating one of the fights of an actual Erethan Honor Guard to mimic as a form and secondly, on practising calling forth the weapon and making it disappear at speed, switching hands as I do so.
When Ali and Lana are done, they come to the backyard and Ali just starts laughing while Lana has the grace to at least attempt to hide her giggles. I know exactly what I look like, a crazed man spinning and swinging around his hands, only occasionally catching and grabbing the weapon that appears out of thin air. Calling a soulbound weapon into being when still is easy. However, calling a weapon requires me to specify the exact location and it can only be within a certain distance from my body so I have to understand not only where my hand is going to be but how long it’ll take for the sword to appear. Add the fact that I can start moving in all 3 directions and things start getting complicated.
Overall, it’s been a frustrating couple of hours so when Ali asks to speak with me alone, I’m more than happy to comply. Rather than elaborate on what he and Lana were cooking up, other than the fact that he’d be using some of my Credits, he instead wants to talk about magic.
“We’re level 10 now. That means I can share my Elemental Affinity with you, if you’d like to learn it,” Ali speaks, hesitant for once.
“More magic? Of course!” I grin, dismissing the sword and looking excitedly at Ali. Nice. I’ve been wanting to get a new spell from the Shop, but this would be even better.
“An elemental affinity,” corrects Ali.
“What’s the difference?” I ask him, eager to learn and a bit annoyed at the pedantry.
“Magic as you currently wield it is just using Mana to have the System create the effect for you. That’s why you had to get Mana Manipulation before you could learn your healing spell. Each spell is like a ready meal and the Mana you put
into it is the energy you need to cook it,” Ali says.
“Yeah, still not seeing the difference.”
“If you’d just shut up for a moment,” Ali says and then continues, “Using Mana isn’t the only way to use magic though. Spirits like myself are made of the elements, the forces that dictate the world. It’s like gravity – just because there’s a spell that can affect gravity doesn’t mean there wasn’t gravity before the System came along. An Elemental Affinity means you have a connection, an access point to manipulate that element directly without learning spells. You don’t need to use Mana anymore to do it, though most do.”
I raise an eyebrow at the last and Ali shrugs, “It’s easier. Imposing your will on the elements directly is like shifting a car with your bare hands. You can do it if you’re strong enough, but isn’t it easier to just use a lever? Mana is the lever in this case.”
“Okay. Sounds great. Let’s do it,” I continue on, wondering what is up with him.
“Chill John. Not all Elements work well with others and creating an affinity with one element might mean you lose access to others. Maybe all of them if the conflict is too great. And there’s no way to tell for sure,” Ali explains. “It really depends on the individual.”
“What’s your affinity?”
“Electromagnetic force.”
“Umm…” I pause, staring at Ali. Well, electricity then – which explains Ali’s preference for energy weapons and his coveralls. Still, “Lightning?”
Ali rolls his eyes at that, just giving up and walking away with his hands in the air shouting, “God damn corporeals. I say electromagnetic force and. Every. Single. Time. It’s Lightning Bolts or Electric Shocks. Get some fucking education.”
I blink, watching the Spirit walk away and then just disappear. I scratch my head, wondering what the hell has gotten into him. Fuck. Well, that ended just dandy. I sigh, staring at the sky and then stretch, walking back to the gardens.
Fine. Fuck him. I’ll just keep training then.
Chapter 11
The next morning, I’m up well before Lana. At Ali’s insistence, we head out to ‘get some mats’ for Lana in the surrounding low-level region. Clad in Sabre, running and bouncing through the woods at Ali’s directions against these low-level animals is actually quite relaxing. None of them can actually do damage to me inside my armor so I can practise my burgeoning style to my hearts contents.
The guards at F.H. Collins are rather surprised when I start bringing back my kills, dropping off the various mutated animals for the cookpot. Ground squirrels, a couple of wolverines, various hares, a pair of foxes, marmots and shrews are all the recognisable animals, even if they are at the minimum the size of a big dog. Then there are groups of creatures that I’ve never seen before, creatures with 3 legs or 7, with a dozen eyes or none, furred, scaled, sometimes both or with carapaces. Interestingly enough, I begin to notice that the plants are beginning to transform too, growing thicker and wider as well as adding defenses to protect themselves. Even our usual pines mutate, the sap becoming thicker and stickier – I found one particularly unlucky hare stuck to a pine, unable to move with the sap beginning to congeal around it and liquefy its flesh. Seems like the peaceful, easy going hikes of pre-System life are gone.
On my last trip in a female guard walks up to me. Tall, wide, with dirty blonde hair, she could easily be put in a pioneer dress and get away with it and clomps her way to me to prove it. She gives off the vibe of tough competence and the remainder of her RCMP uniform speaks of previous experience. That and her Level of 14.
“Thank you. This is going to help a lot. Though I’m not sure that’s edible,” Amelia Olmstead gestures to the most recent carcass that I have dropped off. It’s spiky and a lurid blue and missing its claws and seems to have a weird rubbery thing around its face for its eyes.
“It should be,” I glance at Ali who gives a nod back. “Seems like the System makes sure that most animals are now edible to each other. If you avoid the poison sacs – and I’ve got those out already.”
Amelia falls silent digesting the information. I take the chance to ask something that’s been bugging me, “So, what happened to the emergency services personnel? You’re the first RCMP member I’ve seen in Whitehorse.”
Her eyes darken at that and she looks down, her words a whisper; “Most of the others are dead. There was a monster a few days after it started, this rock thing. We tried to kill it, but guns didn’t hurt it much and hitting it just didn’t do anything. We… I… ” she stops, forcing back a sob.
I bite my lip and put a hand on her shoulder for a moment and she doesn’t push it away, shivering before she looks up at me, eyes filled with unshed tears. “I hate this world.”
“Don’t we all,” I agree with her, though a part of me wonders. It’s kind of been fun, especially the fighting. At least when I’m fighting, I don’t have to think and there’s a thrill to it, a rush that makes me feel well and truly alive.
Amelia smiles at me again, pulling away from my arm and then bends down, grabbing the blue creature by its tail and hefting it. “Thank you again.”
I nod and watch her walk off for a moment before heading back to the house to enjoy the luxury of a warm shower. Ali goes to Lana’s room to ‘report on our excursion’ but the glint in his eye makes me think he has other motivations. I consider going after him, only to deal with him of course, but I dismiss the idea after a moment. It’s not as if he can’t go spy on her when I’m asleep either after all. Seriously, how can a sexless spirit be such a pervert?
Shower done, it’s time for me to meditate again. No skipping more than one day of this, otherwise, I’m sure I’m going to have problems. Strange that such a simple thing is so important to my stability. I spend over an hour, sitting and breathing and find that by the time I’m done, Lana has left with my materials and nearly all my Credits.
“You know, I’m not entirely comfortable with this taking my stuff without my permission thing you’ve got going on here,” I eye Ali and he snorts, waggling his finger at me.
“Spirit companion. Can’t do anything that could harm you,” he reminds me.
“Yeah, I recall an Ant. And a bee. And that weird plant thing,” I reply.
“The first two were for your own good. You needed to level,” Ali points out.
“And the last?”
“It was hilarious?” Ali grins and then holds his hand up horizontally, waggling it side to side. “Rules are a little shaky on non-lethal amusements.”
I stare at him, not sure if he’s joking or just telling the truth. I sigh after a moment, rolling my eyes and head out after finishing the meal Lana set aside for me. Time to finish my escort quest and make some more money. It seems some things hold true - money or Credits, they never last long.
Unfortunately, my plan of a nice and easy ride back followed by more hunting is interrupted by that annoying thing called humans. In this case, it’s Jim with my escort standing together waiting. At their insistence, I’m brought into another boardroom to have a chat. Really. Boardrooms? More of them?
When I get in, there is quite a bit of a crowd. There are Jim and Badger – sorry, no laughing, it’s a traditional name – sitting together on the left and in the center, a cluster of six boomers, four men and two women arrayed facing the door and me. In addition, both Richard and Mikito are here along with Nicodemus and that woman clustered together on the right with some of the other hunters. Interesting, the fact that all the boomers have a non-combat class with class levels ranging from a level 8 Minion to a level 12 Dealmaker.
“Mr Lee, thank you for coming. We understand you’ve been very busy and we were hoping we could have some words with you about your recent actions,” the man in the middle, slimy and overweight breaks the silence. Mr Slimy and overweight looks really familiar…
“You’re the ex-Mayor right?”
“I am the duly-elected Mayor of Whitehorse, yes;” Fred Curteneau says, leaning forwards with a smile on his fa
ce that makes me need another bath. “The council and I would be grateful for any help you could provide.”
“Boy, this looks real fun doesn’t it?” Ali asks rhetorically to me as he yawns, lounging on a bean bag and floating next to me.
Out of the corner of my eyes, I spot Luthien smile at Fred’s words, absently running a finger along her cheek. Next to her, Nic just stays silent while I spot Mikito waggling her fingers at what is likely her Status Screen. At least someone’s getting some use out of this time.
“Of course,” I reply, deciding not to commit to anything. This isn’t going to be good either way, but let’s see how this plays out.
“Well, let’s start with your report on Haines Junction. I understand you informed one of the Raven Circle members that it has been destroyed entirely?”
“Yes. A group of Ogres had entered the town and killed all the residents,” I pause then continue, trying to tread lightly here. “They were killed off after that and I managed to bury what bodies I could find.”
“And you somehow gained access to the Shop in Haines Junction and purchased a working motorcycle at that time,” short and florid next to the Mayor whines.
“Yes,” my eyes narrow at the unsubtle accusation.
“How… convenient,” shorty continues to whine. I ignore his name for now though I wonder why anyone would take the class ‘Minion’. If they don’t want to introduce themselves, that’s fine. I’ll give them a name myself.
“It was, wasn’t it?” within me, I can feel a little bit of anger pulsing through me, attempting to escape the restrictions I’ve placed on it and my other emotions. Anger – the one emotion I always had trouble handling. Love, compassion, sadness, I could always contain those. Anger somehow had a way of bubbling up, escaping, drowning me in it. Perhaps as another ex had pointed out, I just had too much anger to contain.