by Prax Venter
“As the Town grows in Levels, new Townsfolk have a chance to spawn at the gates.” She talked about people spawning as if she were talking about how bus routes worked. “Demons spawn in Corruption, Townsfolk spawn at the gates.”
“It’s really that simple,” Ryea added, nodding.
Lex continued. “In a few Levels, we’ll push the Corruption back enough to connect to other Towns- that is, if the influence of any are near enough. For all we know we’re the last city out there.”
Ryea playfully slapped Lex’s shoulder. “Stop that nonsense. We’d know it if there was a fallen Tower nearby.”
“Where did he come from though?” Jack asked, trying to keep the answers on target. They always started as if he already knew what they were talking about and seemed to struggle when pressed for details.
Lex got that dark look on her face when he started to force her to question the nature of her reality. Unlike before, the frustrated expression passed quickly, and she turned her bright golden eyes into his.
“I really don’t know. It’s never really been important.”
Jack shrugged. “I mean, I’m glad he’s here. More hands to fight and build, and all that, but he just came into existence today? At that age? Does he have memories of a past life?”
“Careful, Jack,” Alt whispered in his mind. “Now that I have scanned Reno’s NPC dataset, I can see some of how the rules work. I can explain later, but you might not want to go down this road too far with Lex. At least not at this moment…”
“No,” she said, distant as she turned to look at the Townsfolk in question. Jack followed her gaze to the bar and saw Demi let out a tinkle of light laughter at something Reno said. She seemed to be digging the guy. Lex continued. “Some people are born, like Haylee. Some arrive by boat or by cart, and some spawn at the gate.”
“And some come spilling out of the Tower,” Ryea added, slapping her hand on the table loudly. Jack blinked at her, startled out of his thoughts, but saw she was looking over his shoulder. “That got her moving,” the famished Farmer whispered, clearly distracted by the lack of speedy service.
Jack grinned at Ryea and sighed. “Never mind, I love the quirks of your world. Besides, we’ve got new Abilities to check out. And Lex, I’d really like to look at mine.”
She gave him a warm smile. “Okay, you go first. And then I’ll tell you one of mine.”
“Okay, gotcha,” he said, then quickly opened his Paths interface.
PATH: Dimensional Blade [2]
► Double Strike - [Activated | 5 Mana | Main-Hand Damage x2]
~ Your blade becomes a blur attacking the target twice in a single moment.
► Omni Strike - [Activated Charge x 1 | 10 Mana | 20 second recharge | Main Hand damage dealt to every visible enemy | 100% Hit chance | 0% Crit Chance]
~ You are everywhere at once.
PATH: Data Mining [2]
► Mining Laser - [Channeled | 2 Mana/Second | Main Hand Damage + Hero Level /Second]
~ skill.activation(rewrite_v1.58) include{ error.correction(target, !total, local) unif
PATH: Data Summoning [12,358/15,000]
► Call Alt – [Activated | Once per Entrance | read.Mainhand(remote deletion pr)]
~ Summon ARV Alternis to help you fight.
► Alter Alt – [Activated | Once per Floor]
~ I’ll take the form of a chosen Monster previously defeated by Mining Laser
Jack was smiling from ear to ear as he fought the urge to jump up on to the table and dance a jig.
“Looks like a good one,” Lex said, pulling his attention off his floating interface. “Please remember not to use it on me this time as you explain it.”
“He did what?” Ryea said, her eyes wide.
“Oookay,” Jack said, ignoring the outraged Farmer. “Here we go. It’s called Omni Strike. Costs 10 mana and has a 20-second cooldown. When activated, I get a guaranteed melee hit on all enemies I can see.”
Lex’s dark eyebrows almost shot off her head. “Everything… you can see?”
“That’s what it says. If it works like I think it does, this is going to be great for mobs of little enemies.”
“No jesting?” Lex said, pinning him down with a serious glance.
“Would I jest about this?” he said, unable to keep the excitement from his face. “Now you go. What did you get?”
The blonde Bastion studied Jack a moment longer before opening her interface. Jack watched her eyes bounce back quickly then stop as if there wasn’t much to read. She frowned.
“What does it say?” Jack asked. It didn’t look like a good one, but he didn’t want to say that.
Lex looked up at him. “It’s a second ability under my Aether Song path, but it’s not Healing. At least I don’t think so…” She shook her head and refocused on the words.
“It’s called Aether Tone, but I can only use it once per Floor, and only on myself. I’m not entirely sure what it does, but I believe there are three attribute-boosting options. The descriptor text reads, ‘Gain inspiration from aligning yourself with a different perspective on the universe’.”
“Interesting,” he said. “I remember you casting a spell of inspiration with your voice once before. Right at this very table.”
Lex waved her hand. “That was just a trick. I’ve never been able to sing like that with any reliability.”
Demi slid up and started to distribute their pheasant pot pies.
“And speaking of which,” the silver-haired Innkeeper said, “we haven’t practiced your voice exercises in a while, Lex.”
Jack inhaled the steam rising from the baked, savory pastry filled with meat before he turned his eyes up to Demi.
“Lex just unlocked a new Aether Song ability, and it sounds versatile. Can’t wait to try it out. The more I hear her sing, the better.”
The Bastion didn’t look as happy though.
“I was hoping for more of a focus on group healing. Perhaps an instant ability I could use during a fight. My Combat Role is becoming... diluted.”
Demi crossed her long arms over her apron. “What’s it called?”
“Aether Tone. Once per Floor I can Sharpen, Knit, or Aether myself… whatever that means.”
Demi stepped closer and put her hand on Lex’s shoulder. “Darling, it appears you have a flexible ability, don’t write it off just yet. Jack isn’t the only one with a unique class.” She held Lex with her penetrating gaze for a moment then went back to the bar to check on Reno.
“She’s right,” Jack added. “You know how random it can be in that bizarre Tower. We’ll push the limits of your new power together, Lex. Besides, didn’t your blocking Path level up too? What else did you get?”
The dejected woman with pointed ears gave him a half smile. He would climb the highest mountain if only to make her happy.
“It’s no surprise. It’s a Shout that forces foes to target me for a little while. Standard for the Defender Path. What else did you unlock?”
Jack sort of felt bad for getting two huge upgrades that he was super excited about when Lex seemed so disappointed in hers.
“No new abilities in my Data Mining Path, but my Mining Laser now adds my Hero Level to the damage dealt.”
Lex’s small mouth dropped open, and he saw her slight overbite.
“Is that a lot?” Ryea asked. She’d been quiet up until now. The Farmer didn’t really follow the numbers, but Lex’s shocked expression pulled her attention away from her half-devoured potpie.
“It’s significant,” Jack said, breaking the crust on his own pie.
They ate as they told Ryea about the first day with Thymus in the Tower and how the last battle to reach Level 25 had gone. Jack looked over to the Arcane Mage and saw him excitedly jabbering to Garl, who could be sleeping for anyone could tell under the shadow of those bushy eyebrows.
The old wizard was the first to turn in and said he was looking forward to their next climb in the Tower. He stopped to shake hands with Reno
on his way up to his room. The new man oozed cool confidence as if he belonged here, and Jack still had so many questions. Demi came gliding up to Reno after Thymus left, and Jack noticed a new, glowing excitement coming from the silver-haired proprietor.
After hearing Ryea go into great detail regarding how different shades of green affected the quality of produce, Jack and Lex announced that they were turning in for the night. They stopped by the bar and shook Reno’s hand, and Jack got a good vibe from the friendly, polite newcomer. He seemed a little over-enthusiastic about Heroes, but he could have worse traits. As he thought about it, Jack’s eyes darted over to Sol and his daughter sitting alone, both looking miserable. This was something he’d hope to fix soon after Alt hit his next complexity tier. Moving Townsfolk around to new and more appropriate roles was going to be another game-changer.
The Bastion followed Jack into his room as she had for the last few days. Normally, she’d come sit on the bed and talk with him. They would eventually snuggle for a while, and Jack adored lying still with his arms wrapped around her, the warm curves of her body pressed against his…
“Jack,” she said, standing in the middle of the room, pulling his attention. “I’m worried about being useful higher in the Tower, and I want to get this possible weakness out in the open now. As the Town grows, we will see more Townsfolk and Heroes arriving to help push us further. It is well-known that groups of climbers are most effective if all four slots are filled with specialized roles, and-”
“Hey,” Jack said, standing up and cutting her off. “That’s quite enough of that. We don’t even know what this new ability can do yet.”
She bit her lip, something he’d never seen her do. She continued. “What I’m saying is I don’t ever want to slow you down. Your impact on this Town… and your destiny in this world is important to me. We’re doing okay now, but there may come a time that you need to fill my Combat Role with someone who is an actual Healer that can cast during combat or a Defender capable of equipping heavy armor.”
Jack reached out and pulled her close against him. He kissed down the side of her lustrous hair, and over the top point of her long ear, savoring every peck. He rubbed his lips down her smooth cheek but stopped right at the corner of her mouth, then cupped her chin and looked deep in her liquid golden eyes.
“Nope,” he said.
Her dark brows came down after a few heartbeats of silence. “Nope what?”
“Never going to happen.”
“Jack, I- mpff.”
He cut her off with his lips on hers, and they didn’t come apart for at least an hour.
Later, with Lex lying on her side, her head on his chest and her leg draped over his, Jack could tell her mind was distracted with her mysterious new ability. He knew she just wanted to be held tonight. He could do that easily.
“Jack?” she mumbled, her cheek pressed into his bare flesh.
“Mmm?”
“I want to tell you how… wonderful this is. This time we have alone. When I place my ear on your chest, and I hear the steady beat of your heart… it’s like a spell is cast over me and all of my wariness and dark thoughts are banished to the great beyond.”
Jack responded just by caressing her silky hair.
Eventually, she sat up and kissed him goodnight before retreating to her own room for a chance at a restful sleep. And Jack was alone.
That was, until Alt spoke up in his mind.
“So, do you still want to know what I learned about new Townsfolk by studying Reno?”
Jack sighed. He debated just sinking deeper into the relaxed state he was currently enjoying and worrying about it later- but all the unanswered questions came floating back up to the front of his brain. The main one being the pointed ears.
“I can start with that,” Alt said, reading his mind. “Now that I have had a chance to see an actual NPC created within my influence, from scratch, I was able to map some previously unknown data points. Long story short, the ears are exactly what Lex said they were. A new NPC has a 1 out of 1,024 chance to gain this attribute, and entering the Tower with Lex in your party increases the rarity of item drops.”
“Hmm,” Jack frowned in the darkness of his room. “Okay, good to know. What about… everything else? Where did this Reno dude come from?”
“Thin air, believe it or not. System Sana is still a game after all, and the Towns needed a balanced way to combat the losses they’d incur from the bombardment of Demon Spawn attacks.”
Jack sat up on his elbows. “What’s wrong with repopulating the… you know, old-fashioned way?”
“This isn’t a lewd sex game, Jack. The Townsfolk were granted a way to replenish by the system, even if totally cut off by the spreading Corruption. What if you woke up that first day to find Blackmoor Cove was solely populated by male survivors? This also eliminates situations where Townsfolk could be forced into potentially undesirable breeding situations. Lex said it best when she boiled it down to the phrase, ‘Demons spawn in the Corruption, Townsfolk spawn at the gate.’”
“But they… we, can still have children, right? Lex and Haylee have fathers and mothers.” Now that he said it out loud, he wondered what the story was behind Sol’s partner and why he was raising his daughter alone.
“That all works pretty much the way you think it does… with some surprises. I’ll let you figure that out as you go.”
Jack looked down at the ornate leather scabbard permanently wrapped around his waist. It felt better if he imagined the disembodied voice in his head was coming from something. He was about to insist that Alt fill in the blanks but figured he probably was better off finding out on his own. He rubbed his face before continuing as if he could rearrange all the madness assaulting his mind.
“Okay, but does Reno have parents?”
“No, he was spawned.”
“Does he think he has parents?”
“No, he has no memories from before he materialized just outside visual range of the Wall.”
“The guy looks like he’s maybe 45-ish, does that mean Reno never had a childhood? Where does he get his personality? You said everyone dies of old age in here. Does that mean he’ll just get a quarter of the normal lifespan?”
“Slow down and let me answer. No childhood. Yes, he’ll die much sooner than Haylee. And his dreams, temperament, knowledge, skillset… and over six hundred other traits randomly determine the emergent personality of a new NPC- not to mention the 1,380 physical attribute sliders.”
Alt paused to give him time to absorb everything, then continued.
“Jack, remember, this is perfectly normal to every person in this simulation. It’s good that we are getting an influx of new workers, and that’s exactly how everyone views Townsfolk that spawn at the gate. Reno will have the best life he can if things continue on the trajectory you’ve initiated for this Town and this simulated universe.”
Jack sat quietly on his bed for a while, mulling over what he’d learned. There was always so much new information to absorb here, and it was as if molasses had been poured over his brain. It’d been an exceptionally eventful day, and the cloying pull of exhaustion was easy to embrace. Jack did nothing to restrict the yawn that attacked his face.
“This place only gets weirder by the day,” he said, resting his head onto the cool pillow. “Thanks for everything, Alt. Please, let me know if you think I should know something else.”
“Sleep well, Jack.”
- 5 -
The infinite white nothing that permeated everything dissolved, and Jack found himself standing on the bough of an inconceivably big tree. All around them were branches the size of expressways twisting around a central black-bark tree trunk. A red moon sat in the middle of the distant horizon and filled about a third of the black void that was the night sky spreading out over today’s Floor 1 layout.
“Would you look at those craters…” Jack mumbled as he was literally moonstruck by the looming celestial object.
“I’m too busy
looking down,” Thymus said, peeking over the edge of their branch. Jack stepped closer to the unending plummet and saw nothing but leaf-filled branches all the way down.
After a deep breath of humid night air, Jack turned to his team.
“Okay, first things first…” With a thought, he summoned his miniature spaceship, but before Alt’s sleek hull was fully materialized, Jack Altered Alt into the Floor 24 Boss from yesterday.
The wall of black, leathery skin blinked all of its glowing red eyes, then focused them on Jack.
“I was right,” Alt said somehow with no mouth. “I am no longer mobile.”
Jack shrugged. “It was worth a shot. And you never know, maybe someday we’ll be glad we have a six-foot by six-foot Living Flesh Wall.”
“Indeed,” Thymus said, inspecting the demonic monster closely.
“Sorry, but you live here now, buddy. We’ll see you on Floor 2,” Jack said, then looked over to Lex who had been still and quiet this whole time.
“Now you,” he said pointing at her. Jack was still having a hard time adjusting to her new look with the bulky white armor, but had to admit, combined with her new shield, their Bastion looked as if she could absorb some serious carnage.
Lex took a deep breath, and Jack noticed a slight tremor as she did.
“What should I activate first?” she asked. “Sharpen, Knit, or Aether.”
Jack smiled. “It’s your crazy superpower. Go with your gut.”
“Her stomach?” Thymus asked, a single brow arched high.
“He means instinct,” Lex said.
“That one is even odd to me,” the stationary wall of flesh added.
Jack threw his hands up. “Then listen to your elbow- whatever! The operative word here is you.”
Lex nodded and cleared her throat. Her eyes narrowed, and she let out a short, high-pitched note, but sounded as if there were three copies of her voice synced in perfect harmony. Her echoing notes faded and then the Bastion shifted into a humanoid-shaped cloud of blue mist.
“Lex, you okay?” Jack asked, taking a step forward.
There was a pause, and his heart skipped a beat, but she held up a wispy hand.