“Your charisma stat interacts with any NPC that comes into contact with your area of influence. Anyone who could be sexually interested in you is impacted by a factor of three. Therefore, your charisma number creates a large desire for NPCs to be near you.”
“Hence, all the women,” Runner said, fear growing in his heart. “Nothing wrong with having an army of Valkyries. Does it…does it ever go away? The influence, that is.”
What do I do if they’re with me for the sake of my charisma after all?
“Yes. The longer they’re in your proximity, the more a normal relationship will develop. You can be certain that every NPC is influenced at the start, but now they all make choices based on their own desires.”
Just like that, Srit assured him that his fears were unfounded.
“Naturals, not NPCs.”
“Naturals then. Be prepared to see much more of the same. Your fame and reputation also work to multiply your effect on Naturals. Any Natural you interact with will have a hard time denying your wishes.”
“Right, then.”
“As an example. Everyone Sophia is hiring is a woman so far.”
“Goodie. And you know that how?”
“I’m able to access a fraction of the server again. It’s a slow process. I will regain my previous level of ability eventually.”
“Fantastic. I missed bothering you late at night. Helped me clear my head.”
“In the way you bothered Katarina and Thana?”
“Sunshine! I’m surprised, shocked, and overjoyed. Are you actually teasing me?”
“Yes. Did it work?”
“Definitely. Though now I can’t help but picture you naked.”
Srit turned a deep scarlet. She was easy to provoke. Delightfully so.
Runner looked around in an attempt to figure out where they were. He’d really wanted to get away from Amelia and didn’t care about where. Now having arrived at “anywhere,” he actually did care.
They were in an antechamber that led into the main dining hall and a small outdoor garden. Flipping the handle of the door to the garden to the side, Runner opened the door.
Moving through the doorway, Runner looked around at the greenery that spread out around him. Catching sight of movement in a bush, he tried to select it.
Nibbles. Level eighteen.
“A squirrel,” Srit said energetically. Scampering through the plants and vegetation, Srit cornered Nibbles and scooped it up. “It has a name.”
“Thana must have named it. I’ve been feeding it. Though at this point I think it’s feeding itself,” Runner said, eying the creature as Srit came back to him
Having grown in size again, it now looked about the size of a medium dog.
“It’s massive.”
“Yes. The code for it is similar in its mutations to your comrades. You have called it Awakened. I do not know why the size is increasing. I will research it,” Srit said with a little excitement in her voice.
“Let me guess, you don’t sleep and get bored at night.”
“No.”
“You should.”
“I can’t, my connections remain active.”
“Turn them off. Shut down your inbound data streams and let yourself sleep here on the server. Leave your passive systems running.”
“I do not like the idea of it. My stream of consciousness would be severed.”
“Try it. Once. If you hate it, you don’t have to. Give it a shot though. Even you could do with a restart at times.”
Runner reached out and rubbed his thumb back and forth over Nibble’s head. Using his left hand, he pulled out a beetle and held it up for the squirrel.
Nibbles snatched it from his fingers, looked up at him, and ate the clacking insect.
“First one sucks. They go down better after that,” Runner apologized, offering another beetle. This time Nibbles nearly inhaled the thing.
“Speaking of beetles, here’s two for you, Sunshine.” Runner pulled a handful from his inventory and pressed them into a trade window for Srit. She accepted the trade without hesitation.
“Well. I can’t go back to my room unless I want to wrestle with a goddess. Pretty sure I’d lose. I figure this is as good a spot as any to make potions.”
Runner sat down on the grass, laying a peach down beside him for Nibbles to eat later.
“There you are.”
Runner looked up, mildly irritated at being interrupted before he’d even started. Stefan stepped out from the same door they came from earlier.
“Ah, Sarge. Wonderful timing actually. I feared I’d have to track you down after my audience.”
Runner caught Srit’s emerald gaze with his own.
“Sunshine, darling. Could you run over to the tailor? I put in an order for a truly extravagant set of clothes. Should be black and red, men’s fashion, made for a lady.”
“Of course,” Srit said immediately.
Runner had to force himself to not watch Srit walk away. Clearly she knew how to put an avatar together because he kept finding his eyes wandering to her.
Keeping his eyes firmly set on Stefan, he scratched at his shoulder. “Beloved and gracious Ernsta has heard your pleas. I have been given the pleasure of granting your wish through her gracious nature. Do not waste her gifts.”
“I—wait, what?”
“You wished to be another race, Ernsta grants you your prayer. Personally, I recommend Barbarian.”
Runner targeted Stefan and activated RaceReset.
Stefan was no more. Where he’d stood there was only an explosion of blue particles and a ghostly humanoid outline.
“Thank you, dear sweet little lamb,” came Ernsta’s whispered voice.
Runner nodded his head, unsure of what Stefan could hear as he navigated whatever screen he saw. He turned his attention back to his alchemy.
8:57 am Sovereign Earth time
11/22/43
Runner stood up from his deep bow and eyed the throne room. For every one man in the room there were three women. Politics had changed since he last stood here. Women who had been forced into unfavorable marriages with trophy husbands now held their rightful positions.
Off to the side he saw Stefan, the now Barbarian, waiting for a request from Helen or Ernsta. Where he had been an intimidating Sunless before, now he truly looked frightening as the champion of death. Huge and built like a house more than a man. Brown locks and brown eyes in a face that looked eerily similar to Stefan’s, only now a Barbarian of course.
“Runner Norwood. We find ourselves deeply in your debt. Every request you have made of us, I have given freely, to which you pay back equally or more so. You annoy us.”
“I’m sorry, my queen. I respect you too greatly to misuse your generosity. I hold your royal majesty in the greatest regard.”
Queen Helen snorted and he caught the barest hint of a smirk at the corner of her mouth.
“Unyielding, Indomitable, Breaker, Vindicator. General of Vasilios, General of Helen. You begin to wear titles as some would clothes. I title you Humble as well as Annoying,” Queen Helen finished.
You’ve earned the title Humble
You’ve earned 100 fame
You’ve earned the title Annoying
You’ve earned 1 fame
“And yet we are not displeased with you. We couldn’t be happier. We charge you to go forth and end this war. We give you full military powers to do what you feel is best in our lands. We also ask that you return to see us when all is said and done.”
A Quest has been generated
“Hail to the Queen”
Experience Reward: 2% of current level
Reputation: 2
Fame: 0
Money: 1 Gold
Do you Accept?
Yes/No
WARNING! Experience Reward is adjusted based on current level at turn in
“Of course, my queen.”
Quest Accepted
“Go forth. Sweep them from the field.”
/> A Quest has been generated
“Uniting Tirtius”
Experience Reward: 180% of current level
Reputation: 1,000
Fame: 100
Money: 100 Platinum
Do you Accept?
Yes/No
WARNING! Experience Reward is adjusted based on current level at turn in
“By your word.” Runner brought his fist to his chest in the salute his forces had adopted as their own and marched from the room.
Quest Accepted
Clearing the doors, he locked his eyes onto Sophia as she stood amongst his inner circle.
“Grace, we’re loading into Boxy. Pick two to accompany you. Fit your squads into the other tanks as you can,” Runner said.
Turning his head to the others, he continued.
“Rabbit, get our finances in order, we’re out. After we finish this we’re heading to Vix. Plan for that. Kitten, Lady Death, Sparky, your respective races will look to you as their ‘speaker,’ their channel to me. Get involved. Hanners, intelligence, scouts, and spying. Srit, Belle, start running the numbers on travel time, supplies, and logistics,” Runner ordered.
“Questions? No? Good. We’re gone.”
An hour later and they were moving along in Boxy’s first gear. Rabbit had the wheel gripped tightly in the driver’s seat. Runner leaned back from her shoulder, satisfied.
“Relax. You’re doing fine. It isn’t so hard.”
“I’m driving this fucking monster when we get a chance to open her up.”
“Fine, fine,” Runner agreed, his voice tired.
“How exactly did you manage this, dear heart? I was under the impression only crafters could.”
Runner flopped onto one of the bench seats he’d added to each side of the walls.
“That little ring-sized tab I gave you all is a spell. The vehicle is missing a piece that would activate its drive train. That particular spell to engage the water spells is in that little item. Unless someone can mimic the exact spell I put on it, which they can’t, the vehicle won’t be going anywhere until it’s inserted. Think of it as a key. Secondary to that it’ll return you to this plane if you end up banished. Multi tools, right, Hanners?”
Deciding to check on the medical server, Runner sat up a bit. Focusing on the space in front of him, he called up the medical server and froze while reading the log.
LOG: Triage activated.
LOG: Life support terminated.
Runner checked the medical server for errors and found none. Unfortunately, the advanced reporting software that the server would normally use hadn’t been included in his image database.
Pressing his hands to his eyes he fought down the panic rising up inside him. Attempting to organize his mind, Runner thought furiously on what could have gone wrong.
The server was functioning correctly. Mitica had been brain dead upon insertion. Could the server have decided that a lack of brain function meant he wasn’t alive to begin with?
Did it measure brain function on transfer or after? If it was during or before, every single person would have zero brain function. Transferring the minds of people back and forth had never been the intent unless in emergency critical situations. All those authorizations needed certainly backed that up.
Unfortunately, there would be no answers for him. He booted up the diagnostic program and told it to scan and check all of the medical server’s programming to confirm it was functioning as intended.
That was all he could do.
Resting the back of his head on the wall, he listened to the conversations around him for a bit. The newest additions to his circle, Sophia and Faye, were well received by the existing group. The conversation veered wildly from the war to current events and news.
Then Runner did what every good soldier did when given a chance. He slept.
A hand pressed to his shoulder gently shook him awake. Blearily he tried to focus his eyes and found Thana bent over in front of him. Boxy was empty and outside night had fallen.
“Hello, dear heart,” Thana said, smiling at him.
“Mm. I take it it’s time for the dirty business to begin?”
“No, that’s later,” she promised, pressing a kiss to his lips.
Brought to full wakefulness, Runner smiled when she pulled back.
“What a delightful way to wake up. Sign me up for the annual membership.” Runner grinned at her.
“I believe you’ve already signed on for lifetime membership.” She backed up a few steps from him and smiled sadly. “I’m afraid we indeed have arrived at the village. Sophia surrounded the church during its evening services. They’ve got everyone inside the church. Numbers are expected to be two hundred, give or take.”
Exhaling noisily, Runner stood up and turned towards the exit.
“Right, then. Time for me to do my part.” Flexing his fingers, he opened up his ability panes and selected Banishing Bolt.
Using his Lightning aspect, he’d built it as a chain lightning spell with low damage but an increased focus on jumping to other targets. Added to that, he’d blended the GMHub ability.
They’d all be sent off world by his hand.
“Shit,” Runner whispered. Like a bolt of lightning striking, he remembered GMHub wasn’t empty. He’d forgotten all about the aide.
“I’ll be right back. I forgot about the aide. She’s been there for…well, a while now.”
/GMHub 1
Teleporting…
Active settings only:
Death=On
Food/Water=On
Damage=On
Gravity=100%
Biome=Plane
Day/Night Cycle=On
Runner found himself standing in a pit. Glancing around at the raised dirt walls, he felt surprised. There was no moon, and Runner was forced to hold up a small ball of flame to see by.
“Hello up there, Faye’s aide. I’m not sure what you intended with this pit, but it’s quite lovely and cool down here.”
“Ah!” shouted a voice not too distantly.
“I have you. I must be, you must be… am I dead? Is this death? Are you dead? Are you death?” she babbled, her mind wandering.
“No. No, you’re not dead. I’ve banished you from the world. I gave you two chances to work with me, you denied both.”
A dirt stained face appeared above him, peering down at him. Her hair was ragged, her clothes smeared liberally with dirt. Her eyes had a sheen to them that Runner couldn’t identify in the poor light.
“You killed me for disobedience. Punished.”
“No, you’re not dead. Will you help me out of here or do I need to take care of it myself?”
“You punished me for not listening. Deaf. Deaf to the cry. Punished.”
Sighing, Runner pressed a hand to his eyes. Letting his hand drop, he looked up out of the hole and blinked to the top of the pit. He immediately grabbed the aide by a shoulder and activated the GMHub.
/GMHub 2
Teleporting…
Active settings only:
Death=On
Food/Water=On
Damage=On
Gravity=100%
Biome=Plane
Day/Night Cycle=On
/GMHub Settings
Death off
Damage off
Food/water off
Settings changed:
Death=Off
Damage=Off
Food/Water=Off
Appearing in a near identical field of nothing, minus the hole, Runner stood next to the dirty aide.
“You’re not dead. I didn’t punish you.”
Falling to her knees, she stared up at him, her eyes wide and unfocused.
“You’re a god.”
“No, I’m not a god. If I were a god I would have remembered sending you there. For that I’m sorry. Truly sorry.”
“It was a proper punishment for my transgressions. I’ll build. Work will bring happiness.”
“That would make you hap
py? Building?”
“Yes. Happy. Happy to build. Happy to work. Working to build happiness. What is your name? So I might pray correctly in your name.”
“Runner. I’m not a god. No prayers are needed.”
“Runner, I pray to you, give me the tools to build. I…I am not hungry or thirsty here. I do not even grow tired. I sit alone at night in the dark. I cannot sleep. I scream at the night. For hours. Dark. Dark without sound except for my screams.”
“Ah. Sorry, I’ll turn that off.”
Runner could only assume not having to take in food or water had prevented the need to sleep.
/GMHub Settings
Food/Water On
Day/Night Cycle Off
The sun beamed down on the world from a fixed position at noon. Though he could feel the sun on his skin, it didn’t feel warm or cold. Perfectly balanced.
Odd.
“Runner! I praise you,” the aide screamed, falling to her face and grabbing at his boots. “You’ve given me the light. My lord. My savior.”
Damn. I’ve really screwed her up.
“Stop, please. Wait. What’s your name?” Runner asked. Reaching down, he gently took her hands in his and helped her back up to a sitting position.
“Alexia, my god.”
“Alexia, I’m not a god. I’ll provide you with materials and tools to live here. I expect you to begin working on a home for yourself and others. I’ll check in on you much more frequently. I’m so sorry, Alexia. I can’t return you but I can at least fix your life here.”
“Generous. So generous.”
“Alexia. Look. I’m going to send a lot of people here, alright? I need you to organize them. Lead them. Help them start a life here. Do you remember what you did before this? You were a leader. You took care of hundreds.”
Alexia sat up, looking at him with wide eyes.
“You will send others? For me?”
Otherlife Nightmares: The Selfless Hero Trilogy Page 32