With a few roots, it grabbed the next needle and jabbed it into the creature’s leg. But, it did not sink in as the other had.
Pulling the needle close to its face it saw why. The tip was rounded and blunt. At least part of it was. Inside the clear outer bark was a sharp thin barb. Perhaps this thing needed to shed its old bark. With a root, the tree helped and removed the outer bark to reveal the sharp barb.
Then with a jab, it slammed the barb into the loud creature named master.
If Nathan had been awake he would have passed out right away. The tree not being aware of Human anatomy had slammed the needle and injected the Nanites straight into Nathans penis; causing it to spasm in to a full erection. The Nanites flooded the thin veins and searched for the major blood vessels. As they exit the area Nathans erection faded leaving the needle to twist and fall onto his leg, tip still embedded in the soft flesh of his manhood.
The trees next attempt was more successful and it slammed the needle into Nathans leg. Directly into the femur. The bots this time knew the texture of bone and were able to break the needles point that had embedded itself in the calcium deposits. Freeing the Needle of the hardened tissue the Nanites began their programed task.
With both the needles now firmly inside the loud creature the tree was satisfied and began to go back to its warm planter. Half way there, it paused. It had seen another one of those noise creating objects once when it had been exploring the habitat while the two legs meditated! There was no way the tree would go through all this trouble to only have this loud master screaming again in a bit.
A minute later and perhaps, a few things tossed on the floor. Really why did everything need to be so high anyway? The tree returned caring the other needle it had seen. Bright lightning bolts were decorated on its sides. The whole thing was perhaps three times the size the others were. Tree figured that would just cause three times the screaming.
After a few minutes of fighting with the bark of this larger item tree finally got the cap off. For some reason it could not fathom you had to press on two parts of the bark while twisting the rest to get it to come free. If it wasn’t easy to see Tree may of thought the barb inside was not yet ripe. But it managed and with a tired jab, it buried the needle into the still unmoving screamer.
Tree paused. It was pretty sure it had missed the lower body this time. If it recalled the Boov, this was the fleshy looking part on the rear of the two legs, not the legs… With a mental shrug tree decided it did not matter and pushed the injector down.
Nathans body trembled this time as the nearly quarter liter of Nanites swarmed his already saturated blood vessels. Smaller weaker capillaries burst as the inner pressure became too great. But the Nanites inside were programmed to deal with this too. They moved blood cells to where they needed to be to stop the bleeding. Then used some small packets of nutrients to stimulate the growth of new cells around the tears.
The Nanites that had finished their jobs began to filter to Nathans bladder. Normally they were supposed to stay in his system for 64 hours or two full galactic days to ensure proper skill inception, but the emergency protocol for high blood pressure over rode that order. Once inside his bladder they used a tiny packet of acid to completely render themselves useless. The acid was just enough to wash through the cell like machines and destroy their internal workings, thus making it impossible for anyone to use the bots for anything else. Now utterly useless the floating tiny bits of machinery waited to be removed through Nathans Normal voiding processes.
Satisfied with a job well done tree returned to its planter and settled back in. As it closed its eyes for a much deserved rest, Nathan began to stir.
Groaning through a rapidly increasing headache Nathan set up and shouted. Reaching down he pulled the massive hypodermic needle from his rear and dropped it with a gasp after seeing the blood on the needles tip. Swooning Nathan collapsed back to the ground.
This process repeated until there wasn’t a needle still in Nathans body. The empty needles lay strewn across the floor resembling the house of any drug addict across Earth.
Eventually Nathan sat up and not seeing any needles still in him he scurried up to the couch like he was sitting in a pit of vipers. Once upon the couch he groaned as the world spun around him.
New knowledge flooded through his mind. New complex formula and figures ran through his mind’s eye. No sooner than Nathan began to sort through the massive amount of information; than he realized why the game thought of his college education as limited.
The new formulas and equations were as far past calculus and Trigonometry as those skills were past basic addition and subtraction.
It amazed Nathan as the concepts began to slowly settle into his mind. Not only could he calculate things like gravity, vectors, and astrometric projections for a decade in the future. Now he could use math to positively confirm the existence of not just three but 6 dimensions! The brief thought crossed his mind that this new level of knowledge was still only equal to a BA in the Galactic Standard level of education. Even though it was probably decades above the previous knowledge of even the best Mathematicians on Earth.
Now Nathan fully understood the reasons why governments across the globe had been so eager, worried, and excited about this game. If this knowledge truly checked out to be real then… Well Nathan didn’t know what, but it was a really big deal.
Nathan’s mind wondered in a perpetually slow state for nearly two hours as the Nanites worked. Finally though the process was reaching its finished state and the bots allowed Nathan’s brain to resume a normal level of activity.
For Nathan’s part he did not realize the slowness of his mental state, he just recognized that his headache was slowly dying away. Except the damn flashing computer panel was really starting to annoy him!
With a grunt of pain and a sigh of stiff muscles Nathan waddled over to the screen.
*** System Message ***
Racial Milestone Achieved!
Enter the Galactic Community! Meet 5 Different Species
Rank: G+
Racial Reward: Ability to create System recognized Entities.
Racial Reward: Ability for Homosapian based entities to establish Diplomatic relationships.
Racial Reward: Expanded System Notices
Racial Reward: Galactic Protection Removal.
Milestone Achieved!
Administrator! Become an Administrator of a Galactic Recognized Planet, or Space Station
Rank E+.
Reward: 25% to next Human Level.
Reward: Access to Administrator Tab
Reward: 1000 QOBOP
Skill Increase: Mathematics:(G)
Skill Increase: Mathematics:(F)
Skill Increase: Mathematics:(E)
Milestone Achieved!
Skilled! Obtain a non-Language skill rank E+
Reward: 25% to next Human Level.
Reward: 1000 QOBOP
Racial Level Increase: Level 1 Achieved: 0.1 Max Attribute rewarded.
*** System Message ***
“Hey! Those QOBOP rewards were not withheld! What is up with that?” Nathan pulled up his Bio and checked. Sure enough it showed him with a current QOBOP balance of 2063.8372 and slowly climbing.
“Huh I guess somewhere in the module there is a set of batteries. Makes sense I guess. Having some kind of emergency batteries would be necessary after all. Although I will need to change that so that an Administrator can’t use those emergency batteries for personal use.”
Almost on autopilot Nathan selected his IQ and choose to increase the maximum value by 0.1 from his racial level up. Then he took a good look at the page.
*** System Message ***
Bio
Human Level:10%
Pilot Level:140%
Engineer Level:175%
Scientist Level:155%
Skill Level:319%
Stats/Skills/Equipment/Property/Milestones
Name: Nathan Tyrone Rogers (Bubba)Race: Homosapian
(Human)
Age: 15GU (29 EY)Gender: Male
Height: 2.12GMU (’6.3ft)weight: 3.15GMU (189pds)Style: Mammalian Biped
PHY: 0.54/1.0NER: 0.52/1.0PER: 0.66/1.0
IQ: 0.76/1.1GRT: 0.97/1.0APP: 0.38/1.0
Skills[jAG2]
Primary Pilot Skills:
Piloting: Small Craft:(I)
Piloting: Small Atmo Craft:(I)
Gunnery: Energy:(J)
Targeting: Small Craft(J)
Navigation:(J)
Secondary Pilot Skills:
Mathematics:(E)
Electrical Engineering:(I)
Mechanical Engineering:(I)
Survival: Zero G:(I)
Piloting: Drone(J)
Programming: Micro: (J)
Primary Engineer Skills:
Mathematics:(E)
Electrical Engineering:(I)
Mechanical Engineering:(I)
Maintenance: Electrical:(J)
Programming: Micro: (J)
Secondary Engineer Skills:
Biology:(H)
Physics:(I)
Chemistry:(I)
First Aid: Homosapian: (I)
Maintenance: Structural:(J)
Maintenance: Life Support:(j)
Primary Scientist Skills:
Geography: Earth: N. America:(G)
Biology(H)
Chemistry:(I)
Physics:(I)
Local History: Earth: USA: Current(I)
Secondary Scientist Skills:
Local History: Earth: Current(J)
Geography: Earth(J)
Stellergraphy: Sol System:(J)
Psychology(J)
Piloting: Drone:(J)
Empty
Unassigned Skills
Language: Human: Earth: English: (D)
Language: Human: Earth: Spanish:(J)
Language: Human: Earth: Japanese(J)
Piloting: Driving: Wheeled:(F)
Martial Arts: Earth: Kung Fu(H)
Survival: Temperate:(I)
Weapons: ballistic:(I)
Agriculture: Xeno:(J)
Equipment
Tee ShirtTorsoClothing(J)0.02GU
Denim JeansLegsClothing(J)0.03GU
Cotton Boxer BriefsPelvis(J)0.00GU
Cotton SocksFeetClothing(J)0.01GU
Hiking BootsFeetClothing(I)0.02GU
Terriflex Space SuitFullSpace Suit(J)0.20GU
Property
VerOlx Emergency Portable Habitat(I)[Details]
Milestones
Critical necessity’s[Details]
Claim a Module[Details]
Administrator[Details]
Skilled[Details]
*** System Message ***
“Well shit. The transport is not on here anymore. Did that fucker inside really manage to claim it? Guess I will have to put a lock on it. At least before they respawn in a few days. Wait will they respawn? What am I going to do with them then? Should I just let them die again? Can I do anything to stop it?”
Sighing Nathan went into the system and paid off the last of his debt leaving him a still decent amount of QOBOP at least more than he had ever had before. He sat looking at the basic homepage for a few moments thinking. The screen was only slightly different now that there was a fifth Icon. What looked like a rolled up scroll was situated to the right of the previous four boxes. The scroll icon was labeled Administrator. Nathan just stared at the icon thinking about his next steps.
He had some packages outside that he did not know what they were. He had a ton of repairs to do on the module just to turn the damn thing on. He should try and figure out some way of keeping the people alive next time they respawned. At least those that didn’t steal his fucking transport. He should go hack the transport and get back inside so he could reclaim it. He should check the damn blinking message icon…
He paused there and stared at the blinking icon before feeling a bit stupid, then tapped it.
The screen went dark before the now familiar screen appeared with Bubba in it.
*** System Message ***
“Hey! When you get this you should be able to see the great news! Humanity as gained their first Racial Milestone! And guess fucking what! We were a key part of that! We found 3 out of the 5 fucking races! Can you believe that, shit!”
*** System Message ***
Nathan looked at the tree who was glowering at him for talking to himself and now playing loud videos. Then toward the direction of Boov. However he had no idea about the third race. Returning his attention to Bubba who had not stopped talking.
*** System Message ***
“Then there was the Chinese, who by the way are pissed. It seems they sold massive amounts of minerals and resources to earn enough QOBOP to buy a warp capable starship. They made it two jumps away and found some semi intelligent insect on a habitable planet they were wanting to claim in secret. Now though, everyone on the entire Earth knows.”
“Oh and that brings me to a point. Seems that our little adventure is now the talk of the planet. So part of the reward was allowing ten more players to begin on my station. They should be there any time now.”
Bubba let out a soft chuckle, “Although if they spawn in the respawn area they are fucked. I’ve seen the vids and well it is not exactly ready to be colonized. But, they did not ask my permission so they get what they get.”
*** System Message ***
Nathan was glowering at the image of Bubba now, “What do you mean your station? What do you mean they get what they get? You did not have to clean up their bodies you asshole!” It completely eluded him that this person that he was yelling at on camera was himself. Or at least the part of him that remembered life beyond the station.
*** System Message ***
Bubba went on, “So anyway. I guess another reward for our first milestone is the ability to give our avatars an offline set of plans. So now instead of sleeping the entire time I’m logged-off. I can give some basic commands that you will follow until I log back in. This is nothing special, just like daily routines and such. Still though it will eliminate the time I have to do that while playing.”
*** System Message ***
Nathan growled again. This version of himself was really disliking the other now. Could he not see the issues… Could he not see that it was not him but Nathan doing the work, living the life, and fighting through the struggles?
*** System Message ***
A voice spoke off screen, “Right so running out of time and I’ve not covered anything important. Okay first. Next Milestone update is to Claim a Section. Not sure what the difference between a module and a section is, but there you go. Also the ME’SO Store free item rolls have reached their expiration and have been automatically awarded, so expect whatever the system gives you here soon. Then last buy some freaking high quality energy storage and sell the damn transport! If my browsing the store is right you can get nearly 300k QOBOP for it. That is a lot of money you can use to get that station working…”
The voice spoke once more and Bubba nodded, “Right one last thing. I’m getting close to the Human level up. When it opens make sure to place the upgrade in Nerves. That is the primary stat for a pilot and having a higher that Human ability would go a long ways to …”
*** System Message ***
The screen went black as the image faded from sight.
Nathan scowled at the blank screen for a few seconds until the image of the home screen reappeared.
“Ugh! Fuck that guy! Who the hell does he think he is! I’ll fucking do what I want with my rewards and if I want to sell my stuff I will!”
Stomping the whole way Nathan grabbed his scanner, the partially charged general use tablet and exit the habitat.
First thing he did was interface the tablet with the Transport and begin to hack the basic systems to give himself access to the interior.
It took him nearly three hours to program a worm that gave him access and it reached the limits of his very limited knowledge but h
e managed to enter the vessel.
Inside he threw the corpse out with a fair bit of hostility and set about to reclaiming the transport. Thankfully the pirate had not gotten far enough to set security on the ownership screen. So all he had to do was go in and reregister it under himself. Then he moved through the process to set up a security lock and password to the systems.
After that he was forced to return the general use tablet to the charging station. So he went to the previous unknown crates with his scanner.
*** System Message ***
Illum Shurnat Briefs with rear tail hole: Size Small
Interloper Micro Falange laser Drone (I)
*** System Message ***
But the five large crates gave him pause.
*** System Message ***
Wipynie Marine Squad (H)
*** System Message ***
All five crates pulled up the same information on his scanner. All five told him almost nothing at all.
“What the hell is a Wipynie? Does the squad thing mean they are living creatures in there?”
After a moment’s consideration, he figured that if he opened the crates now that the Wipynie inside would suffer just like the New players had. So he shifted the crates to the side.
Next he started the process of unpacking the robot he had received. Like most things so far there was some assembly required. Although not nearly as much as on the solar arrays. This was mostly place arm joint A in Elbow joint A1 then tighten bolts to hold in place. Still however the process took him several hours. It might have been less but no one ever makes instruction manuals that are easy to follow. It is just one of those universal constants
Finally when he was completed he installed the command app to his tablet and flipped the machine on. The Thing closely resembled a three foot tall keg on two large tank tracks. Its rust red color and unremarkable appearance was belied by what Nathan knew the thing was capable of.
Stellar Survival Quest Page 11