by Tao Wong
“I am not.” Just because I’m closer doesn’t mean I’m not going to argue.
“Right, right. Because that churning ball of rage and the gritted teeth are normal.”
“It is for me.” I sigh. “And I’m fine the way I am.”
“The hell you are,” Ali butts in. “You’re about one good hit away from going on another run.”
“He’s right, you know. And we need you sane and healthy, you idiot,” Lana says before squeezing my hand.
“Sane and healthy…” I shake my head. “I don’t think any of us are that sane, not anymore.”
“Speak for yourself, boy-o.”
Lana shoots a look at Ali, who subsides, before she nods slowly. “Saner then.”
I snort and fall silent before I exhale roughly. “I don’t want to be needed. I don’t want the responsibility.”
“Then you can walk away,” Lana points out. “But we… I’d… be disappointed. Do you want to?”
“I-I don’t know,” I answer truthfully. Gods, I wish I could say I wanted to be the hero, the man who stands up for everyone, who holds the line no matter the cost. Except it’s easy to say you want to be that man. Easy maybe to do it the first time, until you see the cost, the lives you failed to save, the monsters you let escape. The failures that pile on you and whisper their regrets. In the end, I find myself saying, bitterly, “It doesn’t matter anyway. I’m no Superman. Doesn’t matter what happens, they keep dying. At this rate, we’ll all be dead soon enough.”
“You know I’m going to be an aunt right?” Lana says, and I nod slightly. “Three times over actually. But my brother hasn’t been the only one trying to repopulate the earth. Nearly two-thirds of the women in town are pregnant.”
“Two-thirds?” I blink, my mind going over my memories recently. Well, that’d explain the recent number of non-combat citizens wearing dresses and loose tops. Still, two-thirds?
“Oh yeah.” Lana smiles slightly. “Less in the hunters of course, but they’re mostly made up of men anyway. There is a future, John, and it’s coming in about four months.”
I nod slowly, eyes tracking over the clouds again. Four months and hundreds of mewling babies will appear in this world. In a city that isn’t safe, that hasn’t gotten itself organized. Where monsters swarm and Bosses and dungeons grow. I shudder and realize it has nothing to do with the cold. As I think that, the first snowflake drops in front of my eyes.
“Roxley says it’ll get worse soon,” I say.
Lana nods as more snow falls, faster and faster. “It always can. But it’s getting better too. We’re rebuilding. Slowly perhaps, but we’re rebuilding,” Lana squeezes my hand. “We just need a little more time.”
“Time…” I watch a snowflake drop onto our hands and melt.
“Time for bed. Come on.” Lana tugs on my hand, and I frown as she stands and leans back, pulling me off the ground. “You need some rest.”
“I’m not sure I can sleep,” I answer truthfully, and she smiles.
“Then I’ll sit with you until you do. Inside and out of this snow.” She drags me in while still holding my hand.
Behind us, the first snowfall of the autumn arrives.
“John…” Richard’s eyes narrow as I walk in with Lana for breakfast the next morning. He blinks, looking between the two of us, probably searching for and not finding Ali.
Truth be told, I’m curious where the little Spirit has gone, but I’m mostly enjoying the peace and quiet. “What?”
“Finally!” Richard shakes his head and turns back to his cereal.
“Nothing happened!” I splutter, realizing what he’s saying.
Mikito titters at my reaction while Lana just grabs a bowl, smacking her brother on the top of the head when she gets near him.
“Yeah, right. I can smell her on you and vice versa,” Richard replies. “Perk of bonding with the Huskies.”
I blink, staring at him then Lana. Oh… well that explains his level of awareness out there. Still… “We didn’t do anything. She just slept with me. In bed. Asleep.”
Mikito laughs as I splutter and Richard snorts, obviously not buying it.
“Just ignore him, John,” Lana says, adding milk to her cereal. “He was always like this, even in school.”
After a while of us working on our respective breakfasts, Richard says, “Snow didn’t stick.”
“When will it?” I ask, frowning. “Seems a bit early for snow really.”
“Chokato.” Lana chuckles, and Mikito and I share confused glances. “It’s mid-October. We’ll start getting snow regularly from now on, and it could stick at any time. About time for us to be changing tires really.”
“Oh…” I blink then consider the gardens, the farms where plants are still growing. “How about the farms?”
“Shields,” Mikito pipes up, shaking her head slightly in bemusement. “One of the hunters realized that if you use a low-grade shield, the shield blocks airflow but lets in light. Makes a great greenhouse.”
Lana nods, lips thinning slightly. “The Council should have made the purchases already, but the decision has been held up in committee.”
Richard makes a face and I find myself echoing it. Bureaucrats.
Lana sees our faces and rolls her eyes, putting the bowl aside as she stands. “I’ve got to go. Try to remember to go shopping for more food, will you?”
Those are her last words to us before heading out.
Richard stares at his sister before turning back to me. “You guys really didn’t do anything, did you?”
“Not a thing,” I say.
“Damn. Okay.” He frowns, opening then shutting his mouth as decides better on commenting further.
Mikito snorts as she puts her chopsticks down on top of her bowl. “Dungeon. What’s the plan?”
“More people. A lot more,” I state firmly.
“Who?” Richard frowns, holding up his fingers. “We can ask Rachel, maybe the last Brother. Aiden will come, and if we schedule it right, Amelia too. That’s seven.”
“Not enough.” I shake my head, remembering our ignoble retreat. “Mikito and I might be able to take two or three of those each, but the first room alone had over twenty.”
“The Carcross group?” Richard asks.
I frown, shrugging. “Maybe, but they’ve got their hands full with the Bosses around Carcross.”
“Jim,” Mikito adds, fingers laced together in front of her. “His group can come.”
“No. They’d be seriously out-leveled.” Richard exchanges a glance with Mikito before he says, “There’s the Circle of Ravens. Or well, Bill’s group if you will.”
“No. I don’t trust them,” I say firmly, and the pair nod.
“Just making sure I asked,” Richard states. “How about the Yerick?”
“That might work.” I nod slowly. “We could add your sister too. Between your pets and hers, we’d nearly double our front-line fighters.”
Richard makes a face, shaking it slightly. “No. Too dangerous.”
“You should ask,” Mikito points out.
Richard’s face scrunches up in distaste before he nods. “Fine, fine. So you going to ask the Yerick, John? I’ll talk to Amelia and Aiden. Maybe we could visit Carcross today, help them out for a few days. Might make it viable for Jason and Gadsby to come.”
“I want to ask Jim,” Mikito adds, interrupting us.
“Mikito…”
“Hear me out. He’s the strongest hunter among the non-grouped, and he’s in his low 30s. If we bring him and maybe a couple of others, we could have them level with us,” Mikito says.
“It’d be like a training run, just at a higher level.”
Richard looks at Mikito, seeing the mulish expression she has, and shrugs his acceptance.
“Only if the Yerick agree. More people means more of a split in Credits and experience,” I add to help pacify Richard.
“Okay,” Mikito accepts my codicil without complaint.
“Soun
ds like we’ve got a plan then.” I stand up, stretching. “Give me a ride to Xev’s? I want to check on Sabre first.”
“Can do.” Richard dumps his bowl into the sink with a clatter while Mikito gently places her aside. One quick Spell later, and we’re on our way.
“Xev!” I wave to my mechanic as I walk in.
It scrambles away from the hulk of a Hummer it’s busy converting to greet me. From beneath the Hummer, a pair of lizard feet are sticking out and muffled cursing can be heard. I ignore it for now, waiting for Xev to answer the unasked question.
“Mostly done, Adventurer John. Nanobots finished rewiring circuits, armor is mostly replaced. I’ve added two of the three weapon upgrades and was waiting on the third, but your Sabre can be taken out now. Has been good to take out for weeks,” it adds, guiding me to where Sabre rests.
I touch my bike, my first real prized possession in this System world. I had outgrown it, the combination of the high-level areas in the Yukon and my high base stats making the mecha less and less useful. Yet I couldn’t let it go. It was everything I needed when I first started, and just discarding it had seemed wrong.
So I put in more Credits than I should have upgrading it. I’d switched out the internal systems entirely. Along the way, we added a nanomachine upgrade for the base system. I’d used a hardpoint and softpoint for that, but now Sabre could self-repair anything but catastrophic damage. Xev had ripped out and replaced enough internal systems that we actually managed to create an additional hardpoint for the PAV, which meant I had space for a few new toys.
Specifically, I got myself a new portable shield generator that ran off its own Mana battery, and some heavy-hitting missile launchers. I’d considered getting beam weaponry, but since the Shield was also linked directly to Sabre’s engine, in a pinch I could increase the shield regeneration. Of course, doing that meant we’d drain the battery faster, which is why I went with external ammunition that didn’t need the Mana battery.
Armor, after our little tussle, had upgraded itself to add a twenty-five percent resistance to electrical damage. I was loath to swap the armor plates out entirely, knowing the nanomachines would eventually add even more resistances as we encountered tougher enemies. So long as the mecha lasted at least. I smile slightly, pulling up the stats for Sabre.
Omnitron III Class II Personal Assault Vehicle (Sabre)
Core: Class II Omnitron Mana Engine
CPU: Class D Xylik Core CPU
Armor Rating: Tier IV (Modified with Adaptive Resistance)
Hard Points: 5 (5 Used)
Soft Points: 3 (2 Used)
Requires: Neural Link for Advanced Configuration
Battery Capacity: 120/120
Attribute Bonuses: +35 Strength, +18 Agility, +10 Perception
Inlin Type II II Projectile Rifle
Base Damage: N/A (Dependent Upon Ammunition)
Ammo Capacity: 45/45
Available Ammunition: 250 Standard, 150 Armor Piercing, 200 High Explosive, 25 Luminescent
Ares Type II Shield Generator
Base Shielding: 2,000 HP
Regeneration Rate: 50/second unlinked, 200/second linked
Mkylin Type IV Mini-Missile Launchers
Base Damage: N/A (dependent on missiles purchased)
Battery Capacity: 6/6
Reload rate from internal batteries: 10 seconds
Available Ammunition: 12 Standard, 12 High Explosive, 12 Armor Piercing, 4 Napalm
While I’m busy with the mecha, Xev skitters away to get back to fixing up the Hummer. After pushing out from underneath the vehicle, Tim stands and stretches, his dragon scales covered in oil and grease. He looks happier than he did the last time I saw him. For that matter, thinking about it, I haven’t seen him at all.
“Tim.” I nod absently to the ex-Raven’s Circle member. I can’t say I like him, but I don’t dislike him either.
“John.” He walks over, long tail swinging gently behind him. “Picking up Sabre?”
“Yeah.” I smile and rest my hand on the bike again.
“She’s one heck of a machine,” Tim says.
Then I blink, realizing if he’s been working here… I grow guarded, wondering what he might have told others. Then again, I wonder why I’m being so damn paranoid. Even if people do know about her, it’s not as if we’ve not all gained numerous levels in the last few months. She’s no longer an automatic trump card like before, so people stealing her should be significantly less of a worry.
Tim sees my face and works to reassure me immediately. “Don’t worry. What happens in the shop, stays in the shop. Can’t work here if you don’t understand that rule. If I told you some of the things people have us fix—”
“You’d be fired,” Xev chitters.
“Anyway, not as if I’ve got anyone to talk to these days,” Tim says grumpily, and I raise my eyebrow. He gestures down his body. “Whitehorse has gotten a lot more speciesist since I left.”
“Even to you?” I say.
“Yeah. Seems like if you aren’t a vanilla-looking human now, well, you aren’t good enough to be human.” Tim growls, pointed lower and triangular upper teeth flashing in the light. “They didn’t complain when we were saving their asses or fighting the monsters for them. Now that they think they’re safe, it’s ‘you’re scary,’ ‘you’re not human,’ ‘you’re a freak.’”
“Sorry, man,” I say.
“It’s just so messed up, you know? I always thought Dragons were cool, and when the System came, well, I got a chance to be a Dragon. Well, Dragonkin.” Tim sighs. “We were the cool kids for once, you know? Nic and the rest of us, we were the heroes. But now I’m just a freak again.”
“Do you regret it?” I ask.
Tim shakes his head firmly. “No. I still love being a Dragon.” He grins. “But I’ll be damned if I fight for them anymore. The idiots can go twist on a stick.”
I nod. I can understand his feelings, the way the ingratitude can eat at you. I almost make the offer for him to come with us, but he seems happy here, working on the vehicles. We don’t really need another person…
“Anyway, I got to get back to work. And, John, sorry about Luthien. We, I, knew about her and Kevin but… they were my friends then, you know,” Tim says.
“I get it,” I reply, waving him back to his work as I trace my hand down Sabre. Old grudges—they seem so distant now, so petty. I still don’t want to deal with Luthien, but really, what’s a little betrayal among all this blood and death? It just seems so… small. “See you, Tim.”
The Dragonkin raises a hand in goodbye without turning around, and I sit on Sabre, smiling slightly. Right then. Time to talk to Capstan, then we’re off to Carcross.
Capstan was gone by the time I managed to make my way to their compound, so I left a brief message for him to contact me. By the time I finally meet up with the group, Ali is back and refusing to answer questions about where he has been.
We make our way back to Carcross, taking the Klondike Highway and passing by the Cutoff as we drive down the highway. Autumn’s certainly here, with many of the trees having shed their leaves and patches of snow on the mountains. Unfortunately, with the lack of upkeep of the highway, driving is fast becoming a pain. I wish I had the Credits to add in a hover mode for Sabre—it’d certainly make a less jarring ride. If we want to continue hunting in the Winter, it’ll probably have be our next major upgrade.
When we reach Carcross, I’m impressed by the changes. They’ve pushed back the forest by another kilometer and added a deep trench right in front of the wall. Along the walls, smaller beam rifles have been added, each of them tracking along a smaller axis while a few watchtowers watch over the entire wall with significantly larger weaponry. Behind the wall, a single squat building, where the old First Nation’s community center was, towers over everything. Looks like they’d upgraded their city center to act as their final fallback point.
We’re greeted by Jason, the teenager still dressed in jeans and a pla
id shirt but looking older and more mature. He’s even taken to growing a beard, which surprisingly suits him. Instead of greeting us with a usual smile and shout of joy, his greeting is much more subdued.
Richard takes over describing the dungeon and what we need while the rest of us take a moment to stretch our legs. I spot Mikito walking over to a group of hunters, and she makes carton after carton of cigarettes appear, to their delight. I guess someone decided that earning a little additional income by bringing nicotine over wasn’t beneath her.
As I look over the city, I blink, staring as I finally get a good look at the guards on the wall. I’d noticed new faces, but I hadn’t really twigged until now. They look pretty human for the most part, but from this side, we can see the rest of their bodies and the oddity of their height comes through pretty clear.
“Ali, are those Dwarves?” I try not to point, but I’m comfortable staring. After all, it’s not as if they can see where I’m looking underneath my helmet.
“Galactic term for them is Gimsar. But yes, it’s your world’s Dwarves,” Ali replies. “For once, the Mana translation didn’t mess up too badly. Everything you know about them is correct—hard drinking, hard fighting short humanoids. On their home planet, they built their cities underground—mostly due to the much longer and colder nights. They aren’t particularly well known as smiths though, not any more than any other sentients. The Clans hire out as mercenaries, like the Hakarta. And yeah, Gimsar and Hakarta don’t like each other—mostly because they’re always fighting over the same contracts.”
By this time, Mikito has returned and is eyeing the group as well. She does so blatantly, but I figure that’s fair—more than one Dwarf is giving her a look-over. Of course, their regard is much more lecherous, but I figure Mikito can handle these guys. They’re all around our level after all.
“Dwarves?”
“Yup. Other than not being smiths and mostly acting as Mercenaries, Ali says the Mana translation worked,” I reply, and Mikito nods.
Mana translation—the term that Ali has used to explain why so many creatures from our mythology are making an appearance. Basically put, because Mana often collects in small amounts in non-System worlds, the System can send packets of information into the consciousness of the sentients of those worlds to prepare them for eventual initiation. Unfortunately, due to the low level of Mana in those worlds, it’s quite common for the data packets to be significantly corrupted. Thus the Mana translation problem and why certain myths only appear in certain parts of the world—most packets are too fragmented to be picked up by the entire populace.