by Aaron Jay
However it started, different factions and countries and institutions all deployed singularity tech against each other and in defense of themselves. This was layered on top of an insanely greater mass of nano and AIs that had been set up to make life enjoyable. Unlike nukes or conventional weapons, nano tended to evolve and mutate as it struggled with competing nano. Biomass of almost any sort was exploited and repurposed into nano. What should have been a new heaven became hell on earth. Intelligent nano collectives operating out of a demonic distillation of the mixed imperatives of humanity’s best and worst impulses went rogue.
In desperation, a group of scientists and experts worked to save what they could from the chaos. The group included my father, Dr. Numitor H. Boone. They created The Game. A giant metaphor for the nano-war.
Players would inhabit nano-avatars and do battle with the monsters running rampant around the world, fighting to recover resources from the nano madness of the world. Creating safe areas where nano was under human control.
Not everyone has a father who can credibly claim they created the world. But he wasn’t a fan of how his work turned out. In his defense, he and his colleagues were rushed. They had less than a week to develop the basic architecture that saved humanity from extinction. He made the game and it saved us, but the world he made for us was no Garden of Eden.
Since then our borders with the wild nano have barely shifted. Years and years have passed with humanity in a stalemate with the chaos trying to eat us. Somehow, playing this game every day where the survival of humanity is at stake has become normal. Society had reformed itself around the game. Human nature doesn’t change, just the technological context it inhabits. We twisted the game just like we had twisted the Singularity.
Eventually, my father denounced the GMs and the game system. People were not rebuilding. Civilization was not rebuilding. The Party had taken control of the game. They eventually installed their own AI to run the game and twist the rules to their favor. The Game was now society and the Party was in charge and liked it that way. Meet the new boss monster same as the old boss monster.
The only reason my father hadn’t been killed by the powers that be is that they were afraid to move against someone known to have profound control over nano. But while people might be afraid to restart the nanowars inside the protected area, they used every other tool at their disposal to punish the genius who had saved what was left of the human race. I grew up poor and with my father's enemies against me. Now it looked like I was likely to die a slave. My father always claimed that no good deeds go unpunished and that barbarians inflict the sins of the fathers on their sons. My family did good, and it seems we live in barbaric times.
With a breath, I refocused on the map of the Cradle. Some cities, towns, and villages were picked out, as were some of the wonders of the world. Incredible creations, whether of man or of nano. Geographical features, mountains, hills, rivers, seas, deserts. There were also geopolitical boundaries laid out showing the clans’ holdings. Along the edges of the map, the borders fluctuated slowly with small expansions as players fought and won control of wild nano- held territory. But for every small increase some other area would fade back.
After giving me some time to peruse the map she said, “We now come to the decision of where your starting area and respawn point shall be established.”
“Do I get to choose?”
“Yes. Within reason.”
I looked throughout the fertile and settled lands trying to gauge what might be an area with decent resources and where the political landscape would let me be free from Eastman interference. Unfortunately, the areas that Jude and I had researched were firmly under Eastman control. Yet I knew of some clans who that were considered rivals if not enemies of the Eastman clan.
“Then I choose…”
“When people are entering upon a war or other violent quest they do things the wrong way around. Action comes first, and it is only when they have already suffered that they begin to think.”
“Excuse me?”
“You seem to be a bit hasty. Let me make sure that you choose something within reason and wisdom but without luck.” She waved her hand, and much of the map became gray and dark. “These areas are well developed with lots of resources. Furthermore, there are well-established guides and programs to make the most efficient use of these starting areas. Anyone would be lucky to begin there, so that lets you right out. I am afraid that they are therefore out of the question for you.”
“But...”
“Stop and think. You won’t want them anyway. They will all be full of Party members as well as those who owe fealty to the clans. So they should be discarded for both your reasons and mine.” She waved again, and more of the map went dark. “These areas are not so well endowed with resources but are owned by the Eastman clan or their associates.”
“There is almost nothing left.”
“Indeed.”
I looked at the map. There were a mere handful of spots left. The largest area surrounded an island. It was largest because of the sea surrounding it, not the land itself.
“I think I’ll pass on the island. Without luck, dealing with the sea seems like suicide.”
Rea Silvia nodded and observed, “A collision at sea will ruin your entire day.”
That area darkened. I studied the other areas.
“I will also pass on these two.” I gestured at two regions that had moderately decent resources but were set up between un-allied clans. “They seem to be no man’s land created to establish buffer areas between clans.”
Rea smiled with genuine pleasure for the first time since she appeared as those two areas faded out. Her smile was really something. It made me believe that she truly did admire my father. That she did want me to succeed. But she seemed unable to help me.
I thought about my wager. I thought about the things Rea Silvia had said. She was a representative of the game. Everything she told me should be recorded in my log. I searched until I found the statement that was tickling the back of my mind. “It seems clear from the terms of the wager and analysis of the political situation that the Eastman clan wants you to suffer and be unable to win the wager playing in the way that the Party has developed. I shall follow these guidelines exactingly.”
Someone who admires Greek mythology and lets you know that they are going to adhere to the letter of a contract exactingly is pretty much waving a giant flag that you’d better read the fine print closely. Just ask Tithonus: he should still be around even if he isn’t liking life as a tree much.
She was going to make sure I couldn’t win playing the way that the Party developed. Well then, I couldn’t play in the way the Party had developed. I needed to get away from the clans. Get away from the Party. They clustered around civilization. They clustered around places where resources abounded. They schemed, fought and politicked to control those resources. I had to get as far away from that as possible.
I pointed to a location on the map. “Here. I choose here.”
Rea Silvia’s smile widened, and I knew that I was right to trust her. I knew that this was the best place for me to start. I knew that I had a chance. But trusting her, I knew that the rest of what she had told me was going to be true too. She had said, “The Eastman clan wants you to suffer and be unable to win the wager playing in the way that the Party has developed. I shall follow these guidelines exactingly. You shall certainly suffer.”
I might be able to win this wager. But I was for sure going to suffer. I guess the apple really doesn’t fall far from the tree. My dad tried to do the right thing and suffered for it. I was going to do the same thing. So be it.
CHAPTER FOUR
Rea Silvia disappeared, and so did the darkness. Or it might be more accurate to say that a desert appeared. Or, really that I appeared in a desert. I was in a desert. Not sun-beaten sand and blasted dunes with nothing else to see, but a rocky terrain of boulder-strewn hardscrabble and soil with cacti, scrub trees and plants as oddl
y shaped as the boulders and outcrops they grew amongst. The starting area I had chosen was a huge swath of desert that had few easily exploited resources, little water, and even fewer settlements. My home for the next year and a day.
I didn’t see any mobs. It was time to get rolling. Not go charging off to begin adventuring but literally get to rolling up my character. I sat on the soil under a boulder with enough of an overhang to cast some shade.
“Status,” I said and made a hand gesture like opening a page of a book in front of me.
Miles Boone
Level 1
Str 10
Dex 10
Con 10
Int 10
Wis 10
Cha 10
Luc 10*
*n/a
Additional points 4
“Men who are capable of real action first make their plans and then go forward without hesitation while their enemies have still not made up their minds. You have one hour to complete any character adjustments.” I heard Rea Silvia’s voice from no direction at all. First, she tells me to think before I act and now she tells me to hurry up.
A countdown began in the bottom corner of my vision.
60:00…
59:59…
59:58…
Opening my inventory I found a whopping 500 gold. A fortune for a starting player. The Party package turned out to be everything it was rumored to be.
Next, I looked at what the penalty was for transferring points between stats. It was free. Incredible. Right from level one, a Party member could work towards a build. Beginners usually had to carefully weigh the trade-offs between losing points and having a focused character build and playing style. You could trade ability points between stats, but usually there was a substantial penalty that got worse the more you did so. Not losing twice or even three times the number of stats in less important abilities to eke out one more in a crucial ability meant that Party members had a de facto advantage of dozens of levels over most people. A Party member could drop down those stats he didn’t need and build up those most important. Four extra points to begin was also incredible. That was tantamount to sixteen levels of ability score increases. Typically you only got one additional stat point every four levels.
I began shifting ability points from one stat to the next not sure what my build should be. The hour-long counter kept dropping. I moved from classic build to classic build. Maxing Strength and Con for Tank. Maxing Int for Caster. Strength and Dex for Damage Dealer. Wisdom with a little Con for Healer. Dex and Int for Crafter. Int and Cha for Trader. I needed to be able to do it all. But even with the additional four stat points, I couldn’t be all things.
How was I going to complete all five quests to qualify to leave the Cradle? If I focused on one of the tasks and built a character designed for that, I’d make the rest even more difficult. The counter ticked down and down. Even multi-purpose class builds were almost pointless. No.
If I only knew which of the Cradle Quests I would be tackling first, I could build towards that and fill in stats as I leveled and attacked the rest. But who knew what would make sense in this unknown area?
Should I just split things evenly? The problem with this idea was that stats helped out more as they got higher and didn't do much at all until they got past a certain threshold. You received additional bonuses as the stats got higher and higher. My father was a classicist when you get right down to it. Above all, core rules 3.5 have been and always will be the platonic ideal. As the catechism my father taught me went, “3.5 is the best system. Original is ok on special occasions but in all other times and places 3.5 shall be played. 4.0 and 11.5 are abominations and all of their books and workings shall be destroyed until their memory is wiped from the face of the earth.” I knew the bonuses and penalties of ability scores as well as any in our fallen age.
Ability
—
1
2
3
4-5
6-7
8-9
10-11
12-13
14-15
16-17
18-19
20-21
22-23
etc
Modifier
—
-5
-4
-4
-3
-2
-1
+0
+1
+2
+3
+4
+5
+6
etc
Looking at my fourth rendition of a melee build I decided to just be Mr. Even Steven. There was no way to get stronger positive modifiers without suffering some penalties. I decided to leave Charisma and Dexterity alone and add one point each to the rest. I was still better off than your average beginner without Party affiliation. It would have to do.
Moving my stats back to an even distribution from a wonky build I had been toying with, I looked at the counter. Five minutes left. I accidentally added a point to Luck. I took it back knowing that with my nonexistent luck modifier it would do me no good. Wait. I was able to add a point. Could I? Four minutes. I took a point away from luck. Another. I took it all the way down to zero.
Miles Boone
Level 1
Str 10
Dex 10
Con 10
Int 10
Wis 10
Cha 10
Luc 0*
*n/a
Additional points
14
Fourteen! Fourteen additional points. But what would that mean? My luck modifier was zero. Zero times anything is, of course, zero. But zero times zero? What was gameplay going to be if I did this? Three minutes.
I knew I couldn’t win playing in a normal fashion. This was a stat bonus equal to 56 levels. With this many extra points I could move in any direction. That was a reward worth the risk. Two minutes.
Jack of all trades, here we come. Red mage or bust. One minute.
Miles Boone
Level 1
Exp: 0 (1,000 to next level)
Hit Points: 9 (8 per level +1 Con bonus)
Str 13 (+1)
Dex 12 (+1)
Con 13 (+1)
Int 12 (+1)
Wis 12 (+1)
Cha 12 (+1)
Luc 0* (-%$)
Skills:
None
Unallocated Skill Points **
*n/a
** Skill points can be allocated to increase
innate proficiency in a skill
Done.
I hit accept. I felt an itching all over my body. Energy coursed through me. Everything seemed crisper and sharper. It was almost painful. I set aside the feeling of pins and needles jabbing me all over my body inside and out and headed out.
I had a +1 modifier to every ability. I was as strong as your average ghoul, as dexterous as a bugbear, had the constitution of a rust monster, the intelligence of a dragon turtle, the wisdom of an owl bear, and the charisma of a treant. So sayeth the Player’s Handbook.
I needed to get rolling. Rolling as in beating Maya Eastman at the Game.
I decided to make my way to a giant pile of boulders that looked to have a good vantage to see the surrounding area. Somewhere around here, there had to be some sort of outpost of civilization. I scrambled up the rock, leaping from one to the next. Climbing the boulders was simple. The rocks had enough different sizes with plenty of shelves, cracks, and crevices that they seemed designed for clambering over.
Reaching the summit, I looked over the desert. You might think that a sign of civilization would be easy to see amongst all this nothing, but I almost missed it. I was only able to make it out due to how the cacti, Joshua Trees, and scrub were spread in an even, if thin layer all across the flats of the desert. I made out a thin ribbon in the distance that could only be seen because it didn’t have any cacti or scrub. Plants were spaced so sparsely you could almost convince yourself that the line shown by their absence was natural from this distance.
Small Rocks
Small pieces of shale,
shist and monzogranite.
Can be used as a thrown
weapon
Damage
0-1
I was armed. As long as I was attacked by nothing but fleas, gnats, or, if I wanted to push my luck, a sickly sparrow, I would be fine. Getting to a town and getting my starting gear couldn’t come fast enough.
My breath puffed but kept even as I trotted toward the road keeping my eyes peeled for any danger. When I came to the road I looked in both directions but didn’t see any settlements or travelers. I truly was at the ass end of nowhere out here. In one direction the road went out to the horizon. In the other it turned past some of the giant mounds of boulders and through a set of hills. I chose to head down the road towards the boulders.