Cities in Chains

by Tao Wong

  “What for?” I say to Sam, watching as a Mechanic swaps out some spark plugs in an attempt to start up the truck.

  “Heading west,” Sam says.

  I recall that Sam has family there and find myself nodding. Not everyone wants, or has the funds, to buy the information on their families. Sometimes, false hope is better than nothing.

  “Not needed. It wasn’t really part of the consideration,” I say.

  My words makes Sam look at me, dark eyes tight before he laughs. “You are a strange one. All right then. Why are we going to Vancouver?”

  “I want to see the ocean again,” I say with a smile.

  My words make Sam blink. With a forced laugh, he ducks his head back under the hood to get the truck started. I’d chide him for not getting it ready before now, but he’s been working all night getting as many vehicles working as possible.

  “You going to just stand there?” Sam grouses.

  I chuckle, turning my attention to him fully. This is going to be a long trip.

  No wall. That’s the first thing that comes to mind when we roll up to the city. Instead, across the Fraser River are watchtowers, blockades made of twisted metal and concrete to slow down assaults. In the distance, I note the other bridge is destroyed, its debris lying abandoned in the water while more watchtowers dot the surroundings. Most are automated, with only a few manned. Once again, I’m impressed. These guys are on the ball, the reception party having received us nearly a hundred kilometers out. For all their caution and making us wait and verifying details about the group, they’ve also been very courteous.

  You have entered a Safe Zone (The Town of Prince George)

  Mana flows in this area have been stabilized. No monster spawning will occur within boundaries.

  This Safe Zone includes:

  Town of Prince George City Center

  The Shop

  Armory

  More…

  Our escorts guide us through the blockades and the watchtowers without a word, the reception party taking care of the refugees and allocating them empty houses and apartments. The refugees are grateful and happy as a small crowd of humans gathers around to greet and speak with those who arrive. There are even a few embraces and tears as those once thought lost are found again.

  As the refugees split up, we get escorted in deeper by our guards. I let my eyes roam over the guards, watching the way they move, fascinated by the green-blue variations of color on their scales and the way the frills on their heads flap and shift as they speak to one another. As I watch them, I can’t help but note the guards have a certain edge I’ve come to associate with those of us who live on the pointy end of the stick.

  Much like Whitehorse, Prince George had been purchased by an alien species, a Clan of Khminnie. By the time they purchased it, six months into the System change, the population had shrunk significantly. Now, nearly half of the population is made of the Khminnie, the lizards owning and running all the important shops and services with humans relegated to being second-class citizens.

  Still, the humans here are happy for the most part, at least according to Ali. Living as a second-class citizen might not be ideal, but it is living. It’s easy to say you’d never give up a little freedom for safety when you’re behind a computer, resting in a warm home with a full stomach. It’s another when you’ve spent every day of a year fearing for your life.

  Soon enough, we’re waved into a house. Inside, a massive eight-foot-tall Khminnie sprawls on the floor, casually eating strips of raw meat while he listens to a young human lady playing the cello. I flick my glance over the two, noting the lady’s Musician Class before I lock on the Clan Head.

  Vrymina Ollimar (Level 39 Goldtooth Hunter)

  Title: Clan Head of the Frost Claws

  HP: 3840/3840

  MP: 780/780

  Conditions: None

  Damn. That’s a ton of Health Points. I’ve seen monsters with higher, but never a fighter. Of course, I can’t read the stats for some of those I’ve met, but it’s still impressive. That’s a Constitution of nearly 384, unless he has a Skill or two that enhances it. No doubt that’s no Basic Class but an Advanced one.

  “Greetings, Redeemer,” Vrymina says, sitting up when we come in. He stares at me for a second before he twists his head in an angular direction, almost as if he’s offering me his neck.

  Unconsciously, I mimic the motion before his gaze shifts to Lana, Mikito, and Sam. Ingrid’s ghosting around town, not willing to trust them yet.

  “Greetings, Clan Head,” I say, bowing to him. “This is my party.”

  I quickly introduce everyone, watching as the pleasantries complete. Once again, I’m thankful that the language downloads the System sells include a series of basic courtesies and customs from the language purchased. Thankfully, general Galactic custom is that one must abide by the rules of the world that you currently visit.

  Which makes certain worlds less popular. The Wiblox are golem-like creatures who swap minor body parts upon meeting a new individual, each body part imprinted with their own aura. Visitors are expected to lop off their own minor limbs when visiting, which obviously doesn’t work well for most races.

  “Tell me, is your party open to taking on a small request from us?” the Clan Head says, getting around to why he invited us to visit him. Not that we were going to turn down the Clan Head after adding a few hundred refugees to his population.

  “Uhh…” I glance back toward my friends. The plan had been to stop, Shop, and hop. After all, if the Town is settled, it certainly doesn’t need us.

  “It’s a small matter, and one that we can certainly make worth your while,” Vrymina says, leaning forward.

  “Well, it can’t hurt to look,” I say, curious now.

  Quest Received

  Collect 150 Lumar Hide Pieces

  Reward: 20,000 Credits, improved relations with Frost Claws

  Accept Quest (Y/N)

  “I’m guessing those are System-registered skins?” I send to Ali when I see the notification.

  “Got it in one, boy-o. ‘Course we could get the bodies skinned too,” Ali says, and I nod.

  With a little prodding, I get a full description of the target beast, including their average Level of 48. The Lumar are quadpedal creatures with wide mouths, serrated teeth, and tiny ears, with antenna instead of noses and a high resistance to damage due to their scales. Since we get between four to seven pieces of hide from each monster and they work in herds, it’s not an impossible task.

  “I recall seeing many strong warriors in the Frost Claw clan on our way here…” I say leadingly, curious as to why he’d offer us this quest.

  “They are. However, we have great need for many things. In a month, my clan will be taking part in a large gathering and we must bring many gifts. These hides were rare, found only in one other world before your world’s introduction to the System. After being transported here though, these beasts have flourished and are now more populous than in the areas we have access to on their original world. Bringing these hides to my people will bring us great prestige,” Vrymina explains unabashedly.

  While the hides might initially be in great demand, once they start flooding the market, the price is likely going to drop too. Still, that was a problem for someone else. We’ve got a decent quest.

  “May I have a word with my friends?” I ask and, after getting an easy agreement, pull the group aside. It doesn’t take long before I come back with our answer. “We accept. If you’ll excuse us, Clan Head…”

  “You will not stay to feast?”

  “No. Perhaps once we are done,” I answer, bowing slightly to the lazing reptile-man.

  Outside, Mikito turns to me and informs me of the decision the group has come to without my input. “Two groups. Lana, Sam, and Ingrid. Me and you.”

  “Not three?”

  “No. Sam needs more levels and experience first,” Mikito says with a shrug. “And I don’t have the carrying capacity.”

>   “Right.” I nod slowly. With Lana’s pets, they can cover a lot more ground and even carry some of the carcasses on the puppies if desired. “Ali, which way?”

  “North and west. We’ll be heading into the forest around there,” Ali replies, flicking his hand to send a map. Within it is a quick display of monsters that we had come across, as well other information about recent Lumar sightings. Most of it was second-hand information, of course, but it was enough for us.

  In bike mode, Mikito’s PAV looked similar to mine. Sleek, modern lines, inflatable tires which could—and usually did—convert to anti-gravity plates. She had even gone with the austere black paint job. In power-armored mode though, the differences were significant. Sleeker and less armored, hers was also surprisingly more responsive than Sabre. She’d sacrificed armor and strength for greater levels of agility, allowing the mecha to supplement her combat style. Mikito had also sacrificed most of her long-range weapon options, instead using mobile, surface-level shields for added protection. On top of that, an ephemeral outline of ghostly armor shrouds the mecha, her Class Skill activated.

  I marvel at the way the woman moves, dancing through the herd of Lumar with her naginata, the blade slicing and dicing. Each movement opens a new cut along a creature’s hide, her petite figure moving so fast the Lumar never manage to catch up with her. We’d lucked out and found a herd of eleven, nearly double the normal size, grazing at a waterhole. The moment we spotted them, Mikito rushed into the group to take them on, leaving me to deal with the ugly brown-assed monster in front of me.

  Lumar Alpha (Level 64)

  HP: 1973/2080

  MP: 430/430

  Condition: Annoyed

  I’ve just unloaded the Inlin’s full load of projectiles into its body and watched them bounce off, doing little but bruise it. I don’t need Ali to know that the Alpha probably has a physical damage resistance Skill of some sort. As the Inlin reloads, I trigger the sonic pulser, curious to see if it will have any effect.

  Enraging your opponent is an effect, right?

  Dancing out of the way, I snarl and cut at the monster, watching my blade slice into its hide. It spins quickly on its four feet, grey hide flaring and gaining a purple sheen. I don’t have time to pay attention though, as a trio of Lumar break away from the group that have been attempting to attack Mikito and rush me, drawn by the Alpha’s call.

  I jump, triggering the anti-gravity plates for a second to aid my gravity-defying leap, and launch some of my mini-missiles at them. They fly down, sticky insta-cement stored inside the missiles spraying out and solidifying around the monsters, hampering their movement as it sets. While moving backward, I trigger my other Skills, sending multiple blade slashes at the trapped group. Blood sprays, flesh parts, and bone shows under the onslaught of Blade Strikes, the blue crescents of force damaging the trio.

  Then gravity asserts itself. I never make it all the way down; the Alpha having estimated where I would land charged my falling form. It slams into me, sending me spinning through the air. Sabre’s shield flares, its integrity beleagured as I spin through the air and tear apart a couple of trees.

  When I finally get back on my feet, the Alpha is halfway to me. I raise the Inlin, unloading the weapon once more even as I run to the right. The Alpha snarls, eyes narrowing as it realizes I’m not targeting it but its trapped comrades. Unlike the Alpha, the rest of the Lumar aren’t that tough and the projectiles punch into their mangled flesh. A part of me notes that we’re not likely going to get any additional hide pieces from those mangled bodies.

  After that, it’s a matter of kiting the Alpha, using Blade Strikes whenever I get far enough away, and dodging otherwise. Tough and powerful as it is, without the help of its friends, it can’t box me in. It only surprises me twice more—the first being the stored kinetic attack it uses to rip apart Sabre’s and my Soul Shield, and the second when it temporarily summons the spirits of its fallen comrades. Luckily, it pulled that trick when it was close to death and its friends disappeared when we focused our attacks on the Alpha.

  “That… was interesting,” I said, gesturing to where the spirits were.

  “Yes.” Mikito tugs her naginata out of the skull of the Alpha, glowering at the figure and staring at her mangled arm armor. “You don’t mind I jumped in, do you?”

  “Har. No, you do more damage than I do,” I say frankly. “There’s a new armor-piercing attack, isn’t there?”

  “Yes.” Mikito pauses before continuing. “You’ve been slacking off in the fighting recently.”

  “Eh. You guys need the experience and well…” At Mikito’s prompting, I continue. “I’ve been thinking about the nature of experience. Ever wonder about what experience actually is?”

  “No.”

  I stare at the young lady and sigh. Of course she didn’t. Mikito seems quite happy to take the world as it is, beating up monsters and Leveling rather than probing into the details of the System. Truth be told, she’s probably had more important things to deal with. Most people are like her, especially since the Fool’s Quest is something only idiots like me feel the need to pursue. “Don’t worry about it then.”

  “No, tell me.”

  “Okay. So what is experience? We get it by killing monsters, completing quests, and in some cases, fulfilling our Class pre-requisites. But what is it?” I say, then pause. “There’re a few leading theories in the books I’m reading.

  “Firstly, the stress theory. ‘Experience’ could be shorthand for the changes our bodies undergo when we’re stressed—so the higher the stress level, the higher the chance our body has to accept changes created by the System. There are numerous theories about why—nanomachines that need to burrow deeper or intrinsic Mana alterations by the System are just a couple—but it helps explain why in a disparate Level group, the lower Level individuals receive more experience than the higher Level ones. But in the same encounter, without the higher-Level individual, the lower Levels would get even more experience. More stress, right?”

  Mikito nods, frowning. “And quests?”

  “That’s where it breaks down a bit. After all, we’ve completed the quest, why would we get experience? Some people say it’s actually our experience already, just stored up during the process of completing the quest and given out at once. Others say it might actually be the quest giver’s experience—the nanobots or Mana or whatever, accumulated by the individual but stored offsite to be distributed later. It’d explain why quests really only come from higher-level individuals or via quest boards,” I say. “The second theory that I personally like is the Mana siphon theory.”

  Mikito nods, having looted the bodies and started walking out of the clearing, forcing me to follow as we hunt for more monsters.

  “Well, experience in this theory is just the System rewarding us for being good Mana siphons. The more Mana we use—say, in a fight—the more experience we get. The more likely we’ll use Mana—and survive to do it—the more experience we get, which gets us Levels to use it more. Of course, it also encourages us to not fight stupidly hard monsters and die or pick on creatures we can beat by flicking our fingers,” I say. “This theory relies on the System wanting us to use Mana, but…”

  “You like it,” Mikito states. “But why sit back?”

  “Sam and Lana need more levels—so whether it’s more stress or more Mana use, me helping doesn’t add to their experience. I’ve also got Ali tracking my experience gains recently while I don’t fight and just practice my Spells and Skills. I wanted to see which, if any, made sense and how different it was compared to the books I’ve been reading. Did you know that you gain Mana on a regular basis even if you aren’t fighting? Not a lot, but it’s a non-zero amount.”

  “No. But why are you doing all this?”

  “Well, most of the experiments were run on stable, non-Dungeon planets. I figured if I can get a series of baselines, we could run the numbers backward using some of the formulas presented and debunk them or potentially improve
on a few.” When Mikito just continues to give me a blank stare, I add, “If I can do that, I can publish a paper in the System with my findings. I might even make a few Credits.”

  Mikito stares at me for a long moment before she turns her mecha away, walking off without a word. I can almost hear the word “Baka,” even if she doesn’t say it. Okay, fine. My hobbies might be a little weird, but I’m trying to find something a little more productive than being a combat junkie.

  Chapter 6

  Finishing the quest took a few days of hunting, more of the time spent actually locating the damn monsters than fighting. What was that saying? Hours of waiting and a few minutes of heart-pounding terror? Either way, the Clan Head was suitably thankful and approved the quest completion immediately once we got back. He even waived the charges on the butchering, which boosted our Credits a bit.

  Since I had no current needs in the Shop, I decided to save my Credits, though Sam took the opportunity to go shopping. He refused to show us what he bought though, muttering about it “not being ready.” The most I could get was that instead of buying completed pieces, he elected to put together his equipment himself.

  Other than a few grateful refugees who slowed us down when we left, leaving the alien-owned town was pretty simple. Not surprisingly, there’s a significant drop in the number of people who follow us. Most of those who come have family or friends they desperately need to meet.

  The drive down to Kamloops was long and boring. Since most of the settlements near Prince George had been cleared of survivors, we had no reason to stop and instead journeyed south directly. It wasn’t until we hit 100 Mile House that we found signs of any living being, and in this case, it was a small and entirely unfriendly group of humans. Deciding that we’d prefer not to damage our equipment, we left the gun-happy group to their own devices and swung around the survivors to head to Kamloops.