System message: 30 hours and 45 minutes until implementation of Universal Development System.
“I don’t know when I’ll get off, Cade. It’s kinda crazy right now,” my dad’s voice echoed in my earbuds. “I spoke with Ms. Brown and she said you can stay there until I can get away.”
I groaned, “But Dad, I can take care of myself at our place. It’s just down the street.”
The couch in the Brown’s house wasn’t as comfortable as my bed. Not by a long shot. And today, Jayden and Hanna had been getting on each other’s nerves over everything. I missed my bed.
Dad wasn’t having any of that. “I don’t care if they’re next door, Cade. I don’t want you being alone. Not right now.”
“I wish Mom was still alive,” I shot back, letting my irritation get the better of me.
The line went silent for a heartbeat. Then Dad sighed, “You and me, too, Caden. Not a day goes by I don’t miss her. But that doesn’t change things here and now. The neighborhood is too close to the edge of town, too close to the state park. Hell, I had to put down a doe this afternoon when it tried to attack me.”
After I gave him my word, I wouldn’t stay the night at home, Dad said, “I love you, Son. Stay safe and I’ll see you soon.”
When I slid the phone into my pocket, Jayden opened the front door, “Hey, man, if you’re finished shooting the shit with your old man, come on out here. You’d never guess we’re under martial law.”
We live in a small neighborhood, on the east side of town. The homes were not new, nor were they particularly old. They were filled with people like my dad and Jayden’s mom. Working-class families. In fact, as the warm wind of summer ruffled my brown hair, most of the neighborhood seemed to be out, enjoying the warmth of early evening, martial law or not.
I sat on the porch next to Jayden and watched a couple of kids playing basketball on their driveway a few houses down, Jayden nudged me, “Discover anything new about the system yet?”
I shook my head, “Aside from the stats? Not really. Most of the time, when I ask it anything, all I get is Error. This information is not yet available. You?”
Jayden spat a stream of spit into the browning grass. “Nope. Been thinking about my weapon, though.”
My eyebrows arched, “Yeah?”
I swear he puffed his chest out, “You remember when we went to the Renaissance Faire last year? I bought that long sword.”
I scoffed, “That chunk of metal? Shit looks like they made it in China.”
Jayden elbowed me, “Screw you. At least I didn’t beg your dad until he bought you that ridiculous Robin Hood vest.”
My cheeks turned scarlet. “It’s not a vest. It’s a suede gambeson.”
He chuckled, “You looked ridiculous wearing that thing around.”
I mock-punched him in his arm, “Not as much as you, lugging that hunk of steel.”
We were laughing at the memory when Hanna joined us on the porch, balancing several paper plates loaded with hamburgers, “Eat up, you two.”
I glanced over at her and my stomach flipped. She wore her blond hair pulled back in a ponytail. She wore a form-fitting halter top that made my adolescent brain misfire. She and Jayden were as different as could be. Of course, their mom had been married twice, and they had different dads. Hanna was fair skinned and would burn if she stayed outside in her halter top for too long. Jayden’s dad had been of mixed blood, giving my friend a dark, swarthy complexion and wavy black hair.
When he’d demolished his burger, Jayden turned to his sister, “You figure out what kind of weapon you’re going to start with?”
Hanna set her burger down and let her teeth bite at her lower lip for a moment. “My first choice would be a gun.”
Jayden shook his head and chuckled, “Fat chance. Mom’s frickin’ proud of not have a gun in the house.”
If the Browns were the only family on our street without a gun, it wouldn’t have surprised me. Hanna glared at her brother, “I know. I have those knives my dad gave me last year.”
I’d seen the knives. Hanna’s dad had been in the army when he was younger and had given her a couple of Ka-bar knives when she turned eighteen. They were sharp and lethal.
After inhaling the last bite of my burger, I said, “You could do worse than those.”
She shrugged, “I hope none of that’s necessary. I’d rather keep going to school, if it’s all the same to you.” After another bite, she asked, “What about you, Caden? Got your weapon picked out?”
I leaned back and enjoyed the remnants of the sun on my face. I’d given my choice of weapon lots of thought. “If Dad will let me, I’ll get one of the AR-fifteens from the gun cabinet. I know we’ve been thinking about tanking and fighting in melee. It’d be like the MMOs we play. But I’d rather have some real firepower.”
A shout from down the street interrupted us. “Watch it, there’s a buck an’ he looks pissed!”
All three of us shot to our feet. Sure enough, at the end of the street, a buck with at least eight points charged toward a parked car. Voices rang out, kids’ names filled the air.
“Jimmy, get inside, now!”
“Dannie, forget your hotdog, git!”
A half dozen other voices filled the evening air. After the deer had broken several windows on the first car, he charged toward a house, just as the last of the family slammed the front door.
In all my fourteen years, I’d seen nothing like this; I couldn’t move as I watched the deer swinging his head, heavy with antlers, back and forth, looking for his next target. My blood ran cold as his deranged eyes fell on us. Even though we were half a block away, he snorted and charged.
Hanna snapped out of our shared shock, “Guys, get inside. Now.”
She held the door open and before either Jayden or I could respond, a thunderous blast shattered the air. In mid leap, the deer tumbled and fell to the ground. Our neighbor across the street, Mr. Toliver, stood on his front lawn, lowering the rifle from his shoulder. He shook his head, befuddled, “Y’all get on inside, boys. I’ll call this in to the police.”
We sat in the living room, looking at the dead buck in the middle of the road until we grew tired of waiting for the police to show up. They were a long time coming.
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System message
1 hour, 5 minutes until Earth is integrated into the Universal Development System.
For the umpteenth time, I swiped my phone’s screen, showing me the current time.
The TV droned in the background. The cable news channel was filled with news about animal attacks in various national parks and rioting in several big cities. Strange, but they never mentioned the System or the countdown each of us could see floating in front of our eyes.
“Dude, looking at your phone ain’t gonna make the time pass any faster,” Jayden quipped.
I glared at him. My nerves were frayed. “No shit, Sherlock. Dad was supposed to be home already.”
That seemed to take the starch out of Jayden’s shirt. A loud sigh escaped his lips, “Yeah. Same with Mom.”
Hanna held a Ka-bar knife in one hand and used it to pick at a fingernail, “Did I forget to tell you, Jay? She called an hour ago and said she has to stay and do a double shift–again.”
Jayden swore, “They’ve let her come home once since the System alert, and that for all of twelve hours.”
Before he could say more, I chimed in, “At least you guys have seen your mom. My dad hasn’t been able to get away at all.”
Worry seeped through me. I’d left him a voice mail an hour ago, but he’d not returned the call yet. That wasn’t like him.
The System screen flashed open across my eyes without any prompt.
System message
Earth has completed its synchronization to the Universal Development System. Incorporation will complete in one standard earth hour.
A cursor floated below the message. I held my breath until more text appeared.
Welcome inhabitants of Earth to the Universal Development System. The rules under which your planet has been governed are being reset. The Universal Development System allows you to select four items to incorporate. Items that do not conform to the parameters of the System may not be incorporated. Items that require a skill level you do not possess may not be incorporated.
[4] tokens deposited into your inventory.
You have an Earth standard hour to claim your items. One item must be clothing or armor. One item must be a weapon or a class-specific tool. One item must be a utility item. One item can be any of the above. You can only incorporate gear you are able to use.
The words faded away, replaced by the countdown clock.
59 minutes.
We all shot up from our seats. I blurted, “I’ll be back in two shakes of a bobcat’s tail.”
I had no idea how fast a bobcat can shake its tail, but it’s one of those things Dad said when he was in a hurry. And God knows, I was in a hurry as I bolted out the Browns’ front door.
I unlocked the door to our house.
56 minutes.
My first inclination almost sent me racing to Dad’s room to unlock the gun safe. But I also wanted the gambeson from the Renaissance Faire. I found it in my closet, hanging toward the back. As I retrieved it, I shook my head. The damned thing had cost me half a year’s allowance, and I’d never worn it again. After pulling it on, I tugged at the bottom to make it smooth against my torso. Despite the growth spurt of the past year, it still fit. I wasn’t sure if this was a waste of time, after all, most of what we thought about the system were just wild ass guesses.
54 minutes.
Time was a-wasting. How to use the armor token? The System mentioned an inventory. I scanned the edge of my vision and brought up the system. No good. All it told me was time was counting down. I muttered, “Where the hell are you, inventory?”
Another screen floated into view. There were slots in a grid format. Twenty-four slots. In the first four slots were the tokens. They glowed silver. Just focusing on them told me which one I needed. My hand reached for the armor token, but it moved past the floating inventory screen.
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
52 minutes
Feeling the pressure of the countdown, I tried something else, “Equip the armor token.”
The silvery token disappeared from the inventory. I felt a warm tingling in my palm as the token physically materialized in my hand. Uncertain how to incorporate the gambeson into the System, I held the token against it and said, “System, incorporate this item.”
Attempting to incorporate item into the Universal Development System.
Seconds ticked by. My heart raced because time was my enemy right now.
Success. Armor and clothing incorporating into the Universal Development System.
Warmth washed over me. A soft glow enveloped me. Little specs of light raced around my body until the gambeson and my clothes absorbed them. When the light faded, I glanced at my torso. The gambeson felt different than before; somehow more sturdy. The system seemed to respond to my commands, “System, show me my gambeson.”
A 3D image of the gambeson floated into my vision. To the side of the armor, another screen appeared.
Sherwood Gambeson
Equipable at
Level 1
Quality
Uncommon
Durability
100%
Ranged Attack
+1
Agility
+1
Defense (ranged)
+2
Defense (melee)
+1
Defense (spell)
+0
Sweet! The stats made me think Jayden and I had been right and Hanna had been wrong about the System. Those stats were straight out of the games we played online.
That’s when I noticed my sneakers felt almost like new. “Examine my shoes, System.”
Caden’s Smelly Sneakers
Equipable at
Level 1
Quality
Common
Durability
100%
Ranged Attack
+0
Agility
+1
Defense (ranged)
+0
Defense (melee)
+0
Defense (spell)
+0
A quick check revealed that the token had affected all of my clothing, not just the Ren Faire gambeson. Even my blue jeans had been incorporated into the system, though they didn’t have any stat boosts.
44 minutes
I still had three more tokens to use. I raced to Dad’s room. I felt quicker on my feet, almost like I could do a flip and land on my feet. But I dismissed the thought as I rummaged in Dad’s nightstand and found the key to the gun safe. Even though I’d only watched Dad unlock it, I make fairly quick work unlocking the safe.
42 minutes.
I swore and swung the door open. Some people might call him a gun-nut, but Dad’s collection of firearms wasn’t that unusual in our town. There was his beloved AR15, a shotgun, a couple of hunting rifles and his Quigley Sharps rifle. Near the bottom of the shelf were a few pistols. He had a Beretta and a Sig Sauer; it was identical to the one he carried as a game warden. The last pistol went with the Sharps rifle. It was a Remington conversion revolver.
The AR15 felt light in my hands. When Dad and I went target shooting, it was fun to shoot. Maybe it wasn’t my favorite weapon in the safe, but it could throw more lead downrange than anything else in our little arsenal.
I retrieved the weapon token and held it against the rifle. Then I had an epiphany. The armor token had updated all of my clothing, not just the gambeson. Was that because all the clothing was together? I wasn’t sure.
41 minutes
I pulled an ammo box from the floor of the gun safe and rested the AR15 on top of the ammo box. Once the warmth of the weapon token filled my palm, I held it against the rifle and ammo.
“System, incorporate this item.”
Error.
Unable to incorporate item into the Universal Development System. It is either too technologically complex or it can’t be equipped by a level 1 human, or you lack an affinity for the weapon.
“Shit!”
I picked up the rifle and tried the token again. The same error message appeared.
39 minutes
I returned the weapon to the safe. My hand reached for one of the hunting rifles, but stopped as I eyed the Sharps rifle. Was it too complex for the System? Even though it was a reproduction and not an original, the design was more than a hundred-fifty years old.
37 minutes.
My stomach flipped as time kept sliding away. I grabbed the Sharps rifle and put it on the floor. It was much heavier than the AR15. I found an ammo can with .45/70 ammo at the bottom of the safe and lay the rifle on top of the can.
My heart thundered against my ribs when I placed the weapon token against the weapon and ammo. My voice broke as I uttered, “System, incorporate this item.”
Seconds passed as I waited for a response. After more time than I thought possible, the System responded.
Attempting to incorporate item into the Universal Development System.
Success. Weapon and ammunition incorporating into the Universal Development System.
More light seemed to come out of nowhere, bathing the rifle with a soft glow. More specs of light materialized, infusing themselves into the weapon and ammo can. When the light faded, I practically yelled, “System, inspect my rifle!”
Quigley’s Sharps Rifle
Equipable at
Level 1
Quality
Rare
Durability
100%
Ranged Attack
+6
Agility
+0
Defense (ranged)
+0
Defense (melee)
+0
Defense (spell)
+0
Range:
Calculating…
Damage
Calculating…
32 minutes.
Almost half the countdown was gone, and I still had two more items to link to the System. Still, I wanted to be ready for anything. I unfastened the lid to the ammo can. A soft hue of light faded as I grabbed a single cartridge. It felt strange, so I inspected it.
It was lighter than it should have been. When I tilted the cartridge, I found the problem. The primer cap was gone. So too was all the gunpowder. I swore in anger. There were several hundred rounds of .45-70, and now it looked like the system had made them worthless.
“What the hell, System? What happened to the gunpowder?”
System notice
Gun powder and industrial age propellants are not compatible with the Universal Development System. Chemical propellants used in earth’s weapons may degrade at a faster rate than most non-systemized items.
“What good is it to have a rifle that I can’t use because the ammo doesn’t work?”
Cartridges that have been integrated into the Universal Development System will not degrade and may be used repeatedly when properly infused.
I didn’t understand, and I was running out of time
28 minutes
I found a box of twenty .45-70 rounds at the bottom of the safe. A quick check and they were ready to go. I split the cartridges between my pockets and fed one into the Sharps rifle. At least these would work–I hoped. I had no idea how quickly the gunpowder would degrade.
I tried to integrate the Sig Sauer, but when I was told it couldn’t be integrated, I grabbed the reproduction Remington. It was a conversion, which meant it had originally been made to take black powder and lead balls. Dad had converted it to take .44 caliber pistol cartridges. There were several boxes of ammo for it on the floor of the safe. After my experience with the rifle ammo, I left the pistol ammo alone and grabbed the belt, holster, and a couple of spare cylinders for the pistol and placed them on the floor of the bedroom and held the miscellaneous token against the pistol, “System, incorporate this item.”
Attempting to incorporate item into the Universal Development System.
Success. Weapon and belt incorporating into the Universal Development System.
Three down and one to go! I examined the pistol.
M1858 .44 Caliber
Equipable at
Level 1
Quality
Uncommon
Durability
100%
Ranged Attack
+1
Agility
+0
Defense (ranged)
+0
Defense (melee)
+0
Defense (spell)
+0
Range:
Calculating
Damage
Calculating
It took only a couple of minutes to load the revolver and the cylinders. After I strapped the gun belt around my waist, I discovered my pockets were too full and there was nowhere to add the extra cylinders. Or was there?
“System, bring up my inventory.”
One token remained for a utility item. 23 slots were empty. Could it be this easy?
“System, put the extra cylinders in my inventory.”
My voice echoed in the bedroom with my excitement. Not only had the cylinders disappeared from my hands, they only used a single inventory slot. Just above the cylinders was a number 2. I’d just discovered identical items could be stacked.
System Alert
50XP
Bonus XP awarded. You are the first in your region to discover that identical items may be stacked in your inventory.
20 minutes.
Time was getting away from me. I had to hurry and didn’t have time to explore this. Not yet. I left the incorporated ammo can alone and hurried toward the front of the house. I wasn’t sure if the item I wanted to incorporate could be, but I wanted to try it.
In the attached garage, Dad had a worktable with projects he’d either been working on or kept putting off. There was a fan on one end he used to circulate air while working in the garage. Even though I was certain electricity would soon fail, my curiosity got the better of me and I placed the utility token against the fan.
“System, incorporate this item.”
Attempting to incorporate item into the Universal Development System.
Unable to incorporate item into the Universal Development System. Components within the item are incompatible with the System.
The fan was one of those cheap plastic ones from Walmart. I swore as I looked at the stuff on Dad’s worktable. What else could I find? That’s when I spied something Dad had found when he cleaned out of his grandmother’s house after she passed away. Unlike the fan on the corner of the worktable, this was one of those old metal fans from close to a hundred years ago. The electrical plug had rotted and flecks of hardened plastic had fallen off, exposing the wiring.
13 minutes.
“Shit,” I muttered. I needed to get back over to the Browns’ house. Uncertain what would happen, I placed the utility token against the old metal fan.
“System, incorporate this item.”
Attempting to incorporate item into the Universal Development System.
Success. Utility item incorporating into the Universal Development System.
The silver-like glow enveloped the old fan. The patina of age faded, and the blades became blackened polished metal. The electrical plug faded in front of my eyes, replace by a small silvery box. The electrical cord morphed, becoming a short silvery cord that almost glowed, as if by magic.
I examined the fan.
Model 1914 Table Fan
Quality
Uncommon
Durability
100%
Mana Stored
0/100
Duration when fully infused
8 hours
Not sure how mana might differ in this brave new world, I grabbed the fan and, along with the rest of my equipment, headed back to Jayden’s, where I knocked on the door.
7 minutes.
Hanna opened the door. A belt secured her Ka-bar knives to her hips. She wore khaki cargo pants and a black leather jacket that came halfway to her knees. She gave me a long look before opening the door wide, “Come on it, Jesse James.”
I wanted to say something snappy in return, but despite the way the leather jacket hid her curves, my mouth was too dry and I just nodded as I stepped into the house.
Hanna continued, “Jay is still trying to find something the system will let him use his utility token on. Turns out computers and gaming consoles aren’t compatible. Go figure.”
I found Jayden in his room. The system had integrated his football shoulder pads, but in doing so, had converted them into leather armor that now protected him from the waist up. His football helmet had converted into a leather cap, although the high school team’s mascot was etched into the leather.
The system incorporated longsword seemed both sharper and more deadly than I remembered. It gleamed against the overhead light. I swore as my fingers traced along the blade, “You can shave with that thing.”
He chuckled and ran his finger along his jawline. A faint five o’clock shadow covered his chin and jawline. “Yeah. Let me know when you finally have anything worth shaving and you can borrow it.”
Unbidden, my hand reached for my cheek. It was smooth, not even a hint of peach fuzz. I glowered at him, “I hope you cut yourself next time you shave.”
Jayden chuckled, “I had no idea the system would make it so sharp. Still, not gonna complain. At least not about that. I just gotta find a utility item and nothing in here works.”
I nodded to his computer, “Quit trying to pick high-tech items, doofus. I used my utility token on an old fan.”
He smirked, “A fan? That’s silly.”
Maybe I didn’t know how mana would work, but I wasn’t going to let him get away with making fun of my choice. “You say that now. But wait until the A/C doesn’t work. Don’t ask to borrow my fan then.”
A look came over Jayden. “Oh, shit. Everything not incorporated is going to degrade.”
With a single thought, he made his utility token appear in his hand. He turned and placed it on his bed. “System, incorporate this item.”
Attempting to incorporate item into the Universal Development System.
Success. Utility item incorporating into the Universal Development System.
With a big, shit-eating grin, Jayden fell back on his bed and threaded his hands behind his head. “I’ll take my bed over a fan, any day.”
0:00
System Alert
Incorporation period is complete. The rules under which your planet will be governed have been updated. Welcome to the Universal Development System.
To allow earth’s inhabitants to acclimate to the Universal Development System, certain features will be unlocked as time passes and humanity adapts.
First Unlock: Common spawns will now appear. Level up by neutralizing threats and completing quests.