12
Powers
With such a large group searching the sector should have been quick and easy. That was the case, but for the wrong reasons. While the Thaslo were unnaturally quick studies and took to their English lessons incredibly well, they didn't have Luke's skills. Only Luke, AJ, and Jasla were able to read the documents that were left behind well enough to judge whether they would be of use. That didn't turn out to slow them much though as the Data sector had been razed.
They couldn’t tell who had done it but the destruction was too precise to have been an accident. There was no damage to the sector itself but someone had gathered all the papers and files from the hundreds if not thousands of file cabinets, piled them up with all the removed hard drives and storage devices, then burned the whole thing. They had even stuck around to turn the fire and make sure it all went up.
Only the files that were hidden and forgotten survived. A few briefcases with partial files and a flash drive that had fallen between two desks were all they could find and recover. Luke wasn't surprised when one of the briefcases held the notebook Nomed had asked for, that meant they had all of the notes that were requested and just needed to upgrade Luke's implant and send the info off. Or think of something else, they hadn't decided yet
The rest of the files they recovered were of little use. Only one of them held any interesting information, it talked about a raid on a settlement that the research facility had been allied with. The file was only a partial and didn't say where when or by who they had been raided.
The flash drive was a bit more interesting. It had a few files on it, a map, a video, and a handbook. The entire drive was meant to be distributed to new Surface Operatives to study before being sent on their first mission. Luke skimmed the handbook first which mostly detailed the chain of command and protocol when dealing with unforeseen issues in the missions. The video was more interesting by far. AJ, Luke and Jasla watched it together while the rest of the group checked for anything that had been missed.
When they pulled up the video Janet and a stern looking man in a uniform and a military buzz cut appeared.
Janet spoke to the camera, “Welcome new recruit. You have elected to defend and aid your home and family in the most direct way. The facility is not just a research base anymore but the home and last bastion for thousands. Not everyone is capable of protecting themselves in this harsh world, so we call on the brave and strong to shield us. You are the shield that protects us all, myself included, from the harsh outside world. I and the rest of the people here thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
Commander Hale is here with me and has agreed to give you an overview of some of the dangers you may face as well as the things you need to watch for when outside. The Commander started just as you are now but through caution and wisdom he survived and rose to be the head of Surface Operations in just twenty years. Listen and heed his words brave soldier.”
Commander Hale nodded to Janet and continued with a gravely voice, “The first rule of Surface Operations is, DO. NOT. SEPARATE. FROM. YOUR. SQUAD. There is safety in numbers. The world is a changed place from the one you see in the movies and books. It is a harsh place with no forgiveness and no mercy. You may have heard rumors but I will put those to bed now. Yes the casualty rate for surface missions is high. This year we have lowered the rate to 3% from last year’s 4%. That means a squad of ten will lose a soldier about once every four missions on average. That is unacceptable! Your commanding officer, your trainers, and I aim to bring that number to zero. We will do this by cramming everything you need to know into your heads until we are confident you wont accidently die within minutes of leaving.
The surface is dangerous for innumerable reasons. The number one killer though is being separated rom your squad and being lost or attacked on your own. DO. NOT. SERAPATE. FROM. YOUR. SQUAD.”
The commander walked to a table with various tools and gear and picked up a high tech looking gun, “Standard issue rifles with M tempered corelite rounds. You will maintain and train with your weapon every day that you are not deployed.”
He picked up a vest and showed it to the camera, “Rapid hardening non-Newtonian gel armor. Lighter than traditional bulletproof vests and more versatile. These will stop anything shy of a cannonball to the chest. Wear them, there is no excuse to take it off.”
Next he held up a familiar PDA, “Your eyes and your guide. These devices are sturdy because you WILL die without them. They are your radios, your maps, your bestiary, your encyclopedia, your lifeline, your friend, your lover. Do not lose these. Sacrifice your arm before letting go of this.”
He put everything down and leaned on the table, “Your specific job will have specialized equipment. Your squad needs each member to be functional. If you hold back your squad because of ill maintained or lost equipment, you are killing your teammates, your brothers and sisters. Keep your gear at peak condition.”
He moved over to a map of the world projected on the wall, “Aside from whatever threat and dangers inherent in your mission, there are several dangerous groups and individuals that you are required to be aware of.”
He shined a laser on Greenland, “We are here, the area has multiple advantages that we have had near exclusive access to for a hundred years. I wont go into detail but suffice to say, others will want what we have.”
He pointed at Russia, Europe, and North America in turn, “Our nearest neighbors host what we refer to as Stationary Major Powers. Russia is home to a war that has been raging for longer than anyone knows. A society of Vampires lives in symbiosis with their human cattle in the west, they war with Werewolves from the east. Both sides have created incredible weaponry, if either side gains an advantage over the other and proves victorious then it could be possible for them to take over the rest of the planet.
Europe is host to Dragons. Its not clear where they came from but the Dragons appeared in great numbers sometime around the Great Destruction. The Dragons might be capable of laying waste to entire countries on their own but there are few enough of them and they seem content to control their own territory.
North America is a shell of its Pre-Destruction self, however there is a semblance of civilization there. Many of the old cities have been rebuilt and inhabited again. The people there are mindless drones working to serve a group of powerful individuals we only know as The Illuminated.
It is possible that you may run into an individual serving one of these Major Powers. Your Information package has an interactive map with information about each Major Power we know about, where they are based out of, and how you should handle encounters with each. You are required to memorize them and pass a quiz before being allowed to deploy.
Any interactions with outsiders is to be reported immediately, regardless of the nature of the interaction. Any questions about the Powers should be directed to your commanding officer or the Power Relations department in the Surface Operations sector.
It is your primary duty to survive and bring your squad mates back alive as well. Anything less is unacceptable.”
The video ended and the three looked at each other for a moment before all talking at once
“Vampires and Werewolves?”
“What are Dragons?”
“The Illuminated sound like…”
With a chuckle Luke held up a hand, “Let’s just check the information in the map they mentioned.”
They pulled up the map and looked over the information. Several areas had been highlighted as territories for various Major Powers. On the side there was a menu that pulled up information on Powers without known territories as well.
Luke clicked through and found pages on Nomed and Adrian first. Nomed was almost entirely unknown and given a danger rating of 87 out of 100. They would contact people and tell them the task they would perform. No one refused a task from Nomed, no one had found a reason to. All the tasks that they had on record were simple things and Nomed always rewarded effort, usually with valuable information. Nomed seemed to know things that should be impossible to know and had access to inaccessible networks. The stated protocol when encountering a message or servant of Nomed was to take note of everything they said and don’t attempt to impede them. The only possible weaknesses was a suspected gap in understanding of M energy, or possibly M energy was able to change things beyond Nomed’s knowledge.
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Adrian, codenamed Sandman, was more well known. Someone had their body destroyed in an accident during an experiment involving M energy. Their body was destroyed but their mind entered a dream world. Their mind skips from one dream to another where they gain full control over the dreamscape and those within. They are completely unable to affect the physical world in any real way, but have enlisted several spies in various Major Power’s area of influence. Their goals weren’t known but information gathering and seemingly random sabotage were the main tools in their arsenal. Their danger rating was 65, but they had no known weaknesses. Any contact was required to be reported immediately and monitoring of the contacted individual would follow. Most people weren’t interesting enough for the Sandman to bother with so they weren't considered a large threat.
Luke went on to look for the members of his Seconds project. Janet obviously didn’t have an entry since this was her operation, but none of the others did either. After giving it some thought Luke tried the Horsemen names from the message Janet had left him and found what he was looking for.
Rick, codenamed War, had built a high tech lab in a volcano somewhere right after the war. Hundreds of robots spread across the land until he pissed off a Dragon. The dragon destroyed his volcano lab but he managed to escape and disappeared for a long time. Eventually someone discovered mining drones collecting every sort of material one could imagine from uninhabited areas and oceans. Tracking the drones revealed a massive space station being built in orbit. Danger rating, location, weaknesses, everything was unknown. The page said if contact was made to abandon everything and contact Janet fifteen minutes ago.
Kevin, codenamed Death, had set up a city in Alaska. Security was incredibly tight but prisoners had been taken and interrogated revealing that they had made implants that built up their users abilities slowly over time making them superhuman. The implants had been used during the war but Kevin continued the work and perfected them. Several other projects were being worked on in the city but the prisoners didn’t know anything about them. Whenever attempts were made to remove or study the implants, the host would die and the implant would burn itself out. Danger rating was only 39 because none of the people with implants liked to work in groups. Weaknesses were overwhelming them with numbers, and the protocol when encountering someone with a suspected implant was to capture them alive.
Luke found his original under the Famine codename but nothing was known even before the end of the war. It was suspected he either died or was in hiding.
They spent some time looking over the other entries, many of them were interesting, if unbelievable. South America was home to a civilization of undead ruled by a lich, they were very polite and considerate according to everyone who had met them. Somewhere in Asia was a witch named Gretel who protected a town from threats in exchange for their children. The witch would drain their children of their youth. No one knew where exactly they were and it seemed the town moved. There was a tower in Africa several miles tall that housed a society of wizards attempting to master M energy.
Most of the Powers were not tied to a location and would pop up from time to time to stir up trouble. The running theme though was some form of ability to survive the world, usually by using M energy. Many of the powers were suspected of some form of immortality or at least agelessness, and that conclusion didn't seem as far fetched as it would have a month ago. Janet was clearly ageless since she was at least a few centuries old when they abandoned the base, and now Luke was as well thanks to the modifications to his body.
With their curiosity sated, Luke loaded the information into his PDA and helped the team check the rest of the sector for threats. They had swept for information already but Jasla insisted they specifically check for anything dangerous before clearing it for the tribe to enter.
Luke started to feel a bit of melancholy now that the end was in sight. There was only one more sector between them and Surface Operations. They would clear out the Security sector and loot anything that wasn’t nailed down, and there would be nothing left to stop them from leaving. Their target was the city in Alaska that Kevin had built. It wasn't clear how old and possibly out of date the information on the Powers they had found was, but Nomed and Adrian were both still around and Nomed had tasked them with upgrading Luke's implant. That would have to be done at Kevin's city so Luke was confident that it still existed at least.
The short time he had been in this messed up place Luke had made friends. AJ would be coming with him but the whole Thaslo tribe would be staying behind. Hopefully he would find some way to travel quickly so he could visit, but it would be sad to leave them.
The group gathered up in the room before the Security sector where Jasla went over her plans for the next clear. The Security sector promised some good gear since the security teams would need weapons and protection. The Weapons sector was nice but most of the weapons were gone or didn’t work, Security on the other hand should only have properly functional gear.
A new message appeared while Luke listened to the briefing.
Data reconstruction complete
Corrupt file restored
View restored file?
Yes
The familiar window appeared and a manic but perhaps not yet insane Kevin stepped into frame, “Hey L2, I mentioned before I was working on another project while still working on the Seconds program. Well you’ve already got the end result in your head!”
Kevin’s smile was so wide it hurt Luke’s face, “It’s called the RPG Implant, so far you wont have noticed much besides the weird messages, that’s the system I built and am installing into the clones. No one besides me and the clones will know.”
Kevin closed his mouth and spoke out the side in a raised pitch, “What does it do? How does it work?”
He clapped, “I’m glad you asked. I’m sure you’ve played RPGs before, and maybe you’ve read some LitRPGs. Its basically a chip that connects to your body and brain and acts like an RPG system. It quantifies your body, your health and strength and thoughts and everything else. You can view what you body is capable of by saying ‘Status'. I will let you figure out most of the other commands, its more fun without a tutorial right? That being said I will tell you that its not magic just science and physics. You’ll gain points that you can distribute as you experience and do things but dumping them all into strength won’t make you suddenly able to lift a car over your head. Rather it will spend time modifying what your body does subconsciously to boost it.”
Kevin giggled madly and Luke wondered if he may have been wrong about Kevin being insane already, “I’ll explain, so say you double your strength value, it will take a few weeks or so and while you’re living your life normally. Your body will slowly build more muscle mass and density without your intervention. You’ll also be able to learn skills by downloading them into the chip and they will slowly feed into your brain. The chip can learn and adapt to make it even easier to do just about anything. I’m working on some add-ons both hardware and software for it. Everyone needs DLC right? But basically just think of it as your own little RPG system. Eventually I will talk Janet into adjusting the growth vats to speed the stat adjustments and even add cool shit like wings. Anyway I’m looking forward to being an RPG superhero with you man.”
End of restored file
No further corruption detected
Luke took a moment to process before saying, “Status"
Name: L2
Race: Modified Second
Class: Datamancer
Stats:
Strength: 23
Constitution: 31
Endurance: 25
Dexterity: 15
Intelligence: 21
Wisdom: 9
Free points: 42
Skills: minimized
“What the hell?”
There was way too much to unpack there. Luke figured out that the implants Kevin made to create super soldiers was the same as his own, but an RPG? Luke had played a lot of those games and enjoyed them as much as the next guy but this was too much.
Now he was going to go upgrade this thing. What sort of nonsense would it cram into his head when he did that? Hell, what sort of nonsense was in there already? He hadn't known about the ‘Status' command and Kevin implied there were a bunch of other commands, what else could this thing do?
And another thing, why did all the screwy bullshit with the implant and its messages always happen when he was about to step into some important situation and everyone was around him staring.
“You have that far away look again,” Jasla noted
Luke sighed and tapped his temple, “Yea, it’s this implant thing, it’s been giving me messages from the past. It’s done now I think"
“What sort of messages?”
“The kind that say my friends and I were all crazy monsters.”
Jalsa hummed thoughtfully, “Crazy sure, but monsters? No. You saved my people even when they had tried to kill you. I don't know your friends from before, but your friends now love you. You are one of the Thaslo now, we are Survivors not monsters.”
Luke smiled, “I hope you’re right”
Jasla smiled wickedly, “Of course I’m right, I’m always right, I tried to be wrong once but … shit AJ how does it go again?”
Luke chuckled as his friends started bickering. He didn't know who did what in the past but with friends like these maybe the future wouldn’t be so bad. Besides even if it was they would just have to make it better with their own effort.