At the ranch house, we turn in our finds. We add the assortment of food to the growing stockpile, and we sell the various other items to Chugg at the Shop. The lanky old man buys everything with a smile and a nod. I make sure to buy a beer from the man before I question him too much.
“Chugg, when we purchased Shop access, you showed up a little while later out of the blue. You’ve got some kind of weird dimensional storage, access to, and a nearly unlimited supply of, anything we can think of. Are you a real person or some kind of NPC?”
My side-eyed look elicits a chuckle from the Shop owner. He replies in his satirical Texas whistle.
“My boy, I’m as real as anythin’. Real as this buildin’. Real as the monsters been attackin’ us.”
“Yeah, but the monsters are System created. And this barn has been, for lack of a better term, magically upgraded to be more durable. You sound like you’re from Texas, but how did you already get all of this stuff, and for that matter, show up without being eaten?”
Chugg, with a twinkle in his eye, gives me an answer that I don’t think I want to hear.
“Let’s say you’re dreamin’. Feels real, eh?”
I nod and take a sip of beer.
“When you’re awake, it feels real, too, yeah?”
I nod again, this time much slower.
“Maybe I’m a dream, maybe I’m real. Either way, I’m real to you.”
While I stare off in the distance trying to process that, another customer comes up. Chugg, ever the consummate businessman, provides her with excellent service. I listen for a minute as Kelly sells a few paintings. She profits just enough to replace her supplies and buy a new Talent. When she’s done, I stop her to talk.
“Hey, those pictures are pretty good. What level are you now?”
“Thanks!” The red-haired woman is all smiles. It’s doubly endearing by her dimples and copious amount of freckles. “I hit level four after finishing these. The Talent I just purchased, Efficient Brush Strokes, speeds up anything I do using a brush. Combined with this Tier IX brush I have, I should be able to make a good profit before too long!”
Her excitement is infectious. I congratulate her on a job well done, and as I go to leave, Chugg calls out.
“Hey there, ya know I got a device lettin’ ya see people’s status, right?”
I turn my head to the side. “No? I thought you could only see the stats of monsters and gear and such.”
“Oh no, with an Analyzer, ya can see all sorts of useful information!”
Chugg produces a clockwork monocle from under his table. The gears are small and delicate looking, and the entire thing is made from brass. As with everything else in the Shop, when I look at it I can see the price tag floating in the air nearby: 5,000 Credits.
I don’t have that much, but the Settlement wallet does. We set up a 10% tax on anything sold to the Shop. Though a few complained, no one made an active bid to stop it.
“Eh, maybe later. I only have 1,350 Credits right now. Give me a few weeks and I’ll buy it.”
With a smile and nod, Chugg returns the item.
“What I will take is more information on monsters. We ran across an alpha and I don’t know much about them.”
“Oh, I got whatcha need right here.” Chugg pulls a hardcover book out and lays it on the counter. “This will learn ya everything ya could need on ‘em.”
Fifty Credits later and I’m in the bunker reading Alphas and Their Purpose. I decided to keep the space off limits to everyone else after I found several people having sex in it. Changing the vault door lock was easy: bring up my System menu, access building controls, set the combination, and voilà. Further customization is available through the Shop, of course, but the Settlement wallet doesn’t have anywhere near the funds.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
Never one to start at the beginning of a technical guide, I flip to a section that sounds interesting.
“Alpha monsters serve two purposes. The first, and most important, is the organization of groups of monsters. Alphas naturally draw in like species, forming large packs in a specific area. This prevents non-alphas from randomly wandering around, and upsetting other species. Though the threat level of a large pack of monsters is high, the long-term benefits far outweigh the risks.
“Their second purpose is proliferation. Alphas increase the frequency of mating and decrease gestation times by an average of 50%. This varies from species to species, of course. Studies have shown that the more rare the species is, the higher this increase becomes.”
I go to another section.
“The frequency of alpha occurrence is seemingly tied to the density of a species in a given area. Density requirements can be found in Table 1.2 for the most common occurring monster types.
“Alphas appear when there are both too many and too few members of a species in the area. When needed, a normal version of the species will undergo change, turning itself into an alpha. There has been no consensus on what mitigating factors determine which monster will undergo the change.
“Note: if an area is cleared entirely of a specific monster species, alphas will not spontaneously appear. Be advised, normal monsters will still randomly spawn. If the monster density reaches the specified threshold, an alpha will appear.”
That’s an interesting fact: you can’t permanently get rid of monsters. Well, except in Control Zones. I wonder if you can cover an entire world in a CZ? There’s probably a guide in the Shop for that information, but I’m not too keen on spending all my money on knowledge. Not when there’s gear to be purchased. Especially since I lost my hatchet.
The rest of the book is mostly a technical analysis. There’s some general information, though none of it is of particular interest or usefulness. When I'm tired of it, I place the guide on a bookshelf. I could buy a digital copy, but something about a physical object appeals to me. Plus, a digital version of a copyrighted book is non-transferrable. Physical versions have no such restrictions.
A little after dark, a knock on the vault door brings me into a conversation with Andy. Being the group's only Rogue, he’s been leading a small scouting party. Though he doesn’t look it, the shortish, chubby African-American man is quick and nimble. System enhanced attributes are a hell of a thing.
“We just got back from scouting that warehouse they’re building behind the Love’s. It’s still mostly a shell, but it’s partially stocked with goods. Lots of equipment, too.”
My eyebrows go up. “Seriously? That’s going to be so beneficial.”
“Right. The trick will be getting it all over here.” Andy pursed his lips. “We really need to find some horses and get a cart or trailer or something. We counted almost a hundred pallets.”
The transportation of large quantities of scavenged loot is a problem. People’s inventories can only hold so much, and as we clear the houses further and further out, it takes longer to find more things.
“Were there any issues?”
“Not really. A few monster packs, some weird vegetation, and we ran off people squatting inside. They were on the far side and darted the second they saw us.”
“How about the Love’s?”
“Looted. It seems there are other survivor groups out there with the same ideas. There’s still a lot of semis in the lot. The ones we checked had generic manufacturing parts.”
Andy shrugs as he pulls out a snack. I nod as I contemplate the new information.
“Ok, let’s get some ideas from everyone else. Might be time for us to make a bigger excursion and haul back a bunch at once.”
Giving a nod in agreement, Andy heads back upstairs but stops just outside the vault door. “Don’t forget, the cemetery dungeon opens tomorrow sometime.”
I thank the Rogue for the reminder and sit back down. Stretching out, I lay my head back on the couch. So much to think about.
I bring up the Settlement menu and contemplate on how to improve things. Even if I don’t know the total funds we’ll bring in, it helps to know how it’ll be spent. Carcosa’s wallet sits at 6K. The 10% tax rate is helping, though not enough. We need a windfall.
First on the list of items to get are defensive walls. Right now, the ranch house and barn sit in the middle of a field. The open area makes it easy to spot things from the guard towers, but at night, monsters still roam too close for comfort. For 25,000 Credits, the Control Zone will be surrounded by eight feet tall, three feet thick, stone and wooden ramparts. Those will keep wandering monsters at bay and provide a means of proactive defense.
Next are a variety of buildings. The ranch house, as big as it is, is getting cramped. Chugg’s Shop offers building kits, ranging from workshops to single-family homes. He assures me he’ll have more options available once our Settlement increases to a Hamlet. The cheapest home, a Tier X Single Occupant Cottage, is little more than a thatch-roofed, dirt floor hut. At only 500 Credits, I wonder why people haven’t bought their own yet. Then I remember there’s cheap booze and depression.
The workshops are far more expensive, but also much larger and more sturdy. Workshop kits can be purchased for each type of crafter, giving bonuses for quality and speed. When we get more people, and have access to reliable amounts of materials, it'll be important to squeeze out every bonus we can.
Ha! Look at me being administrative. My days as a paper pusher in the military really stayed with me.
Letting out a yawn, I check my System clock and see it’s late. There’s going to be a lot of work tomorrow, like always, so I hit the sack. I make sure the vault door is secure, and then go into the bunker’s bedroom and crash.