Worldlink Annotated Archives
Notes on the rise of non-humans, Unit 375664482
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The rise of Anthropomorphic Animals as a species is well known. The advent of the Multiverse System caused many mutations and alterations to Earth and its native life forms. The basic quest known universally as species advancement caused many changes among the local fauna. The nominally intelligent species, such as dogs, pigs, and dolphins, were the first to advance. All species with a brain of some form are given the option to advance, and it only took a single generation for these animalistic species to conglomerate into communities.
Mutants are a bulk category of biological species that do not fall into Human or Anthro categories. The most common factor regarding mutants is the alterations that fall outside the normal limits of said species. This can include additional limbs, or the lack of necessary appendages, deformities that fall into the full spectrum of beneficial to detrimental in nature. These changes broadly do not alter the mental capacity of the base species. Very few animals remain unchanged from the Fall. Many humans also fall into the mutant category as their appearance does not fit human norms. Mutant species often breed true as standard, and many have replaced or are in direct competition with their pre-Fall counterparts.
Variants are the most complex classification we have been able to determine. The Term variant is used as a sub-classification for the primary three species, i.e., Variant Human, Variant Anthro, and Variant Mutant. It is also loosely used as a primary classification due to the nature of these variants. A variant is a being that displays abilities that defy physics and logic. The term variant is used as these beings can pass themselves as normal Anthro, Human, or Mutant. As a general rule, the further from a base species, the less power a variant may wield. Human Variants are considered the most powerful. Anthros are rare variants as their evolution from their base animal is already seen by the System (we presume) to be the limiting factor of advancement. Mutants are the most common variant with many abilities that can breed to the next generation. We believe that the System has put a limiting factor on how far a base species can change from its original form; this includes variant powers.
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***
I’ll figure out what ‘concoct’ means in a bit. There are more significant problems right now—a herd of angry and scared minivan-sized cows and a brush fire. I jam the extractor into the now scorched leather pack. I’ll need to take care of that later. I can feel the cows through my vibration sense, through the ground itself.
They were circling up and making a fuss a ways away from me. Could I recover my bicycle? Especially before someone comes looking at the column of smoke and quickly spreading brush fire? I looked around the area, scanning the skies especially. The sky city folks would leave us muck dwellers alone for the most part, but if we messed around too much, they would take notice. That would not be optimal.
Fuck it. I can get another bike. I have my quest item; that’s way more important than cheap wheels. Tukey had wanted me to try some electric scooter thing for a while now, anyways. I get my bearings and head for the overpass again. I feel the adrenaline crash coming, and my stamina is super low. I feel my burnt hand itch, and I painfully peel off the dead skin as I walk. Regeneration is great, but peeling away skin sloughing off is not so great.
I park myself on the top of the overpass and rest for a little bit. If I’m careful, I can get back home before nightfall. I am skeptical; a lone wanderer was easy pickings for hungry mutants. I eat a slightly soggy and squashed sandwich and drink some water. Repacking my backpack, I start jogging along the broken highway. It was the safest route towards Columbus, not quite a straight shot but close enough.
An hour later, I’m sweaty and walking along in the afternoon sun. I’m closing in on the ruins of suburbia. Dense foliage that is just starting to turn colors as winter announces it’s coming. I keep up the forced march pace I’ve kept up for the last hour. Jog for the count of a hundred, walk for the count of a hundred. I keep watch on the bushes and ruined buildings. I’m moving a bit too fast for my vibration sense to be of much use. I do hear the thrumming of a skyship overhead. It moves across the sky, all sleek lines and unstated luxury. Assholes.
The only thing of note that I encounter is a nest of Cannon Spiders. Thankfully I can phase through a fallen wall and get out of the webbing pretty easily. The annoying things are creepy as hell. Thorax the size of a house cat, with long spindly legs and a butt that shoots baseball-sized gobs of webbing out to fifty feet. I just keep moving. A couple of wanderers but no big or threatening mutants to harass me.
By the time I knock on the apartment door, it is full dark now. Lina thankfully made some noodles, and I devour more than a fair share. I take out the extractor and gather up the Puritan Serum, and put them on the table.
I have to disassemble the extractor partway until I realize it has an easy release for the ‘Mutant Blood, Strong’ vial. I put the two vials next to each other on the table. The dark red blood of the mutant bull looks thick and syrupy. The serum is viscous, like slime. Looking at Tukey, I ask, “How am I going to concoct an advancement serum out of that?”
The old engineer peers at the two and says, “The System didn’t give you any more hints, huh? When you mix them right, I’m sure there will be some sort of reaction and notification.”
“You’re right. The System might leave you hanging on the how but it‘ll let you know when you are complete. What are the right ratios, though?” I reply to him.
Lina perks up and brings over a bundle of plastic measuring spoons and some plastic plates. She plops them on the table. She grins at me, “Experiment time!” Tukey and I watch as she opens the container of bull blood. The scent of the blood is strong, copper and iron and beef. She takes a quarter teaspoon out of the pint of blood and dribbles it on a plate. She then opens the container of the Puritan Serum. The scent is sweet and cinnamon with a strong ozone underlayer. She tries to scoop out a quarter teaspoon, but after fighting with the stringy viscous stuff, she has to get a knife and scrape it off the spoon.
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
When the two substances meet, there is a sizzle, and an acrid nose-stinging odor fills the air. Coughing, Lina mixes the two with a bit of wire from Tukey’s workshop. As they mix, they combine into a black liquid with silver sparkles. I know instinctively that that isn’t the correct ratio. Some voice in the back of my head is urging me to take over.
I take the wire and get a notepad out. I know the serum is more critical, and the blood is a catalyst. How do I know this, you ask? No clue. System shit, I have to assume. I scrape a tablespoon of the pink stuff onto the plate, then add a teaspoon of the blood. Again with the stinky sizzle, the remaining stuff is a dark blue after mixing. I know we are on the right track.
Excited, I go to a ten-to-one ratio, sizzle, stink, and this time it is a pale marshmallow blue. I know it’s a failure, but in the other direction. Into the trash, eight-to-one ratio? Nope. Almost halfway empty on the serum, I know I’m close. Seven to one? DING! The notification hits.
[Quest: Species Advancement 4 of 5 - Successful
Quest Updating…
..
New Quest!
Quest: Species Advancement 5 of 5
Create and Consume A Sufficient Volume of Advancement Serum.
Reward: Species Advancement, Experience
Time Remaining: 23:59:54
Penalty: Secondary Quest Activities]
[DING! Experience Gained! - WARNING: Due to Species Rank, all experience banked, no advancement possible.]
I take the remaining serum and measure it out. With a bit of math, I measure out the correct quantity of the blood and mix them together. The resultant mix is a vibrant cobalt blue; it smells good to me, appetizing. I can tell my body wants it despite whatever is in it. Lina and Tukey watch in horrified fascination as I start to drink.
Initially, it tastes like a blueberry cinnamon smoothie. Then my mouth goes numb. I keep chugging the thick stuff. The silvery particles are hard, too hard to chew, so I just swallow them down too. My throat and sinuses are going numb, and I have to sit. I keep chugging as it gets hard to breathe. The numbness spreads down my throat and across my chest, and I can’t feel my face or ears now. I slam down the container, finished. I feel the notification hit as darkness takes me away.
I wake up on my couch, and I feel amazing. Hanging in my vision is a wall of text. I start parsing it slowly.
[Quest: Species Advancement 5 of 5 - Successful
Rewards granted…
Species upgraded F→E
Species Rank E
*All stats +10
*System Interface Upgraded
*Occupation Selection Unlocked
*Ability Upgrades Unlocked
*Experience gains can now be occupation advancement]
I finally did it: rank E, the first step in many. I sat up and quickly checked my stats.
Name: Izack Hopper
Species: Human, Variant (E)
Occupation: Survivor (F) Level: 1
*Occupation Selections available - see next tab
Basic Statistics
Strength: 10→20
Toughness: 12→22
Dexterity: 14→24
Agility: 15→25
Intellect: 13→23
Cleverness: 17→27
Perception: 10→20
Presence: 8→18
Derived Statistics
Quickness: 25 (Average of Dex/Agl/Clv)
Resistance: 21 (Average of Tou/Int/Pre)
Consumables
Willpower: 210/210 (Resistance x10)
Health: 210/210 ((Str+Tou)x5)
Stamina: 220/220 (Toughness x10)
My powers hadn’t changed at all, but wowzers, my stats had basically doubled and then some. I reread the line about occupations. Next tab? I saw that my interface had expanded, and far more information was available. I could think about the lines, and a tooltip would appear explaining things. I could see the values of my attributes now. I didn’t know what each of them equated to exactly, however. The other tabs I had were; Occupation, Quests, and Abilities. Each of them had a flashing star next to the name. I clicked the Occupation tab.
Experience: 10,342 available
Occupation: Survivor (F) Level: 1
Experience required to advance to level 2: 1000
Spend available experience: [Y/N]
Benefits per level-
+2 Toughness
+1 Dexterity
+1 Agility
+2 Cleverness
+4 attribute points to allocate
Recovery rates are increased as a function of 0.5% x Resistance value.
+10% additional experience gained for surviving dangerous situations.
Note: This occupation can only be trained by an existing Survivor
***Additional Occupation Choices Available***
Additional Occupations can be purchased for 5000 experience x the Number of Current occupations squared. 1st additional occupation = 5000 experience
Occupation: Explorer (F) Level: 0
Experience required to advance to level 1: 1000
Benefits per level
+1 Toughness
+2 Dexterity
+1 Agility
+1 Cleverness
+2 Perception
+3 attribute points to allocate
Movement rates are increased as a function of 0.5% x Quickness value.
+10% additional experience gained for exploring the unknown.
Purchase Explorer Occupation: [Y/N]
Occupation: Engineer (F) Level: 0
Experience required to advance to level 1: 1000
Benefits per level-
+2 Dexterity
+3 Intellect
+2 Cleverness
+1 Perception
+2 attribute points to allocate
Crafting quality is increased as a function of 0.5% x Intellect value.
+10% additional experience gained for designing items.
Purchase Engineer Occupation: [Y/N]
Occupations were like classes in RPGs. As you leveled up in an occupation, it gave you certain benefits. After a certain level, the occupation could specialize. A person could have as many occupations as they could gather experience for. I decided to wait and spend points after I got a handle on my abilities and quests.