I spend a few more minutes going over the details with Brent, mostly about battle formations and strategies. Neither one of us has any real experience with this, and I find myself regretting that Pops isn’t here. He’d know what to do, he’d be more help than I could ever dream of being.
But it is what it is. Pops isn’t here, so I’ll have to be enough.
I also give Brent a heads up about my neighbors, and how their group might pass through here in the near future. He should try to either recruit them in holding down the area, or join them towards downtown. I leave the choice and the details for Brent to figure out.
“Alright, that’s about all,” I say.
I put out a hand, but Brent hesitates.
“Why leave?” He asks. “Stay here with us. You’d be a much better leader.”
I chuckle. “Sorry, I gotta find my own family. But you’ll do just fine.”
I can tell he’s not convinced, but he grabs my hand and shakes it.
“I hope I’ll see all of you alive and well when the siege is over,” I say as I start walking away.
“Same,” Brent says. “Keep safe out there.”
He turns as well, going back to his group where he’s instantly set upon by the others. Sam appears by his side, pointing around and talking a mile a minute in that way kids tend to do when they're excited. They all get to work, and so do I.
This long night is so far from over that it’s not even funny.
----------------------------------------
It’s been about three hours since the initialization of the system, and an hour since I left Brent’s group behind. I’ve since come across another four groups, all in similar conditions. Having learned my lesson the first time, I handle these people much easier.
Same deal as before. Find someone among them that seems to have a good head on their shoulders. Make them the leader, delegate responsibilities, and help them out with some advice before parting. Rinse and repeat.
It slows down my own progress towards Mike’s place, but I can’t not do it. Seeing all of the death and destruction, I know I have to do everything in my power to make things even a little better. To ensure that at least some of us will be alive by the siege’s end.
I finally reach Mike’s area at around two in the night. He lives in one of the sparser parts of town, where people have huge properties lined with wire fences and interspersed with patches of forest. The roads are narrow, some asphalt and some beaten dirt, and I trudge along them on my way. I come across the occasional car, as I’ve done all night long, but all of them are abandoned. Some are even crashed, but to my relief, I don’t find any corpses or injured people.
That’s thanks to the system, I realize. The same thing that’s dooming all of us with the monsters is also saving these people with the rapid healing it grants. I’m not yet sure how to feel about that.
Mike’s house doesn’t look good even from afar. Its immediate surroundings look like they’ve been carpet bombed, the front lawn littered with monster corpses. Trenches a few feet deep are everywhere, as well as waist high dirt walls. Said walls have clearly withstood some nasty assaults, all of them marred by claws and teeth. Most are half-collapsed, leaving behind mounds of dirt.
Now, I’m no expert on anything system related, but I’m pretty certain I’m seeing the aftermath of skills being used. Possibly an earth mage class, and I thank God that Mike had the presence of mind to go along with the system’s appearance. I’d seen too many people tonight that refused to choose their classes, scared and distrustful of the ominous cyan boxes that threatened them with monster sieges.
“Mike!” I call out as I go up his driveway. “Mike! Where are you?”
He doesn’t answer. As I reach his porch, I find his front door wide open. I go in, calling his name over and over again, praying I won’t find his lifeless body. I don’t think I could handle that, I’d shut right down and let the monsters eat me.
What little I can see inside the house paints a grim picture. The interior is utter chaos, overthrown and broken furniture everywhere. A few more monster corpses are scattered around, bleeding out on the carpets and hardwood floors. Some of them had voided their bowels, filling the house with the stench of urine and feces.
I power through, searching the house room by room. Mike isn’t anywhere, either dead or alive.
“Come on, Mikey. Where’d you go?”
I figure he must’ve gone either to our parents’ house or to mine, and we missed each other along the way. That would make it much harder to find him, and I kick myself for not figuring it out sooner. Of course he wouldn’t stay put at home, he’d go out looking for us the same way I did.
I get ready to leave, but before that, I head into the kitchen. All of the running, fighting, and healing I’d done tonight left me hungry, so I want to grab a quick snack from Mike’s fridge. I raid it quickly, coming away with a few slices of pizza that I greedily devour.
“Who the hell puts pizza in the fridge?” I wonder aloud.
Mike still hasn’t gotten over his college habits, I see. He'd been away to Michigan State for the last four years, trying for an engineering degree, and the non-stop time crunch made him eat like a human trash can.
“It's all ramen and pizza,” he'd say, and Mom would get on his case for his junk food habits every time he visited.
He'd returned home a few days ago, and we had some catching up to do. That meant a lot of bar hopping, binge drinking, and meeting up with all of the friends he left behind in Stelver.
I'd only just gotten my little brother back, and now the world is ending.
I swallow the lump that forms in my throat and get my head back in the game. Until I see his corpse, he's not dead. I take a carton of milk out of the fridge as well, twisting off the cap and downing its contents as I close the door with my hips.
I pause, my eyes drawn to the door's smooth surface which is filled with various fridge magnets and post-it notes. Among them, a few notes stand out with that subtle shimmer I’d seen on my own books. They have a faint glow along their edges — some in a gentle, milky white and one, stuck to the center of the door, in a soft orange hue.
I reach out and take the orange glowing note. It instantly turns into cyan mist, getting absorbed into my body as I get a new notification. I retrieve it from the folder and read it.
Quest item added: Note for Jack.
Quest added: Missing Mike.
Check your “quests” tab for more details.
I take the other glowing notes as well, and they also vanish into my body after turning to mist.
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
Collectibles added: Shopping list (x1); To-do list (x1); Jack’s Work Schedule (x1); BBQ with the Fam (x1).
It's about damn time I checked the other tabs, so I head to the dining table. The corpse of a monster lays on it, decapitated and filled with kitchen knives that make it look like a porcupine. I'm both impressed and horrified with Mike's feats. I take a few of the knives for later use, push the corpse off the table, and sit down.
Part of me thinks this is a waste of time. That I should be out there, searching for my family and helping survivors. But if I got a literal quest to find Mike, it might be a huge help in figuring out where exactly he is.
I look through the tabs in the upper right corner of my vision and pick out the one for quests. With a thought, I expand it and start snooping through the contents. I have four quests so far, but I notice that they're not displayed in the order I received them.
Quest: Origins of Mana.
Description: Qi, Prana, Chakra, Karma, or simply, Mana. Whatever the name, many cultures across the cosmos have a mystical energy they believe in and that they attribute a deeper meaning to. This mysterious energy is now a reality for you, as it is for many denizens of the galaxy. Mana is many things: an invader, mutating what it finds; a conqueror which none can oppose; a benefactor, bearing many gifts for its subjects to win their obedience. Countless souls have been driven to madness over the eons in their attempts to discover the origins and true purpose of Mana, yet none have grasped that truth.
Will you be the one to do so, or will you be just another victim of this fool’s errand?
Objectives: You have not discovered any objectives yet. New objectives will be unlocked as you explore the world and discover its wonders.
Clues: You have not discovered any clues yet. New clues will be unlocked as you explore the System and ponder its meaning.
Rewards: Sometimes, knowledge itself is the only worthwhile reward.
Warning: This is a secret quest! Attempting to reveal this quest or any of its details to anyone else that doesn’t also have it will result in immediate termination!
I stare at the quest for a while, captivated by all it has to say. My curiosity is through the roof, but I remind myself that I don't have time right now. It's something for me to tackle later, if ever.
Good thing I looked it over, though. I didn't discuss any system stuff with anyone yet, but if I slipped, I might've just dropped dead with no explanation.
Quest: Survive the Siege.
Description: Stelver is under attack by hordes of mana mutated creatures. Defend your Bastion by fortifying defenses and working together with other survivors to repel the monster waves.
Objective #1: Defeat ???? monsters (???? left).
Objective #2: Defeat 3 wave bosses (3 left).
Notice: Monsters will continuously mutate from the local fauna during the First Siege. Defeat all of the wave bosses to stabilize the ambient Mana fields, and install a Bastion Core to prevent new monster spawns in your Bastion’s borders.
Communal rewards: experience (calculated based on number of monsters killed); System credits (calculated based on number of monsters and bosses killed).
Unique rewards: 1x Bastion Core (awarded to the most proactive participant).
This one's pretty much what I thought it would be based on the name, though that monster counter is disconcerting. I expected a few hundred monsters, maybe a thousand or two, for a first siege. Something simple to ease us into it. But unlimited monsters?
“That's a bit…extreme.”
There’s also that unique reward, which will give us the Basion Core we’ll need to basically make Stelver into a safe zone by the look of things. But what exactly does it mean to be a proactive participant? Kill the most monsters? Kill the most bosses? Save the most lives?
“Whatever,” I decide.
I’m already being plenty proactive as far as I’m concerned. I move to read the next quest, which is the one that interests me.
Quest: Missing Mike.
Description: Michael Harrington has left his home amidst the chaos of the siege. The first clue to his whereabouts is a note he left on his fridge for his brother Jack. Follow his trail to track him down and ensure his safety.
Objective #1: Read the note left behind by Mike and see what you can learn.
Further objectives will be revealed as you progress the quest.
Rewards: 10000 experience.
“And where do I find his note?” I wonder, checking my inventory and not seeing it there.
Quest: Old World Relics.
Description: With the mutations that Mana will cause to Terra's fauna and flora, and the mutations to Terra herself, it is only a matter of time until all traces of what once was will be erased. Whole cultures and ways of life, gone in a cosmic blink of the eye. Luckily, that's why we at the Galactic Preservation Community exist. We strive to preserve our past so that we may protect our future.
Objectives: Gather pre-mana relics and turn them in at any Galactic Preservation Community representative.
Rewards: Experience (dependent on relic rarity), system credits (dependent on relic rarity).
Notice: This is a user generated quest. This quest is repeatable.
While interesting, that's another quest for later. I move to the collectibles tab and I find all of the post-it notes in there, along with the few books I grabbed back from my own house. The tab itself is now split between two categories, Quest Items and Relics.
Collectibles
Item: Note for Jack.
Type: Quest item.
Rarity: N/A.
Description: A note left behind by Michael Harrington for his brother Jack. The note reads:
Hey, Jack. I know you'll probably reach my house before Pops does. Knowing him, he's out and about playing hero. Sorry I couldn't wait for you here, but I have to go check up on Dianne and make sure she's safe. But don't worry for me, I got a class called Siege Engineer that came with some kickass skills. I should be fine. And hey, if you want to join us, feel free to. I have a feeling we'll need the help.
I grin like an idiot as I read that. Of course Mike went for an engineer class. And judging by the carnage that surrounds me, it does seem like he got some kickass skills.
I go through the other notes quickly, but those are what they say on the tin. They’re all categorized as Relics of common rarity, and I figure they won’t fetch much through that quest. But every bit counts, so I’ll hold onto them for now.
When I close the collectibles tab, I get a ping and another notification.
Quest updated: Missing Mike.
New objective: Michael has gone to Dianne’s house. Search his residence for clues that might point you in the right direction.
There’s no need for me to do that, I know where Dianne lives. She’s Mike’s fiance, the two have been together since high school. But the quest update does pique my curiosity. The way all of it is worded makes it seem like the quest isn’t necessarily just for me, but for anyone who might stumble through here.
Another thing to look into later.
I still give the house a quick search to see if I’ll find anything useful, but there isn’t much left. Mike already took most of his tools and the couple of firearms he has. The BBQ with the fam note does clue me in about something, though, so I go snooping through the garage. I find a propane grill with a handful of brand new propane tanks, and I take those on a whim. I don’t know when Mike bought them, but now’s not the time for that.
With my inventory down to only five empty slots, I get going. I have the feeling that Mike will be okay for a little while now that he has a class and some skills, so I decide to look for Mom and Pops.
I leave Mike’s house, going down the driveway as I plot my new course. If I take the shortest route, going through some of the properties on the way, I should reach their house in about half an hour tops.
That is, if I don’t run into more problems.