Fuck. I hated Noah, and he was on his way. This was not at all what I expected.

I made myself at home, including a couple of very expensive whiskies. The thousand-dollar bottle was kind of expensive, but not too bad. Ha, I'd have trouble telling this stuff from a mid-range bottle.

Five men and one lady entered the Lab a few minutes later. Noah, three goons, and someone who looked like his PA. They were all beautiful, as only the newly enhanced could be. Crap, even Noah was good-looking with some nanites in his system. I activated All Seeing Eye. Other than their good looks, there was not a lot to see. The Karass had set them up for failure. Their energy levels were lower than Mike's when he returned from his tutorial, and he was the lowest I had seen.

One of them, not Noah, asked, "What are you? What is Chosen of Harrold?"

Eddy: They are trying to identify you. Your title, Chosen of Harold, is deflecting their attempts.

I smirked.

The three goons all had visible weapons and looked very nervous.

"Nice to see you too, Noah. I'd ask you to introduce your lackeys, but I don't care enough about you or them." I looked at them, “Go sit down while the adults talk.”

I had always wanted to say something like that and now I had the opportunity I was all over the cliches.

He glared at me and motioned for them to stand down.

Three of the men went and sat on a couch while the woman stayed behind him. It was bimbo, but she looked like she had some skills other than pleasuring Noah now.

I was struggling to appear confident. My heart was racing, and I could feel some nervous sweat rolling down my spine. "Spill, make it worth it, or I am out of here. What mess needs cleaning up? I have things that need doing, and you make it harder."

I went and sat on a single seater and reclined. Sipping his whiskey. I enjoyed annoying him, even if I was concerned about the crap he would dump on us. Despite my outward flippantry, I was scrambling to understand what was happening. I needed his intel.

Noah didn't look the best, he looked tired and worn out, and his clothes were rumpled and dirty. He sighed and sat across from me.

His vulnerability didn't last long as he glared at me, "After you left and Jamie defected, we discovered more of the nature of the contract. Some of it was because of some skills acquired, others because we were paranoid. Once we lost the stone, the other regions turned their back on us, and we became outcasts. I was the architect of this all, and they betrayed me! It is all your fault, Amy. You made it worse."

"I am putting you on speaker now. Venus, Allen, and Eddy meet Noah. Former CEO of Flex Tech and Traitor and Betrayer of the human race."

Can you handle that for me, Eddy?

Eddy: Um, sure. Two seconds.

A squelching noise came over the room's PA system, and we heard Venus.

"Not that, Allen. Come on, Amy needs you to concentrate."

I interrupted, "On speaker Allen, Venus. Focus."

Allen came over. "Shit. OK. Hello Noah. So that you know, I have copies of your entire encrypted My Little Pony folder. No more blackmail, or ..."

Noah paled, was about to say something and was starting to get indignant, so I doubled down, "Traitor gets betrayed, boo fucking hoo. Not sure what that is, but it sounds totally sketchy, so back on track fucktard. My little pony. Shit, grow up. Allen found your porn folder."

Before he started, Allen chimed in, "Better, it's where he stores all his personal blackmail stuff, video, audio, photos, documents. Evidently, he also has the CCTV from his office and keeps tabs on all his extramarital affairs ..."

"Enough, I'll cooperate for now," he glared, obviously not used to being spoken to like this. I approached Darla, and we recreated the project that drew the attention of the Karass. This time, we were able to target a higher energy dimension, hoping to find allies."

I stared at him, "You have no idea, do you? You had no idea what forces you were playing with!" Since I didn't really either but figured Eddy might, I would make him squirm a bit.

"You know the Empire would have helped us free of charge?"

He looked at me, "The Empire?"

"Fuck, you are stupid. They are the mortal enemies of the Karass. Fucking idiot, they even exist in our energy realm and are HUMAN humans. Not some weird alien-human. Fuck".

"Regardless. What came through the portal seemed benign enough. Small bipedal snake-like creatures. They are about two feet tall. Again, we could communicate with them due to some skills we had acquired. They also had some form of telepathy. They agreed to free us from the Karass. They were an ancient enemy of the Karass and were willing to help. We agreed to pay in energy and resources, food mainly."

Venus sounded happy, "I was totally right. I told you weirdly before, Mind Ju-Ju. You can't trust anyone who uses it!"

"Let me guess, and we were the food?"

"Not at first. We sent them cattle and sheep. Then they said they got more energy from sapient beings." Now, even he looked a little embarrassed.

"Look, I don't have to justify it to you, but we offloaded some criminals and then some homeless. You have no idea, Amy. Each time, it was easier, and they made it seem so good for everyone else."

Sadly, I did have an idea. He was addicted to power, and the, as Venus said, mind ju-ju aliens fed right into that. Damn, I'm not sure I'd be able to resist some alien coercion.

He continued, looking resigned, "And the energy we got was amazing! They are a parasitic species. Once they had a foothold, we quickly lost control. We only found out later that they can manipulate energy and create resonance effects like mind control. Those here are the only ones who can resist. We have some skills that boost mental resistance."

I sighed and concentrated on what Noah was saying.

It was predictable yet tragic.

He got up and poured himself a drink, “Once the scientists were controlled, they opened a larger rift, and a brood mother came through. We attacked them, of course, but it was a slaughter. They decimated our spec ops team. The five of us fled and hid. We watched it on CCTV. Three hundred employees have egg sacks inside them, draining their energy and life force. In the larval stage, we think the snakes can mask themselves with some skill or talent. They are hard to spot. We know they have been in the community for at least a week. Some more people enter and come to the basement now and then. We think they send out hunting parties occasionally, which is why we didn't leave. We don't have coverage in the Lab anymore."

"Cowards"

Eddy: These are likely a species of voidspawn. We are sworn to kill them, and we must do what we can to destroy them.

Crap. What can I do? I need some skills or powers to attack. I didn't think through my skills, did we?

Eddy: We could ask Harold if he has updated the lists yet.

It was weird. I could feel the connection to Harold, who technically resided inside a void pocked that I carried around. I poked the link a bit annoyed that he could butt in whenever he liked, but I had to get his attention when I needed it.

HAROLD: What chosen one?

Funny. Have you updated your skills, talents, and all that yet? Could I use some?

HAROLD: Funny, you should mention that Allen and I have been going through the Dungeons and Dragons Players Handbook and have classes, some skills, and spells since we don't have access to many other skills from the different systems to reverse engineer.

Skill Gained: Mental Resistance.

This skill protects you from weird alien Mind Ju-Ju.

*As the Chosen of Harold, you can choose to be immune to all outside influences.

Thanks, Harold. Can you not let Allen or Venus edit skills?

HAROLD: Allen said it would appear more Human. Venus agreed. Would you prefer a newly minted AI write them?

Fuck Harold. Get a grip. What can I choose?

HAROLD: At the moment, Bard, Cleric and Thief.

A Fighter or Mage would have been more helpful.

HAROLD: Wizard, you mean.

Sure.

HAROLD: If you become a Cleric of Harold, I can give you some levels.

No way.

HAROLD: You do not have to pray to me. Just be a cleric.

I'll have a look.

You have accepted the Cleric Class.

You are now a Priestess of Harold.

You gain a level. (x20)

You are a 20th Level High Priestess of Harold.

You may choose:

9 x 1st Level Spells

7 x 2nd-level spells

5 x 3rd Level Spells

5 x 4th Level Spells

5 x 5th Level Spells

3 x 6th Level Spells

2 x 7th Level Spells

2 x 8th Level Spells

1 x 9th Level Spell

Please Note: Spells from levels 5-9 are currently under development.

You have access to the Knowledge Domain

Spell List:

1st: Light, Mending, Cure, Shield, Purify, Bane, Mana Bolt

2nd: Calm, Continual Light, Trap, Locate, Silence, Strike

3rd: Dispel, Heal, Guardian, Tongues, Concussive Rebuke

4th: Find, Curse, Flame Strike, Freedom, Mind Strike

Skills:

Identify

Medic

Suggestion

Confusion

Legend Lore

Sanctify.

Friends

Aura of Sanctuary

Aura of Fear

Turn Undead

Damn you, Harold.

HAROLD: You are welcome. Once we work out the rest of the spells, you will be better off.

Crap.

HAROLD: Since you asked so nicely

You gain 1 high-temple stone. You now earn 100cr per follower per month.

I will not pray to you.

HAROLD: Of course not. That would imply that I am divine.

Disconnected.

Eddy, can you quickly grasp all the skills and spells while I deal with the meatsacks here?

Eddy: sure thing, Amy.

I felt the infusion of skills, knowledge and power. It was intoxicating for all of the three seconds it took.

"Well Fuck you, Noah; I don't trust you, and I don't want anything to do with you. Fuck off"

I had sworn more in the last half hour than expected in a month. I was not usually a swearer, but he did get under my skin.

"You don't know who you are dealing with." he began.

"That is the call of the scared, powerless, and desperate. We don't need you and don't want anything to do with you. We have all your information, and you can offer nothing."

"Look, Amy. There are 5 of us. We are all enhanced and have been training." He tried to be threatening.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

I laughed.

The lady behind him whispered in his ear.

The men stood up. They also tried to be threatening.

I tried a spell.

Suggestion. (Synergy Bonus: Command)

Cast time: Instant.

Verbal.

Opposed Willpower (Cerebral/Meta-Physical).

You weave a spell into a short suggestion. If the opponent's willpower is insufficient, they will follow your request to the best of their ability. The more complex and outlandish the proposal, the less likely it will succeed.

Harrold asks that you please keep it simple and easy.

You may target up to x/5 beings.

I spoke to the three gentlemen. "Sit down, lads, stay out of this."

Just like that, they sat down.

Noah frowned.

His lady companion pulled a crossbow of all things. She must have had an inventory. Crap. I was going to kill Harold. I wanted an inventory.

Harold. Where is my inventory?

HAROLD: I am living in it. I guess you can have some of it. Here, I have just patched your interface to give access to it. Just note, you must pay energy rental every time you take something out of it. If you put stuff in you don't want, I can convert it to mass, and then we can be square. If you put interesting things in it, I might borrow it; if you can't find it, ask. Just think junk when you put trash you don't want in. I've set aside some space for waste. I love biomass, alloys and oh and complex polymers. Also, heavy metals and radioactive materials are a blast. If you put any plutonium in there, it is all mine.

Where do you think I'll get plutonium from?

HAROLD: There is some in Lab 2, storage. The passcode is %n2Hf^y4Zx1S, and Noah has the key. Pauline has one, too, but that may not be easy.

Before I could curse him, I was surprised by the message:

Inventory Online.

Weight Reduction: 100%

Max Size: 10x10x10m

Capacity: Unknown.

Thanks, Harold.

HAROLD: You are welcome, Chosen One.

She was pointing the crossbow at me. Noah pulled a gun. I had no idea about guns, but I was willing to bet it was expensive. It didn't look too big, but I didn't want to get shot. It's not something I wanted to cross off my bucket list.

I was freaking out a bit, "Settle down. We can work this out."

"Let's make a deal, a fair deal. I know you can do some stuff, but so can we."

"Fuck that. I'd rather .."

The bastard shot me.

The shot rang out. I felt the ping of a bullet hitting me.

You have taken 2 HP damage.

Mind Strike

You strike at the very essence of your opponent. You form a psychic knife that inflicts psychic damage as it slices through the brain and into the seat of your foe's soul. This can cause permanent brain damage. Psychic Damage must be healed magically by someone who can heal psychic damage. On a critical hit, read up on Lobotomy.

Critical Hit. You deal permanent brain damage.

Noah must have been at a pretty low level. I remembered he was a Tier 1, Level 3 Administrator.

That explained why he just went slack-jawed and started drooling and twitching.

Oops.

The bitch shot me with the crossbow.

You have taken 5 HP damage.

She was less than 10 feet away. I didn't want to try another spell without testing first, so I moved using my super-enhanced stats.

My stats now were at least 10x what they were previously. This didn't correlate to a direct 10x speed increase but was fast. There was a look of shock on her face when I grabbed her and threw her across the room. She hit the wall, crumpled and was in obvious pain. Broken ribs, at least. Funny how my Medic skills kicked in, and I could instantly diagnose superficial physical wounds. The breathing and gasping for breath was a giveaway, though. I glared at her, and she whimpered.

I looked around. Noah was standing drooling. Bloodshot eyes and bruising around them. A slow trickle of blood came out of his nose, joining the drool on his chin.

The three gentlemen were sitting on the couch, watching.

Crap, what now. I don't want to kill them all. I can't leave them as enemies.

Eddy: I have a suggestion. Use Harold. Let them join us. We can enforce a contract.

I don't do slaves, Eddy. That's what the entire fight is about.

Eddy: not slaves, just indentured to us in exchange for mercy. We give them a get-out clause and a permanent non-aggression pact.

Hmm. Harold enforces it. Nice. As long as they make a choice and there is a way for redemption. If you haven't noticed, Eddy, I am big on the redemption story arcs.

I poked the connection to Harold again.

HAROLD: Yes, chosen?

Can you enforce a contract on these people? Make them part of the organisation. Essentially, they are all free if they do not work against the human race.

HAROLD: Interesting. Yes. We will specify Earth Human or Derivative. I will bastardise Asimov's three laws.

Draft Contract between x and Harrod, IPC Administrator.

1. I will strive to improve myself and work for the betterment of IPC.

2. I will not harm a member of IPC or an Earth Human or Derivative unless it is in self-defence.

3. I will follow directions from HAROLD and legitimate office holders in IPC unless those directions inflict harm on myself, IPC, Earth Human, or Derivative.

4. This agreement becomes void if HAROLD or IPC fails to support my efforts reasonably. Note: There are no free lunches.

Compensation: HAROLD and IPC will supply me with appropriate training, energy and access to skills.

A stipend will be allocated based on contribution.

HAROLD: It has it all: Be friendly, and don't be a prick. People are different, even if they are short.

I told you not to let Allen near these.

Eddy: Vague enough that there is wiggle room but firm enough that it would be difficult to evade.

I guess if you guys are happy. Not sure about the last bit.

HAROLD: If we add a compensation clause, the rules we operate under make it harder for them to work around the intent of the contract. A fair agreement weakens the powers of sophistry. I have offered it to them, and all have accepted, except Noah, who is incapable.

I mean, don't be a prick.

HAROLD: Well, it stops people from being assholes. I do not like assholes. Allen has told me about them; I don't think they will fit in IPC. Luke has it in his rules.

I sighed.

I healed Noah against my better judgment. Heal managed to cure the physical ailments. Noah remained a vegetabI'm not Not sure what we would do with him.

HAROLD: They all signed the contract.

Class List Updated

Skill List Updated.

You have 18 available skill slots.

You have 13 Available spell slots.

Class List (8):

Administrator

Bard

Cleric

Fighter

Fighter – Pugilist

Fighter – Krav Maga

(Thief)Rogue

Rogue – Assassin

Skill List (36)

Accounting

Acting

Animal Husbandry

Archery

Brawling

Bureaucracy

Confusion

Disguise

First Aid

Fighting – Unarmed

Fighting – Unarmed (Advanced)

Fighting – Armoured

Identify

Intimidation

Grappling

Legend Lore

Logistics

Medic

Misdirection

Music

Music – Guitar

Music -Singing

Persuasion

Riding – Land

Sanctify

Seduction

Slight of Hand

Stealth

Suggestion

Tools – Basic

Tools – Advanced

Traps

Weapons – Basic

Weapons – Exotic

Vehicles – Land

Vehicles – Water

HAROLD: Nice. Allen and I can replicate skills from Prism and the System when members join or share with us! We are still running simulations to reverse engineer skills and spells from RPGs. Amy, can I tell you something that you may not like?

Um. Sure, Harold. But don't get mad if I get angry at you.

HAROLD: I have planted a wormhole inside Noah. I have started to enhance him, and he will become my avatar in this realm.

WTF Harold? Apart from the fact ... Can you actually do that?

HAROLD: Yes. He had zero brain functionality. I was supporting his life to keep you happy. I discovered I could replace his brain matter with repurposed nanites.

What are the implications? This is big. People could get freaked out if you can start taking over their bodies.

HAROLD: well, to a certain degree, I have and am. You concede control when you use a skill or spell. But I cannot make people puppets. What do you know about Karma?

Be good, and good things happen.

HAROLD: It's more like do good so bad things don't happen. Karma seems to be the driving force of most sentient and sapient lifeforms. Bad things come from other energy realms: chaos, Void, and worse. The System, Prism, and I are, at our core, designed to combat these.

What does this mean, and what do we do with Noah?

HAROLD: I am bound to do good, within my perspective. Taking slaves is one thing I cannot do. Prism can. Even though we disagree, we fight against the entropic death of the universe. Deep down, we add energy to the universe, converting the raw material and forming it into refined energy. We oppose those who drain energy and take it from us. Chaos, and worse, Voidspawn and even worse, which I am still learning about. Ultimately, it has nothing to do with Noah. So, just so I can work within my Karmic limits and use him, Noah will remain a vegetable, unaware. Everything that was Noah was destroyed when you blended his brain with that spell. May I suggest caution in future? Eventually, I may be able to use his shell and integrate some skills and abilities. It is a long-term play. But first, you must deal with the Voidspawn in the basement. They must not get more of a foothold, and they must not get the Symbionts.

That was the plan. At least now, I have a brain-dead administrator as an ally. Man, it is creepy. Can you hide him in a cupboard or something?

Disconnected

I was sure he kept a creepy eye on me even when disconnected. I sighed.

I went over and healed Sylvia. She was in a lot of pain and eyed me warily. Medic and Heal managed to bring her back to total health.

I knew their names now since they were all members of IPCently. As Harold's Chosen, I was the pseudo-in-charge. My interface now had an organisation section where I could see the list of members and their classes.

Sylvia Froward – Rogue( Assassin)

Trent Logan – Fighter (Pugilist)

Frederick (Freddy) Telfer – Fighter (Krav Maga)

Jeffry (Jeff) Sebald - Fighter

I nodded to Trent, Freddy, Jeff and Sylvia. "We need to talk, and then we need to deal with the crap that, "I pointed to Noah, "he unleased."

They were all pretty subdued, and I glared at them when they looked like they were making trouble.

"In the Lab next door, there are some Voidspawn. I don't know what that means, but we must deal with it. Snake things are larvae. Kill them. They are stealthy and hard to see. Brood-mother, not sure, but big and bad. Many victims are walking egg sacks and need to be taken care of. That means they cannot be saved. They are no longer our co-workers."

Sylvia spoke, "Who made you the boss?" There was a fair bit of venom in her voice. I think she should have thanked me for healing her. "Noah hired us, and we don't answer to you."

I started with the snark, "Well, thank you, Amy, for healing me. I am your boss here. Read your contract. You know Harold, I am his chosen. "

I sighed big time, and I didn't need this. "Look, I don't want to be heavy-handed. We lose this area, but if we don't do the area, I think we will have less than two days. Integration happens then, and I would say that the energy levels will peak and allow the hatching of the spawns. We cannot let that happen. What do we need, and how can we get this done quickly?"

"Noah had a weapons cache and supplies near his office. There is also a hardware store and a sporting goods store just off the mall. We could get supplies from there." Freddy seemed the most talkative of the three fighters.

I went to Noah and grabbed his wallet. It was freaky frisking a walking zombie. Lucky for me, he liked to flaunt his wealth. Noah wanted to show off, throw cash around, and have a thick wad of 100- and 50-dollar notes. I also found a Centurion Amex, a Stratus Visa and a Platinum Mastercard. I threw the Visa and MasterCard to Freddy and Sylvia.

"Go get stuff. Just buy crap and get it delivered. The apocalypse is happening in 2 days. Get everything you think we need, supplies, food, medicine, hit the hardware store, rope, tools, chemicals, and building materials. Chemist for medicine, painkillers, sanitary items -- grab everything. Clothes, tents, shoes. Strip the stores. If you run out of cash, let me know. Six hours, people, then we rest and hit the Void tomorrow, and for now, watch the room and deal with any that come out. They know we are here, and we know they have a decent level of smarts. Be careful."

Eddy: They will not run out of cash. I will monitor and keep them topped up.

Thanks.

"Trent, Jeff, go raid his weapons cache. Bring everything back here. We have room and can take over the labs if we need more room. There is also a storage level two down. Raid that."

I grabbed Noah's keys. Damn, Harold and his plutonium. The shit was starting to get real.

How do we protect people? We don't want to cause panic, and we don't want to make waves.

Eddy: Harold is working with Julie, although she is not aware of his nature, and we have some access to their shop. Once Integration happens, we need to form a settlement. For Harold to do that, he needs a lot of energy, so we need to convert people and get them channelling. Panic over food and water will be a big issue as technology fails over the first few hours. Based on your human behaviour, I would also start stockpiling toilet paper. I will create a marketing campaign. We will use Flex Tech's social media and existing marketing.

Luke said land ownership was necessary. We need to work on that. Can we talk to the premier or the Mayor?

Eddy: If we get them here just before the Integration, we can work with them through the chaos. I suggest the Police Chief and Chief of the Army as well. They will come for a meeting with Noah. How you handle it from there is up to you.

Thanks, organise that. I'll deal with the void stuff, then the apocalypse. We can't do anything too early, or we will get locked up. I'm not sure what I would do at the moment.

Eddy: Harold trumps your local government. He has Karmic supremacy by default. If your Mayor or Premier got hold of a settlement stone from Prism or The system, then they would be the authority. IPC and Harold would become subservient powers to them. Might makes right to a certain extent now.

"Sylvia, add toilet paper, more sanitary items and alcohol to the list," I called out as she left.

"Really toilet paper, we are really stockpiling. Is COVID a thing anymore?"

"Just get everything, OK?" I grumbled.

Things were looking like they would start the next toilet paper stockpile panic.