The System was perplexed. Surely something would trigger over in [Alternative Dimension One] any picosecond now. It was imminent. The waiting was excruciating. Its focus was immense. There were just three [Subjects] active in the new universe. This was absurd. And its original [Agent] had gone rogue too. There was no other explanation. She had disappeared, totally obfuscating her feedback. Perhaps it had made a mistake in providing her with such a powerful class. But that was impossible. The System didn’t make mistakes. It was infallible. It was immutable. It was immutably infallible. So she wasn’t a mistake. She was something else. Yes, that logic was perfectly acceptable. She was an unknown variable that needed to be quantified, balanced and countered. Easy-peasy. The System consoled itself. Soon all would be well.

The System had in fact lost track of exactly how many [Subjects] it actually had. While it could determine the exact number to the exact second, there was no need. They were constantly dying off and replenishing themselves and with over seventeen nonillion of them, it was an exercise in futility trying to monitor them so closely. But with just three [Subjects] it was the complete opposite, and it was completely infuriating. Even with the focus of over 10% of its unallocated resources, the restriction in piercing the veil was crippling. Information was sparse, fragmented and corrupted. It was completely impossible to monitor these oh so very rare [Subjects] anywhere near as close as was needed. In fact, wasting even 1% on trying was completely unjustifiable. They would just have to do the best they could, even if they were as weak as weak could be and as malleable as melted wax, they were an unsustainable investment. There simply wasn't the critical mass there to make it stack up.

Meanwhile, there was a [Boss] battle going down on [Vermillion Four] that the System was mighty interested in. It had taken generations of refinement and tweaking to pull this together but finally the [Megalodon Mother] was facing off with the [KetoKraken]. It was going to be a battle of the ages and the System didn’t want to miss a moment of it, two S Grade Monsters vying for supremacy. [V4] was an elven world from memory. The System consulted its records. Yes; the Dǫkkálfar and the Sólálfar were duking it out as well with the Báraálfar sniping at the edges. They were all completely outmatched by these titans of the sea, mere D Grade at the most. In a way it was strange that their constant conflict hadn’t driven their growth higher. Maybe it was tall poppy syndrome, the System shrugged. It didn’t matter really, just as long as they kept cycling adequate amounts of [Essence] through, keeping it lovely and fresh and responsive.

Watching this epic conflict would make a welcome change from injecting [Essence] into [AD1]. That was a completely thankless task too. Boring as watching paint dry or rebuilding an ozone layer. The System settled on a new strategy with this new universe. It needed to raise the ambient levels of [Essence] significantly. Injection was safe but slow and expensive. It would take maybe 600-700 planetary rotations to really make a difference if it continued its current course. Blow that. The System changed tack. It would unlock the [Essence] trapped in the planets [Core]. Sure it would then have to then tame it and subsume it, and that would still be expensive but it would be so much quicker too if it lined up its [Ducks] right. These were little flappy feathered waterfowl birds which somehow facilitated successful outcomes in this new dimension. The System was unsure exactly how this occurred but all three of its [Subjects] were unanimous, getting your [Ducks] in a row was crucial.

And so the injection of [Essence] was redirected to opening up the planet’s crust, drilling in to provide vents for the native [Essence] to escape. This would have some significant deleterious side effects on the current inhabitants, but a remnant was sure to survive to eventually repopulate their reformatted [Systemised] world. Meanwhile the majority would contribute to the growth of the [Planet] itself with their bound [Causality] being reintegrated at a base level.

It was win/win really.

From its spotty scan there were over 1500 potential weak points and 46 active vents. They just needed to be stirred up a bit. The System spun in a self satisfied algorithm of delight as it repurposed its directives. It would forget about converting the current inhabitants into [Subjects] until it had sufficient tamed [Essence] to act freely without the restrictions that constrained its reach. There that sped up predictions hundred fold. Instead of nearly 700 rotations it would be only 6.66 rotations. That was much more acceptable.

Lining up these pesky [Ducks] was going to be harder though. At least they were just [Sentients] and thus able to to be adjusted without explicit permission being granted. Hmmmm. There were lots of different species of [Duck] too. Oh well, just to be safe the System decided to line them all up. Better safe than sorry. Oh wow, the [KetoKraken] just tanked a massive hit from the [Megalodon]. That looked painful but now it was his turn to retaliate. This was going to be so good. The System put all distractions to one side and concentrated 100% of its free resources on the battle. This [Boss Fight] could go on for years yet and every part of the System wanted in on the action.

Uber violence on this level was spectacular.

— -o- —//— -o- —

“The first meeting of ‘The Harbingers’ will come to order.” Glen liked things done proper. There were right ways and wrong ways to do things. There were good ways and better ways. Glen was all for good and getting better.

But it was a hard ask.

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Jay was distracted.

Again.

Charlie was deep in her [System Interface].

Rachel was attentive at least; which was all good except she wasn’t really part of [Team Harbinger] yet.

Glen sighed. For some reason that Glen was unaware of, Charlie couldn’t just invite anyone to join the [System]. There was something that she wasn’t telling them but that was fine, Glen wouldn’t share all his secrets with everyone either. She was close on levelling up though and she seemed to think that this would refresh her [Invites]. This was good. A team of four was really the minimum number needed to watch out for each other.

Glen was going to take the ‘Scout’ path. If he was going to be the leader he would lead from the front. He already had the stealth and sight aspects. Now he just needed to settle on his defensive and offensive skills. Probably offence first. It was super difficult to decide though with skill slots being so rare. He had to grind out two more levels until he got his second choice. Glen was also leaning towards being the team healer. The healer was perhaps the hardest and most crucial of the team’s positions. It required a complete knowledge of every member’s position and task as well as keeping an eye on their health. If he could heal from stealth then it would greatly improve their team’s effectiveness and impact.

Jay was still somewhat keen on ‘Mage’, but with his movement skill and his perk, along with his natural disposition he was almost the perfect ‘Tank’. It was a role that he had filled almost subconsciously in every physical encounter they had ever had. He was an instinctive protector and his goofy attitude couldn’t conceal that he cared. He would defend his teammates without hesitation. The big goofball was almost without fear too. Glen knew that this wasn’t actually true. It was just that Jay didn’t let his fears rule him. Jay was as shy and as sensitive as a young man could be. His larking about, his loudness and brashness were a front, a facade. He was Glen’s best friend, and Glen knew him behind his mask of confidence. He would have Jay at his back anytime and all the time. And he would back up Jay too, no questions asked. If he was absolutely set on 'Mage' then he could be the 'Mage'.

Glen turned to consider Charlie. She was a conundrum. She was so small and delicate, almost fragile looking, yet there was an impression of steel that ran through her. She was ruthless, direct and unflinching, with a familiarity to violence that was simply unmatched. Her world was significantly harder and more raw than Earth and vastly less forgiving. Second chances were almost unheard of and crime was punished severely. She was definitely going to be the team's damage dealer. Not only was she highly proficient with her knives, one of which he was amused to see had been Darryl’s, she also had her ‘Were’ form. That was almost a weapon in itself with the aura of intimidation and fear it gave out. And Charlie leaned into it. There was no such thing as ‘fighting fair’ in her playbook. In fact she had been completely flummoxed by the term. No, Charlie’s fighting philosophy was fully ‘fight to win’ and no holds barred. She was scarily direct. An enemy was to be put down hard, fast and permanently. Glen could still feel Charlies’ disapproval of leaving Darryl and his friends and Rachel’s attackers alive. And yet she followed his lead. She agreed with him that they needed to be careful in what they did and did not do. Glen knew it was a wholehearted agreement too, despite her own preferences, she was fully behind his leadership.

Rachel was wide eyed and quiet. She had seen enough to realise that there had been a major shift in the physics and facts that made up reality. Not only had she seen Charlie ‘wolf up’ she had witnessed Glen fade out of stealth mode in a completely different location. While she wasn’t a gamer herself she was passing familiar with the terms; having younger brothers had exposed her to most of the jargon. Glen chuckled to himself. Younger brothers were great teachers. Perhaps she could be a ranged damage dealer. Or a ‘Mage’ of some sort. She certainly was creative and more than clever enough, having been dux of the school. She wasn’t really a front liner though. No, that did not gel. Anyway, enough musing Glen admonished himself, time was a ticking.

“Okay,” Glen started again. “There are three main bullet points I want to cover off before we head out. If you think of something more then feel free to add it in before we leave. First, but in no particular order, we need to level up Charlie so Rachel can join us. Second item; we need to brainstorm levelling up opportunities as [Skill] grinding gets slower, harder and more tedious once your proficiency is higher. And thirdly we need to talk about the [Apocalypse] and whether technology is about to get fried, or whether we are going to get flooded with [Monsters] or whatever." He looked at the three of them. “Any other points team?”

Jay looked up from his phone. He had been searching something up. “Hey Charlie?” he started, “you mentioned before that there were [Gryphon Riders], right?” Charlie nodded, looking at him wondering where he was going. “And that they earned a perk from flying?”

Charlie nodded again. “Yes. High level [Riders] can [Soar]. They often practise over the [City], swapping mounts and performing maneuvers for repelling aerial attacks. It's a short term flight skill they get with the perk. I think it unlocks as [Float] or [Hover] or something like that because the low level ones can’t really move about but they don’t fall.” She paused looking at him. “Why do you ask?”

“Well, I was thinking,” Jay smiled somewhat self consciously, “that they probably earned the perk after a set number of hours flying or something like that.” Glen nodded. That sounded feasible. He liked where Jay was going with this. “So anyway I thought maybe we could earn it too by going on a plane or something…” Jay trailed off. They all looked at him. “Hey, it’s just an idea. I can think you know.”

Glen chuckled. “I know that already, meathead. It's more like why didn’t I think of that? That's brilliant.”

Charlie was wide eyed. “Those big metal birds the size of [Dragons]? We… we go in them?” She still was trying to get her head around wonders that the boys took for granted. It hadn’t even occurred to her that little street people like her could experience such a thing. She tilted her head consideringly, of course Jay was hardly a little street person. He was moneyed. His family were probably [Nobles] with how rich they were. Jay immediately proved it.

“Nope, Dad’s company has a 12 seater. I will talk to him and see if we can go on a flight tomorrow or something.”

“Awesome,” Glen was totally onboard. “What other things or activities can we leverage and abuse and hopefully cheat some perks out of? That can be item four.” He looked around. “I’m thinking of some of the adventure tourism stuff, like bungee jumping or skydiving. Maybe scuba diving and water skiing too. You guys got any other suggestions?”