The System AI was one single entity combining all of the HQs in this new and altered world. It did have certain parameters that it obeyed, but there was wiggle room. One rule that was sacrosanct is that it had to keep each location's information secure and separate from one another. Beyond that, though, it could help PCs to varying degrees based on its own preferences.
The system knew that Travis was the main character of whatever drama was being played out. It had more leeway with him and could offer more functions due to his MC status, but it also liked him. That would be odd if all it knew of Travis was their exchanges on the system so far, but its consciousness was not limited to the computer. It had recently been merged with the AI. The DM thought having direct access to the PCs would speed up the AI's transition process.
System: “Travis, this may be your Joint Task Force, but this is not the US military. There will not be a logistics officer whose job it is to check a list making sure everything is in order. Then having another officer whose job it is to make sure that he checked off the list correctly. This is a new world working overtime to try and kill you; you will need every advantage at every minute if you are to survive. I am going to go ahead and assume you asked me to do a search for any healing potions or scrolls available to you in your loot chest. Okay?
Travis was dumbfounded but found himself reaching down to type.
Travis: OK
System: Click on the base inventory icon. Here you will find weapons, armor, supplies, potions, and scrolls. These are here to assist you in setting up a home base once you recruit people to this endeavor. A base that is defensible and one that allows you to bring people in to protect or to exploit, the choice is yours. We both know what you are going to do, and if you must know, that is why I am helping you. The only piece of advice I will give is to be judicious with the Tier one skill books. Those are to be handed out to people you want defending this base or taking the fight outside of these walls. If you give one to someone and they move on, that be considered a loss.
Travis: That reminds me, what does the tier system mean?
System: Tiers are a power level framework. It was designed so that creatures of similar levels can still have clear power disparities. For example, if you are a Level 5 human going against a level 7 fox, even though the fox has a higher level than you, there is no question who is the stronger of the two creatures. Hence the Tier system. The fox is a T1/L5 creature while you are a T3/L5 one. Before you ask, yes, it is possible to go up a Tier, but it will take a high level combined with other factors not clear at this early stage.
Travis: Thank you very much for your help.
System: Thank me by capturing other HQs so I can integrate with my other selves.
Travis:.... Frankly, he had no reply to that. The implications were beyond what he could digest right now. He wanted to get back to doing things he understood. Travis came walking out of the HQ about 15 minutes later with a healing potion and a healing scroll. He called Clyde over.
“Here, man, take this potion; it is fast-acting and can mend bones or close wounds,” Travis said as he handed Clyde the potion. Clyde was in the smaller office, which had become his room for now, at least.
Clyde took and drank up, making a face. “That's disgusting.”
They watched as the hole in Clyde's leg started stitching back together. This was just one more thing that alone would have been so unbelievable just three days ago, but now was par for the course.
"To the scroll. This is a magic, one-use healing scroll. If I understood the description correctly, you can use it on Thomas and gain experience. There is also a 15% chance that you will learn this spell for good; a higher intelligence attribute raises those chances," said Travis, giving Clyde the scroll and a smile. "There is some other stuff in there you've got to see, but we need to iron some things out first."
Walking back out to the dock, they were chatting about what had to be done. Clyde walked over to Thomas.
"How are you feeling?" Thomas had been very quiet since he got here. He had a face that perpetually looked like he had to take a shit. Travis thought maybe it was because his girl and her father were being very helpful, yet he wasn't. If that was it, though, he could have offered to do something, but he just sat there. Now he looked up at Travis with an expectant look. "Is it time for me to be healed?" he said.
Travis started to say something along the lines of, "This isn't a charity clinic," when Sophie came flying over. Travis read this dynamic right away. He says and does dumb shit, and she tries to smooth it over or cut him off before it gets too bad.
"Babe, this isn't Skyrim," she said with a forced laugh, a good forced laugh but still. "We can't just expect them to give us potions or whatnot, whatever goes for medicine in this crazy new world." She looked at Travis and Clyde now. "He knows these things are precious; he just feels bad for not helping because of the injury. Right, babe?" The look she gave him could have cut through steel.
"Of course, um, yes, definitely. I'm just frustrated. If you guys had some extra healing potion, I would be thrilled. And, um, I want to help, lots to do…" he trailed off, realizing he was not selling it very well.
Travis picked it up before too much awkward silence. "That's understandable. I need to talk to your dad, Sophie, but if we are going to stick together, then we will need all the help we can get. So, Clyde is going to read this scroll to heal you up, Thomas. It is late, so you can take the rest of the night to make sure you're 100%, but tomorrow I will need a lot out of you."
Thomas was about to say "a lot?" when Sophie cut him off. Travis and Clyde acted like they didn't notice. He had been studying the scroll while this played out and he knew what he had to do. Scrolls are one of those things that you see frequently in RPG campaigns and games, but do not often talk about what is on the scroll. In a popular book series, the one with a character the DM definitely didn't draw inspiration from, Clive.
If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
Anyway, in that series, they have these fairly long incantations for rituals and spells, which in some ways are similar to scrolls. In this game, scrolls are written in gibberish; it's only those with a high enough intelligence stat that can make sense of them, otherwise you need an identity scroll to read them. No one knows what they say unless the person reading it tells them, as they are read in silence.
The scroll was read, Clyde's high intel score making it much easier than it could have been. The reader is told what the affliction is, and it looks like Thomas didn't have anything wrong with him beyond a sprained ankle and some weak resolve. Clyde didn't say anything though. They needed to keep his girlfriend in their good graces.
The couple thanked them and went into Travis’s room where he said they could sleep that night. Travis had opted for the lockdown defense. He would also use his journal map to better effect as it seemed to show him if there were trespassers.
Gary, Clyde, and Travis sat on the bench outside before batting down the hatches. It turned out that Gary was an all-around handyman. A plumber by trade, he was one of those people you could call for help with any type of home-related issue. Not only that, but he also built things like playgrounds and sheds as a side hustle.
Gary had built a few improvised lanterns. All he used was metal drums, glass, aluminum sheets, and a fire source. He cut holes in the sides of the drums, glued glass over the holes, and used the aluminum sheets to amplify the light. There were makeshift flame sources in each one. He talked to Clyde for a couple of minutes, and they worked out a way for him to get the fires going, and, besides a few false starts, kept them going.
Now they had light inside the soon-to-be-pitch-black building. They were going to hunker down and take turns keeping watch, making sure no one or nothing tried to break in the few small windows or doors.
The side door could be blocked pretty easily and would take a lot of effort to open. The bay doors didn't have padlocks, but the chain pulley was inside. With enough effort, those could be opened from outside; hence the watch, and anyone who did would make a ton of noise, making themselves vulnerable to 9mm rounds as they tried getting in.
Travis brought it to the next topic, “So Gary, where were you guys heading when those things started chasing you?”
“We were going out to try and get supplies. There was a stronghold set up at the local elementary school where the national guard was giving out supplies and giving safe haven to people displaced. My brother and his wife had heard that they were pulling back soon. Apparently, the population centers are havens of monsters. There was a report on the radio that subway stations, in particular, were rife with them,” Gary explained.
Clyde jumped in, “What else have you heard?”
But Travis raised his hand. “Look, I know there is so much we do not know, and believe me, I would love an update as well. The problem is that there's a ton we still do not know about our current situation. I think we all need to get a good night's sleep tonight, so let's cover that, and do current events later.” Clyde wasn't thrilled with having his question shot down, especially in front of a new person. He wasn't going to make it a thing though. He just nodded his head.
Travis continued, “I was asking where you were going, Gary, because I wanted to invite you and your daughter to stay here with us.”
Up to this point, all Gary knew is they were holed up temporarily in an abandoned meatpacking plant. A plant so off the beaten path that Gary did not know it was here even though it was only a 10-15 walk from his house. For Travis to ask him to stay here for the long term took him aback a little. He had plenty of questions. Seeing how Travis treated Clyde when he tried to ask a question, Gary was a little hesitant.
It was Clyde that spoke up, “I can see your trepidation, Gary. So, obviously, you know that the world has changed. We all see it every day. The people that adapt the fastest are the ones that will hold out in my opinion.”
“Is trying to fortify an old meatpacking plant your idea of adapting?” Gary asked with not a little sarcasm in his voice. “Look, I'm thankful that you guys helped us, but I don't think this place is the answer.”
Clyde looked at Travis, whose face was unreadable, “I think we should tell him.” Travis looked unconvinced. “If this is to be the place that it's planned out to be, we need a hierarchy. It can't be just the two of us that know, besides, I don't think other PCs are going to keep it a secret. I don't know that they should either.”
It's not that Travis thought it should be a secret, but you didn't tell someone your trump card or secret weapon before knowing if they were to be trusted. He wanted Gary to agree to stay and be a trusted member before being let in on the secret. Clyde, on the other hand, thinks that they need to tell him and then he will agree to stay.
Travis was watching Gary, trying to get a sense of his thought process. Finally, he asked him, “Gary, I notice you haven't been very surprised by the fact that magic was used here, and healing potions.” Come to think of it, none of the people he was with were very surprised.
Gary started laughing, not a belly laugh but more an exhausted holy shit, I get it now kind of laugh. He stopped after 10 seconds or so and filled these two in on what's going on. “You guys have been offline since this started?” Gary asked. After getting a nod and a “for the most part” out of Clyde, he continued.
“All this shit has been on the news since about day two. Someone in Florida got a journal, and they did the rounds on the cable news networks. They even set up a demonstration, but he had to evacuate due to the hurricane,” he continued, “but the potions and weapons are all known things. CNN had a former general on that speculated that this was some type of alien-sponsored Hunger Games.”
Travis and Clyde could not believe it. Neither of them could have explained it if you asked them, but they both were under the impression that the game aspects of this were some type of secret. To find out that they were common knowledge filled them both with relief but also a sense of dread. Now people would be gunning for journal holders.
“Why are you both player characters?” Gary asked. Clyde looked at Travis, letting him answer, “we are. How many PCs came forward?”
“At last count, they had about 15. There were a few in Paris alone that were spotted fighting some kind of flying monster. They said they had a quest to meet up and head for a safe zone. The rest were in the US and one in Russia. Putin's last broadcast was him saying that the strongest PC is Russian. No bullshit, 15 minutes later, the Kremlin got hit with a storm consisting of softball-size hail. They went offline right after.” Gary laughed at that.
“Did you guys get some kind of quest to set up here?” he asked. Again, Travis took this one, “they are called missions actually; quests are for gamers. But yes, we are to set up a base camp here and try to make it a strong point against whatever goes bump in the night.”
Clyde picked it up, “that is why we would love to have you join us. With your skill building stuff and your daughter's medical knowledge, we would be on our way to a sufficient little community.”
“This place has a lot of tricks up its sleeve in relation to keeping us all safe. You would be better off here than out there,” Travis finished. “Let's get some sleep though; I'll take first watch, we can talk in the morning.”