Aiden
"I received a new quest," Urdo spoke as she continued to browse her sheet. "Since my class is administrative, my quest is for Haven. I must take on two subordinates to help in managing and growing the faction."
“How are you supposed to do that if all of us are ranked higher than you in the faction?” I asked leaning forward and resting my elbows on the table.
Urdo reached into her bag and paused as she stared into her belongings as if contemplating how to proceed. She slowly drew a map out and opened it up on the table. “This is a rough map of the area; I made it while in the other compound.” She reached out and put her finger on a spot just to the side of the center, “This is where we are. And here,” she tapped three more spots on the map as she spoke, “There are reports of small pockets of people barely surviving in this new world.”
Dax looked at the map and then at the rest of us. “It’s too dangerous to…” He was interrupted by a new quest being added to all of our sheets.
[Quest Faction Growth]
[Find followers for your faction and start growing into a true force.]
[0/10 citizens]
“Of course, it’s too dangerous, and of course, we don’t have a god damned choice!” Janet sat back in her chair and angrily waved at the map. “Where the hell are we going first?”
Urdo reached out to tap a spot and then paused before tapping a different one first. “This is the closest, but they are all about a day’s hike from here.” She pointed at the other two spots quickly, “I am led to believe these two have larger groups though, close to twenty each, possibly.” She pointed at the spot she almost touched first, “This is the one I would recommend, it is easier terrain.”
Heidi looked at the map and tapped the area with the smaller group, “This would have enough to complete the quests though.” She traced a line back to the area Urdo had indicated was our base, “The path doesn’t seem that difficult either.”
Urdo nodded and took in a deep breath. The look on her face said she was trying to think of a reason to say no. None of the other three seemed interested in asking, but I could see there was an internal struggle going on in Urdo’s head. “Why do you want us to go here?” I finally asked pointing at her recommendation. “Please be honest with the reason.”
“Heyar.” She breathed out the word and looked down refusing to make eye contact.
“What is that?” Heidi asked sitting back and crossing her arms.
“Who,” Urdo shot her a look. “Heyar is my husband. He was at that settlement the last time I got news about him. It has been a couple of months and Michael wasn’t able to bring more people into his compound.”
“So, it’s personal?” Janet looked at Urdo with the first soft expression I have seen from the woman.
"He is always a great builder from this planet. He was anyways. Before the system ruined everything.” Urdo puffed up as she spoke, “I believe this would be the best option for people because we need to construct an entire town here. Heyar could…” I held up my hand to cut off her argument.
“I vote we get this one first.” I tapped the one with Urdo’s husband and sat back.
“This is the wisest option.” Heidi tapped the closest one, “we could use the extra people to get there after.”
“I agree.” Janet tapped the map and looked softly at Urdo before shooting a heated glare at Heidi, “We get the husband first.”
Everyone turned to look at Dax who was studying the map. “If we do this,” he turned his gaze to Urdo, “You will swear allegiance to us, and to Haven for the remainder of your life. You will work to help us grow this to be a thriving place where people can live and grow.”
Urdo nodded energetically and moved her hand to her neck, “You have my loyalty,” she moved her hand into what looked like a surrender pose.
“What’s with the move?” Dax pointed at her hand
“It is symbolic. My people used to wear neck guards centuries ago, and that movement would be them removing the protection from their neck, showing trust and vulnerability. We kept the movement as a way of saying we mean what we say upon penalty of death.” Urdo spoke in a serious and flat tone, creating a somewhat comical image as she looked like she was waiting for a high five.
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“Heyar isn’t a word, but your husband.” Heidi leaned back with a scowl. “I thought maybe it was something I couldn’t understand because we are all aliens here.” She waved her hand indicating the four of us from Earth. “But everyone here has been speaking English since we arrived.”
Urdo gave Heidi a look of confusion before the first smile I had seen from her covered her face and she laughed uproariously. We all looked at her with our confusion. "She makes a good point. I just didn't think of it." Janet added and Dax and I nodded along.
“We are not speaking this English you mention. The system and interface translate all languages. This is so we can communicate. When we can ask questions, get answers, and know who has what, it helps to generate conflict as everyone tries to get what others have.”
“Well, that’s nifty!” Heidi said and stood up. “I am going to get some sleep downstairs. We can go save Heyar tomorrow.” She walked off towards the stairs and Janet practically jumped up to run to her side.
I stood and looked over at Dax with a bit of trepidation. “No,” he said flatly as he stood up. “We are not rooming together, let the girls do that, I want my privacy.” I must have been visibly relieved because he laughed as he passed me by and slapped my shoulder. “Get some sleep kid, we got another shitty day tomorrow.”
I followed the rest downstairs and found an empty office to crash in. The hard floor, lack of pillow and blanket, and overall bad accommodations had me worried that it would be hard to fall asleep. I laid down on my back and rested my hands behind my head for as much comfort as I could manage and was asleep almost immediately. In the morning, as I opened my eyes, I knew that this would have to be a very temporary situation. My back was sore, and I felt like I had all the mobility of a statue.
Dax was stretching to loosen up his body as I shuffled out of the office that was my bedroom for the night. “Haven’t slept like that since my early twenties. I remember why now too.”
“Maybe some breakfast?” I asked as I leaned and arched my back trying to get it to feel better. “Are the girls up?”
“Will you two shut up?!” Janet’s voice came from the room across from mine and cracked from her half-asleep dry throat.
"I'm up! I'm up!" Came Heidi’s reply, confusion evident in her almost scared answer.
“They are now,” Dax laughed and began heading for the stairs, “Let’s see if Urdo is up and can help with breakfast before we do our death hike.”
“I’m not sure I like your attitude, but I could use some coffee.” I shook the remaining sleep from my head as we walked up the stairs.
Urdo was up and she must have anticipated our desires because there was some of the meat and tea Michael provided set out for us. The smell of the food made my stomach grumble but at the same time, it left a lot to be desired. The [Fasting Tea Service] set out smelled wonderful though and I quickly grabbed a blue ball and dropped it in my cup to watch it fizz.
Dax was aggressively chewing at a piece of meat he bit off as he dropped a ball into his cup, “Dghis dea, max it sho we don afe do ate?” He tried to speak through his chewing.
“Umm, gross.” Janet sat down and pulled a cup towards her, “Don’t talk with your mouth full.
Dax took what looked like a painful swallow to clear his mouth, “The meat is too chewy. I think we should drink the tea and hope for a cook in the settlement.” He looked over at Urdo and his face reddened, “No offense.”
Urdo laughed and ripped a piece of meat off and chewed on it. “Do not worry, I am no cook. That is why I set the tea out.”
I looked at the meat with something only slightly less than horror filling my chest before drinking my tea. “A cook sounds like a top priority.” The others laughed before turning their attention toward their own cups.
The morning passed quietly as we finished our tea and got a rough map from Urdo on our destination. I was very thankful that Dax and Heidi both had some ability for reading maps because I had none. Dax’s experience came from his work and time playing video games, while Heidi learned because of the traveling she did with the circus.
It was mid-morning when we left our dirt pile called a compound and began our trip towards the settlement of survivors. Urdo had helped us understand why a group who had already set up a settlement would even agree to come back with us. Being part of a faction allowed for benefits and improvements to the quality of life. Things like system-sanctioned stores, buildings, and rewards, as well as better quests for the non-combat classes. Most survivors would happily risk moving locations if it meant they could be accepted into a faction and reap the rewards, or at least that is how Urdo made it sound.
“So, can you find that ability Michael gave us?” I asked Dax as we walked a little ahead of the girls. I had checked my sheet several times and could find no mention of it since the message told me I received it.
“Nothing I’ve seen, but I figure it will come up at the most inopportune time.” Dax shook his head and laughed at his own joke, “Seems our life now is just trying to survive the garbage that gets tossed at us.”
We must have slowed down because I could hear the soft sniffle Heidi did as she fought back her tears. “I don’t know…” she started and shook her head. “How are we supposed to live like this?” Her voice raised to almost a yell as she finished her question.
We all stopped walking as Janet pulled Heidi into a hug. I watched in shock as the short-tempered, blunt-spoken, rude woman rubbed Heidi's back and cooed softly "it's ok" and “you’ll be fine” affirmations.
“This world sucks, and everything we have had to do sucks.” Dax looked at his hands, but his expression made it seem as though he were looking through them and the very ground itself. “I have done…” He began before swallowing hard and shaking himself out of his thoughts, “We have done what we could to survive and now we have more to do to keep surviving."
I looked at Janet and shrugged. She was shaking her head as she looked back at me, the two of us were managing to not break down now this time. “I really hope they have a therapist class or something because we are all going to need a lot of help after this!” I nodded to myself and patted Dax’s shoulder. “We should try to keep moving, or we will be stuck out in the open longer than we want to be.”