Karl walked downstairs after the meeting and found a small crowd around Jo and Tabitha. Everyone in the crowd was female, he noted with relief. Tabitha didn't react well to men, to put it mildly. He moved closer to check if they were doing all right, and overheard bits of conversation.
“A Constitution of twenty-six is insane,” one woman gushed.
“Can you see in the dark?”
“Do you need, like, to eat sunlight now?”
“Dunno. I'm hungry,” Jo rumbled.
“Eat as much as you want, love,” Tabby answered, pulling another hot meal out of inventory. “She will need to eat less eventually. I think,” she told the crowd. Jo stuffed her mouth with a chicken tender and moaned happily.
Karl looked over the crowd and found only curiosity and well wishes in their expressions. Satisfied, he headed to his apartment.
Once in his own space, after the stress of the day he took a second shower. Before he dressed for bed, Karl examined himself in the bathroom mirror. Good God, I think I've actually gotten taller. It wasn't much, just an inch or two, and Karl had dismissed the signs as simply improvement in his posture until now.
What else is the System going to do to me? I should ask Maria what her higher Intelligence feels like. If I can find a delicate way to ask, knowing how Jo feels having lost five points would be good for comparison.
Karl brooded on that for a moment. System, why reduce her Intelligence? You could have kept it where it was, couldn't you? What effect is that having on her brain? Are you just temporarily suppressing her thinking or did she suffer brain damage? How well will it all come back when she levels up?
They'd discussed it on the way back; Jo and Tabby were going to go out monster hunting, just the two of them. That way, Jo wouldn't have to split the experience further and would level up faster. Karl had suggested adding a Scout to help them find monsters more quickly, or a Healer. I suppose they'll try things and see what works best. Jo might well be nigh-invulnerable now, and since she can take damage for Tabitha, they can probably survive anything they run into.
We almost lost both of them, this week. We have lost people. It's my job to prevent that, as far as possible. But I can't be everywhere or do everything, and even if I could, it's impossible to do this perfectly. Sometimes, this job makes me feel all of my years.
⛨ ⛫ ⛨
On Sunday morning, Karl was up before dawn. Thanks to repeated increases in his Constitution score, he didn't need as much sleep as he used to. When he stepped outside, he noticed that there were more people manning the walls than before, and they were wary of the sky, knowing that the Giant Owl was out there somewhere. A hint of motion up high drew his attention, and he equipped his armor, sword and shield in an instant, even as he turned to face the threat. But instead of the owl, it was one of the Stone Gargoyles. It was flying in circles over the Safe Zone. Apparently, Jake or Letisha had made more and upgraded them to boot. I'm glad Paul's taking the threat seriously and got us some proper air defense for Endurance.
He had silver to spare at the moment, so he got himself a hot meal from the Shop pedestal. He wasn't the only one; several people appeared to be in the same situation as he was, judging by the small group already eating in the cafeteria. They were all fairly big people, too. Karl was the smallest person there.
He chatted with everyone, trying out his new Personality stat. A four didn't seem to be a whole lot better than a three, though he did notice some improvement. He stopped by the office of the EIA: the Endurance Intelligence Agency, which so far was George Ritter and a few volunteers. They were closed, as it was still early morning.
After sharing news back and forth, and answering several questions, Karl still had time to kill before everyone else got up, so he pulled out the book on tactics that Terry had given him and read some more. When someone asked, he showed them the book, and that got a discussion going about the best ways to fight monsters.
“So, I was thinking of putting some stakes in the ground at an angle to catch an animal charge, like a boar's,” he mentioned.
“Did you know there's actually a weapon called a Boar Spear? You might want to get one of those, Sir Karl,” one woman suggested. That got people pulling out their weapons and comparing. Karl amused people by summoning his big rocks out of inventory and discussing the merits of what Terry called Inventory Fu.
“There's a lot of other uses for that,” someone pointed out. “Has anybody tried swapping weapons in mid-swing? Imagine if your sword suddenly got longer at the right moment.”
“That happens to me whenever I see my girlfriend,” one man joked, eliciting a few groans.
“Too obvious, dude.”
“It doesn't work,” one woman piped up. “I tried it, and you have to vanish your old weapon and then visualize the new one, and that actually takes a second. It's still a good trick to switch weapons mid-fight, just not mid-swing.”
The conversation continued. Each question called up recent experiences and lessons learned. Karl listened attentively.
“How would you fight a flying monster?”
“How would you stop a swarm?”
“What's the best position for the Healers?”
“How do you not hit a friendly who's in Stealth?”
“Should you run straight from one fight to another, or always heal up the whole way first after each separate fight?”
Pretty soon, they had moved a couple of tables out of the way and were acting out battles they had survived. Everyone threw out critiques and suggestions. Karl was surprised to find that he was enjoying himself, as people playing dying spawns overacted and gave little speeches and laments at high volume while sinking to the ground.
The fun was interrupted suddenly when one man got too enthusiastic in his reenactment and accidentally made a critical strike to a woman's neck with his sword. Karl dashed over and used Healing Hands, and then saw the green glow of another healing spell going off on the poor woman. The man was profusely apologetic. Before the System, that blow would have been almost instantly fatal.
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“Just like every gun is loaded, assume every blade is sharpened,” Karl declared loudly. “We need rules of sword safety.”
“Rule 1: don't be a fucking moron,” the woman told the room with a glare at her attacker.
By the time the sun rose and cafeteria breakfast started, Karl felt as if he had gotten a crash course in beginner tactics. Maybe next time I fight, I can be less of an idiot, he thought hopefully.
⛨ ⛫ ⛨
He took a look at the leaderboard, noting with approval the increase in numbers and Levels. They had several more Scouts, because the new people drifting in usually needed Stealth to have survived without a Safe Zone for so long. Over 200 people now, a couple of dozen at Fifth Level or above. Not too bad for just under two weeks of the System.
Next, he went to the express lane for the Shop, and searched for mail. It was a shoddy workaround to proper communications, but Jack Swift at Lazy Circle Safe Zone had realized that you could write a newsletter or just a letter, and put it up for auction at the Shop with a price of two copper. The problem was that anyone could buy it, so you couldn't be sure your message got through until you heard back.
He found a letter for him, but it was listed as being posted by Zelgreb Rockchewer the Seventeenth of Eidolico Seven. He blinked twice, rereading the entry, then purchased it for three copper. Is this contact from aliens? Why would they write to me?
It turned out that the letter was from Jack, but the paper was stained a sort of grayish-purple on part of one side. Karl was curious as to why, but set it aside and read the letter.
> Sir Karl,
>
> All is well here. Our new members are settling in, and we haven't had any deaths since last we spoke. Still a ways off from our next expansion unless something changes, but we're good for the moment.
>
> I'm glad your girl Jo came out of the cocoon alive. We watched it hatch on the Renown videos. It's a strange world we live in these days. Good luck and well wishes to her.
>
> Jake says you need farmers. I'll have someone visit your place if you have people ready to learn the Agriculture Skill or the Farmer class.
>
> Thank you for the advice on getting a Stone Gargoyle. Stone is cheap, so we can replace it easily. The Giant Owl attacked this evening and destroyed it, but the thing did enough damage that the monster flew off afterwards without attacking further.
>
> Cecily made Fifth Level today, and it hit her pretty hard. We appreciate the warning about the emotional blockers switching off.
>
> Well, I get tired of writing quickly and we both have things to do, so
>
> Good luck,
>
> Jack Swift
Underneath the signature, written in a strange blocky font, were the words
> APOLOGIES FOR TAKING YOUR MAIL - ZELGREB [https://i.imgur.com/w4dYA3i.png]
and under that, was added in a different font
> System Message:
>
> Communication between newly-inducted worlds and established ones is prohibited during the assimilation period. Repeated offenses will incur penalties.
Karl shook his head, imagining the alien damaging the paper just by picking it up by accident. There's more than one strange world we live in, Jack.
⛨ ⛫ ⛨
Finally, the moment Karl had been dreading rolled around. When the kitchen opened for breakfast and a large group of people had gotten their meals, Karl stood in his customary speaking spot next to one wall. “Good morning, folks. If I could have your attention, I have a very important announcement to make about the Safe Zone.”
Karl had always hated public speaking but he had had to do a lot of it in the past two weeks and was starting to get more comfortable with it. That still didn't mean he enjoyed doing it, though. He repeated his call at higher volume, and when people had quieted down, he took a deep breath and began.
“People of Endurance, I have a hard choice to make, about who gets to stay in the Safe Zone and who gets to be citizens.” He held up a hand to forestall the noise that threatened to erupt over his first words. “There's good news and bad news, so hear me out! The good news is, I have decided to let everyone stay.” That got the roar to mostly subside. “The exception would be a criminal, someone violent towards another citizen. If that comes up, it will be decided on a case-by-case basis with the safety of everyone in the the Safe Zone taken as of first importance.”
“Who decides that?” someone shouted.
“I do,” Karl shot back. “This is my Safe Zone. I run it as I see fit. I listen to the Town Council, but the final decision is always going to be mine. If you're not planning a life of violent crime, you've got nothing to worry about. And if you are accused and you're innocent, my Paladin abilities will tell me so. That part's not the problem, people, let me get to the bad news.”
Karl waited for the noise to subside again. “Here's the bad news: we don't have enough food.” He looked around, and people were finally quiet and paying attention. “So, I have had to make some hard choices. With advice from the Town Council, this is what I have decided.
“First, anyone younger than fourteen years old eats for free. I won't have children going hungry in Endurance. For everyone else, the rules are simple: if you want to eat, contribute. It doesn't much matter how, so long as you are doing something that helps everyone or helps Endurance. For the moment, Sarah Jackson is going to be in charge of deciding what counts as enough work. There's plenty to be done, and the vast majority of you are already doing enough work to qualify.
“But some people aren't.” Karl looked around the room with a hard gaze. “When America was a rich country, we could afford some freeloaders, but that's not the case here. Make no mistake, we are in a struggle for survival. And everyone who can has got to pitch in if we're going to make it.”
“What if we can't work?” One woman called. Karl was ready for the question.
“The System is basically handing out superpowers left and right. If you can't find some way you can contribute, talk to others or bring it up with Sarah Jackson, who has a huge list of jobs to be done, and a list of System classes that people have taken and what abilities they gain. I find it hard to believe that many people are truly unable to work under these circumstances.”
“But what if we really can't?” The same woman called plaintively.
“If that actually comes up, which I doubt, we'll discuss it. I can't promise that everyone will have a job they love. A lot of boring or dirty or dangerous or otherwise undesirable jobs nevertheless have to get done. But there is lots of work for everyone, so you should at least be able to find something you don't hate.”
“What happens if someone doesn't work?”
“Well, like I said, I won't kick anyone out of the Zone. It doesn't seem to cost us anything for housing and there's plenty of room inside the walls. You can have safety for free, even if you sit and do nothing. But if you want to eat town food, you have to contribute to the town.”
A couple of people were pointing at the food in front of them and looking questions at him. Karl acknowledged them all with a nod. “In two days, we're going to start checking whether people are working. You have free food until Tuesday morning. But at that point, we're going to have to start refusing to serve food to the freeloaders.
“Like I said, nearly everyone here is already doing just fine. This is just to goad the troublemakers to get off their butts and help out. Beside, anyone who manages to find any way to earn a silver in System coin can buy a meal of their choice from the Shop. I'm not condemning anyone to death, here. And I'm not throwing anyone out of the town unless they are a threat to others.
“This is the best solution I have managed to come up with. I think it is pretty reasonable, given our perilous circumstances. I've written up the rules here and I'm posting them on the main board. Anyone with questions can bring it up with Sarah Jackson. Thank you for your attention.”
Karl nodded, and turned to head for the message board, when he was surprised by the sound of clapping. He looked around, and more and more people were actually applauding. Nearly everyone was smiling at him and nodding approvingly. Several got up and approached him as he pinned up the notification.
“Thank you for feeding the children,” one young mother told him.
“You made the right call, Sir Karl.”
“About time someone told the lazy people what's what.”
“We're with you, Sir Karl!”
He smiled, which still felt unnatural to him, but it seemed called for. “Thank you for your support.” He did notice that a few people were hanging back and looking angry or afraid.
I can't please everyone, nor do I want to try. All I can do is my best.