Adam watched as Po looked at a screen in front of him. Yet again he had found that he was inside another shell where beings had decided to make a little kingdom where they could be God. Was this a continuous theme of the Multiverse?
“I assure you it is not,” Po said.
“You can read my mind?” Adam asked.
“In this room, yes, I can read your mind,” Po said.
“Very well, what do we do first?”
“First, The SYSTEM has decided to give you a choice. Once that choice is made you begin again. To be clear, I am here to bring you within SYSTEM parameters, not to give you everything you want,” Po explained.
“Then why not just make the changes?” Adam asked.
“Because you tend to go off halfcocked if you don’t understand why something happened or don’t agree with it,” Po said.
“I do tend to find the cracks in reality, or the coding that has held reality together, at least in the areas I’ve existed so far,” Adam said with a grin.
“Which is exactly why I’m here. While you may be familiar with SYSTEMS it is doubtful that you have encountered a SYSTEM designed and implemented by a being classified under the aspect of Order. This SYSTEM is not organic, it is not an Artificial Intelligence. It was created by a being so vast in power that it cannot be quantified and maintains a neutrality toward all beings that reside within it,” Po said.
“But you work for it?” Adam said.
“For which I am compensated handsomely in both experience and credits,” Po said with a smile.
“So this SYSTEM is completely neutral and can’t be cajoled. Very well, what kind of decisions am I supposed to make?” Adam asked.
“Looking at your file it seems that you have somehow taken on the characteristics of an Adamantium Dragon, in addition to your affinity with Chaos and Destruction. The SYSTEM has informed me that it recognizes your direct contribution to bringing the Founders back under its area of control, as the physical space they’d taken over was well within this SYSTEMs domain, Therefore it is offering you a choice.”
“A choice?”
“Yes, You can choose to become a member of The SYSTEM or not,” Po said.
“What about Adaline and the rest of my family and friends?” Adam asked.
“They do not get a choice. As far as they’re concerned the SYSTEM just went through an update to Version 12.0 and reset everyone back to level 0 with 0 experience due to a new leveling and experience system. Well, except for Adaline who was brought in because, like you, her attributes and levels were far more than what the SYSTEM allows. Also, we wanted to assure you that she was fine.”
“And this choice?” Adam asked.
“You are being given a choice as a reward. The SYSTEM recognizes that it would be in bad form to pull you here and then take your loved one away from you after your actions directly benefited it without informing you of what’s about to happen.” Po explained.
“After this choice is made, will Adaline and I be able to move forward together?” Adam asked.
Po considered the question as he looked at his monitor and then said, “It is doubtful that you will both begin on the same planet or even with the same material plane. However, I have been informed that the actions you have taken concerning what you called an Animae Core and Adeline’s Animae Core have permanently linked you in a way that you will be able to discover easily. Then it is up to you to find a way back to her.”
“So the rest of my family is automatically staying here but the SYSTEM is giving me a choice to become a member of the SYSTEM as well, or not. I’m pretty sure I’m not going to like the “or not” version so it feels like it’s holding them hostage?” Adam said with a little heat in his voice.
Po looked at Adam thoughtfully before he responded, “The SYSTEM is giving you a choice when it did not have to do so. Everyone in the Foundation is being reset to level 0 and starting over with the only explanation being that a SYSTEM update has happened. Enough modifications are being made to Adaline and yourself that The SYSTEM thought it was best if you were given a choice and if Adaline was given a little context concerning the changes being made to her.”
“What other kind of changes will Adaline and I have to go through?” Adam asked.
“There has been an accident of sorts within an area of the Foundation. Nothing that you or your family did but undoing that accident… The SYSTEM decided that it would just be easier to rewind and reset The Foundation, which you and your family were in…The Short version, because of your Perfect Memory and a couple of changes you made to your Soul, unknowingly, the same option wasn’t available for you or Adaline. Simply, your memories couldn’t have been altered.
“You are saying that The SYSTEM can take a portion of infinity and simply do as it pleases with it at will?” Adam asked disbelievingly.
“The SYSTEM follows a code or rules. Those rules are sacrosanct. Within the scope of those rules though, yes, The SYSTEM is all-powerful within its domain,” Po said.
“So there is something else outside of The SYSTEM?” Adam asked.
“Oh most assuredly. As there is no end to infinity there is no way for The SYSTEM to control all of, what it refers to as, The Infinitium.”
“So within The SYSTEM’s little corner of Infinity, it’s all powerful?”
“It is,” Po said as he looked at Adam expectantly, “And your choice?”
“Like I have one,” Adam said deprecatingly, “Of course, I will choose to stay within The SYSTEM,” Adam said.
“Very good. I have a few more notes to go over before I send you on your way. The next agenda is your abilities. You may keep Perfect Memory if you wish but Chaos Incarnate will be modified. Nothing as chaotic as that ability has become is tolerated by The SYSTEM. Additionally, The aspect of Destruction and your access to Anti, Oblivion, or Null energy will be curtailed. You could still probably survive an encounter with that energy but that trick, taking on the aspect of nothing, The SYSTEM has fixed that loophole by assigning attributes to nothing within its domain. Therefore, normal matter will interact with it. You have been warned.”
“And my Chaos Blade?”
“The Chaos Blade is intrinsic to your chaotic nature if you keep it. You will have access to it though it will not be as powerful as it once was inititally,” Po paused when he saw the look on Adam’s face and held up a hand placatingly, “While in The SYSTEM no one has unlimited levels. In fact, there are only 100 levels for any given class. I could give a detailed explanation but that will be happening again after this meeting so let’s move on.
“Each individual only has, at most, two abilities. Perfect Memory and Chaos Incarnate are yours unless you choose to reroll, which you can request. Your ability Molded Chaos is defined as a Perk within The SYSTEM as are a lot of the other abilities that came with the ability Chaos Incarnate. How Perks work and such will be explained after you choose a class. For now, know that all of your other abilities can be re-earned. Like everyone else though, you will be starting at level 0 with those two abilities or the new abilities that are assigned if you choose to reroll,” Po said.
“And my Race,” Adam asked.
“You were reborn as an Adamantium Dragon within the previous SYSTEM and the current SYSTEM will honor that unless you wish to be reborn as a human?” Po asked.
“Since I’m losing access to my Molded Chaos ability, I gather that my nanites will be going as well?”
“The simple answer is yes. There is a longer answer as to why which you will need to discover for yourself,” Po said.
“So I won’t start with Technomancy either then?” Adam asked.
“No, but if you choose to keep your two abilities you will remember every ability you had and can reacquire them at some point,” Po said as he paused and considered how to continue, “That brings us to the last question,” Do you wish to keep your abilities Perfect Memory and Chaos Incarnate or do you wish for The SYSTEM to suppress them and allow you to gain two random abilities?”
Adam thought for a moment, but it wasn’t even a choice, “I will keep my two abilities,” Adam said.
“Very well, you are now being added to the initialization queue and will be randomly placed by the SYSTEM as will Adaline. Pandora and the rest of your family and friends will remain where they are with almost no change to their environment except for The SYSTEM Update announcements and level resets. After we are done here, The SYSTEM will consider any debt it has to you settled.”
“I have a feeling you let me know more than you needed to Po, thank you for the courtesy.”
“You’re welcome, Adam. Welcome to The SYSTEM and Good Luck!” Po said as a bright flash filled Adam’s eyes and he passed out.
Welcome to The SYSTEM Version 12.0
Version 12.0 requires all users within The Foundation to be reset to Level 0.
See your Status Screen for more information.
Adam found himself sitting in the lobby of a restaurant. A McDonald's restaurant if he wasn’t mistaken. As he looked around he tried to clear the fog from his mind and noticed a few other people looking around with a dazed look though no one made a fuss at him for appearing out of nowhere, maybe he didn’t. Adam read the three messages and realized that whatever The SYSTEM was doing it wasn’t being very forthcoming with information. Adam heeded the messages and looked at his Status Screen.
Name: Adamantadine “Adam”
Identity: Amantadine “Adam”
Race: Adamantium Dragon Human Hybrid
Age: Unknown
Apparent Age: 350
Weight: 260
Birthday: July 16th, ???
Primary Abilities:
Perfect Memory - Like Photographic Memory except for all five senses with automatic recall of desired information. Intelligence is increased by 100.
Chaos Incarnate – The Energy of Pure Chaos fills your body. You receive 10% immunity to all types of Magic which can be increased by class progression. Additionally, you gain access to unique classes in each Tier if you meet the prerequisites. Chaos Attribute granted. Chaos Attribute increased by 100.
Perks
Skill Savant - All skills are known to you through the many memories you have absorbed, while you receive no additional bonuses you are proficient with all weapons, tools, and vehicles. You are also versed in many languages and know the history of a multitude of timelines and the significant events on those timelines.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Chaos Blade - Summon a blade of Chaos: Base Damage 8 points 100% Penetration against everything except Order-based Shields. It costs 10 points of Chaos to summon the Chaos Blade and 10 points per second to maintain the blade.
Chaos Link - You have formed a permanent link to the primordial plane of chaos. Chaos and Mana regeneration are each increased by 1 per second.
Adaptable - You can withstand environmental factors based on Time, Space, and Gravity. Magical attacks from these sources work normally but if the attack utilizes an environmental source, it has no effect.
Titles:
Attributes:
Strength 28
Agility 18
Dexterity 18
Endurance 18
Constitution 28
Perception 18
Intelligence 113
Wisdom 13
Willpower 18
Charisma 28
Luck 28
Chaos 100
Primary Stats
Carrying Capacity: 364 lbs. (165.1 kgs)
Hit Points: 18
HP Regeneration: 2 per day
Stamina: 280
Stamina Regeneration: 2 per 10 seconds
Mana: 180
Mana Regeneration: 11 per 10 seconds
Psychic Energy: 17
Psychic Energy Regeneration: 1 per 5 minutes
Movement
Normal Running Speed: 21 MPH (30 FPS)
Standing high Jump: 16 Inches.
Note. Falling Damage is not mitigated by maximum jumping Distance.
Flying Speed: Speed: N/A in Human Form
Current Class:
Tier 1 Class Rarity: None
Tier 1 Class: None Chosen
Tier 1 Level: 0
Tier 1 XP: 0
Base Attack:
Unarmed Attack:
To Hit: +4
Base Damage: 11
Critical Damage Maximum Damage x2
Well, it looked like Po hadn’t been lying, there probably was something out there that was far more powerful than anything Adam had run into before. That said, Adam was also pretty sure that nothing could make permanent changes to his soul without his approval. Even so, The SYSTEM had been able to limit his Chaos Incarnate ability, hadn’t it? Reading between the lines of what Po said, Adam figured it was because a being of order was involved. It would also explain why it couldn’t modify his Perfect Memory, what better expression of order was there than a perfect memory? That must irk the being, or The SYSTEM if they could be irked.
Adam wasn’t going to sit here and take being leashed if he didn’t have to though. He looked around the restaurant one more time and then performed the 512-point sequence he’d created as a back door to allow him to control his nanites, both the physical and chaotic ones. When he’d completed the sequence, after receiving a few stares from the other people sitting around him, he was surprised when instead of a nanite link being grown into his brain a SYSTEM Message popped into his vision.
Access Denied.
Adam read the message and then looked up as one of the other patrons walked over to him. With a hesitant look on his face, the man asked, “Do you need some help, sir?”
“No. Thank you. Yourself?” Adam asked back.
“Just checking on you since everyone else also seems to have seen words in their vision and we’re all wondering what’s going on. You’re the only person who didn’t seem to be phased by the words and looked like you were doing something else”
“I was just doing some exercises that I do when I find myself in a situation that I don’t expect. The small movements in a specific sequence help me focus,” Adam said as he flashed his most reassuring smile.
“You saw the words too then?”
“I did,” Adam answered truthfully.
“Any idea what they meant?” the man asked.
“The messages seemed pretty self-explanatory, or have you never seen messages like that before.”
“What do you mean? ” the man asked.
“If you have never seen messages like that before I would suggest that make your way back to wherever your loved ones are. I haven’t got the lay of the land here yet but I’m guessing you have never seen magic before.”
“Magic, as in Harry Potter and wands and stuff?”
“Yes, magic. As in miracles, dragons, fairies, and the like.”
“We have moose and bears up here in Alaska, some even make their way into town, but magic, not so much,” the man said.
BOOM!
Adam’s head whipped to the sound of the explosion where a fireball was rising into the sky no less than a quarter of a mile away from where he was, though he couldn’t see the impact point as it was down the road outside the restaurant and off behind some trees in the distance. Just then the lights flickered for a few moments and then came back on as emergency generators in the building kicked in.
“What was that?” The man asked as others rushed to that side of the store and looked out the window.
Adam motioned for the man he was talking to hold on and asked, “You don’t happen to know where we are do you?”
The man looked through the windows, nodded to himself, and said, “As I said we’re in Alaska. Anchorage Alaska to be exact,” The man looked thoughtful for a few minutes, “How do you not know where you are?”
“My mind's kinda foggy,” Adam said as he thought about Anchorage Alaska because while Adam might not have access to his nanites he did have access to his memories. He took in the cross street and saw the sign for Peck Ave where it abutted Muldoon Road. If this was the same McDonalds as he remembered, Muldoon Road went off to the North in the direction of the explosion with the mountains off to the East behind the store. If he went north along Muldoon Road he’d find an access point to Highway 1 and on the other side of the overpass a security gate onto Elmendorf Air Force Base. Next, he needed to know what year it was so asked, “What year is it??
“What year is it? Are you a time traveler or something,” the man said with a laugh.
“Or something,” Adam said.
“Well, when I came here and ordered my lunch it was June 1st, 2029.”
What was it with Earth being the focal point of his resets? Adam thought to himself before he said, “And the President, who’s the President?” Adam asked.
“President Samatha Gerald and Vice President Vincent Yaeng won the Election in 2028. After the snafu in 2024, they started The Constitutionalist Party. A lot of Republicans and Democrats jumped ship and joined the Independents that created the party. When it was all said and done Americans decided they’d had enough of bipartisan bullshit and voted for something completely new, It was a sight to behold,” The man explained with a glint in his eye.
“Well, if I’m being honest, I don’t think it’s going to matter who the President or Vice President is for much longer, but thanks for the information. Like I said, try to get back to your loved ones. If you’ve never seen messages in your vision or had access to your Status Screen before I’m sure the world as you know it is going to change drastically,” Adam said as he stood and walked toward the exit.
“Wait, what do you mean?” The man asked.
Adam turned back, “I need to get going, just trust me when I say get back to your family and do so soon. I have no idea how long vehicles will continue to work, if they still do. I guess that the more technologically advanced vehicles have already started malfunctioning, hence the explosion we just heard. Now I really must get,” Adam said as he turned back toward the door and made his way to the exit.”
“Thanks, I guess, and good luck,” The man called to Adam’s back as he left the restaurant.
Adam did a quick inventory and found that he had nothing, absolutely nothing except a pair of blue jeans and a T-shirt with cobalt colored dragon on it which he was wearing. He double-checked his Status Screen and No, he did not have a storage ability, power, or perk that could hold his items. He even tried the command, “Inventory.” Nothing happened.
Adam quickly looked over his Status Screen again and reviewed the various attributes, abilities, and Perks as he began walking north along Muldoon Road. He needed to get out of the city so that he could switch to his dragon form and head south. If this was the beginning of mana being added to this Earth, things were about to get a little crazy. He did not want to be up in Alaska as the chaos unfolded.
As Adam reviewed his Status Screen it looked like his attributes had all started at 8 and then 150 points had been distributed due to his Race. Attributes between 1 and 10 had no discernable effect on combat though they did affect his Hit Points, Stamina, Mana, and a new attribute called Psychic Energy.
After he played with the interface for a moment he was able to determine that his Strength attribute of 28 gave him a +9 to damage with melee weapons which indicated that The SYSTEM was utilizing the same mechanics he’d seen in the previous SYSTEM, at least at lower levels. Also, the information about his Animae Core or the new Soul of Chaos that he was supposed to have was nowhere to be seen. He probably had to unlock a perk or skill to be able to view it.
Adam took stock of the changes. If the average Human had attributes somewhere between 1 and 10, he was doing quite well. If the average was higher than that, well there really was no way to know without a little more data. With all of his attributes at 13 or higher and the fact that Po implied that the SYSTEM followed similar rules to what it did before, Adam was pretty sure 10 was the maximum for an average human. Anything above 10’s would be good and anything below would be less than ideal.
Of course, his attributes were nowhere near what he’d had before but he could shape change into a dragon if he needed to, so he should be okay. He had to admit that he wasn’t happy that his backup plan had been circumvented. Of course, that just let him know the power level of the beings that had created the SYSTEM he now found himself in. Besides, Adam had a feeling that nothing had been taken from him. Instead, he believed something or someone more powerful than him was suppressing a part of himself. If he’d agreed to reroll his abilities they might have been able to make actual changes to him, but if the soul was sacrosanct, as he believed, then honestly it was just a matter of time before he figured out how to circumvent this SYSTEM as well.
He could be wrong, but he didn’t think so. Why? Because he was having coherent thoughts, nor was he stark raving mad with as many memories as he had in his mind. Nice try SYSTEM but no normal mind could hold all the information that he had coursing through his mind and not be over-strained. His Intelligence might show 113 and his Willpower 18 but he knew for a fact that if 10 were the maximum for an average human there was no way his mind should still be intact. His money was on suppression and since his ability Perfect Memory was inherent to his soul, it couldn’t be suppressed which meant, that while they could suppress his attributes and what they did within the domain of The SYSTEM, they could not affect his ability, so The SYSTEM must have limits.
Adam had to admit that it was quite impressive that The SYSTEM was able to suppress him this much though. So, he’d play along for now and look for opportunities to use the knowledge he had to exploit The SYSTEM as he made his way back to Adaline, Pandora, and the rest of his family. Being separated from them again sucked, but if they were all starting over, he did not doubt that the three of them would be fine. As for Adjra, his brother Adjrock, and the rest of the Dragons, well, they were dragons, they would be just fine until he could get back to them, whenever that was.
Adam was actually excited to see what this SYSTEM had once he exited The Foundation. He was curious about what kind of political systems there might be and if there was a Syndicate-like organization or if, because The SYSTEMS Domain was as large as Po had said there might be a more fluid political system that was constantly changing due to circumstance.
Adam was brought out of his thoughts by the smell of an oil fire from the explosion and he looked at the black cloud that was rising into the sky over on the Air Force Base. As he looked around he noticed that there were a couple more black clouds rising into the sky off to the west and south toward the middle of the city. He looked up and around and noticed that there didn’t seem to be any air traffic visible anywhere. He also noticed that the lights everywhere seemed to be off or on backup power. Also, no cars were moving anywhere. He’d already taken the onramp onto Northbound Highway 1 and could see people exiting stalled cars in both directions along the highway.
It did look like this world was being introduced to mana for the first time, but the SYSTEM hadn’t made any messages to that effect. It had only let people know that there was a version update in a world without magic. Adam looked around and to make sure no one was within 100 feet of him and then tried to summon his Chaos Blade. He wanted to know if magic was working yet.
Adam watched his Status Screen and noticed that the sword didn’t use mana. Instead, his Chaos dropped to 90 as his Chaos Blade appeared in his hand and then continued to drop by 10 per second. He was able to maintain the Chaos Blade for 10 seconds because he was able to recover 10 chaos during those 10 seconds. The Chaos Blade he summoned was pearlescent white. It would do in a pinch if he ran into something. Also, in 100 seconds or just under two minutes, he’d be able to summon it again so it wasn’t a useless Perk. Gone were the days of summoning the blade at will. Also, he might be able to use this version of the Chaos Blade a little more if it didn’t automatically convert things it touched to chaos. If he wanted to keep it active longer he was going to need to improve his chaos, increase his chaos regeneration, or both.
As the Chaos Blade disappeared a tab at the top of his Status Screen flashed red
Classes
Adam tried to activate his Class tab and received a message instead.
To Choose a Class you must kill a SYSTEM-registered creature.
At that time a list of classes will be made available to you that you meet the prerequisites for.
Experience cannot be used to level until a class is chosen.
SYSTEM-registered creature huh? Why couldn’t the message just come out and say he needed to kill a monster or another sentient member of the SYSTEM? Adam guessed it was time to go hunting then, wasn’t it?