I walked past the information kiosk on my way out of Spawn Alley. Past the impossible, gravity-defying sign denoting The Commons. There was a long line of Volunteers waiting for their chance to get in the kiosk. No doubt wanting to learn more about this new patch.

It didn’t interest me. None of it.

Well, maybe the chance at upgrading my living space. My claustrophobic fluorescent coffin, where dark thoughts harassed me. But I knew the chances of ‘winning’ anything of significance were infinitesimal. Maybe the longshot odds were enough to spur Volunteers on to indiscriminate killing sprees, which I suppose was the point.

I bet Little Sadist will be raking in vouchers left and right. Bog dram buzzard.

I decided to make a quick stop by my aforementioned residence, retrieving the Voynich Manuscript page, my fern flowers, coco de mer nut, white linen cloth, and vial of pure water from my external storage cube. Just in case. Totaling 10 metabytes, the partial relic and forging materials maxed out my storage at 340, including the soft cap.

Soon I was at the Data Forge. There was nary a soul in sight. I guess they were all preoccupied with the changes Reality Inc. was forcing down our throats. Good. Nobody to distract me. I hurried inside the brutalist structure and scanned my barcoded wrist under the red light, the metal door slamming and locking behind me.

I stood before the three angular podiums, connected by tubes to the central pedestal with its waiting basin. It was not unlike a kind of religious altar, come to think of it. The double helix-esque sculpture subtly pulsed behind, and the huge hydraulic arms churned away across the back of the building.

There were essentially two main paths to progression in this world. The first was Crypt, purchasing better items and equipment, and rewriting the code of your True Self(™) through cybernetic modification. Such radical data surgery was not without its risks, and you had to pay extra for anesthesia. The other was Crystals, harvesting power from the invasive entities then adapting that power to use against them.

Having no Crypt, I studied the options displayed on the panel before me.

DATA FORGE

CONVERT (Crystals into Value)

FORGE

* ITEMS (from materials)

* CARDS (from card fragments)

FUSE

* SKILLS (fuse Data Cards onto eligible skill slots)

* EQUIPMENT (fuse Data Cards onto eligible weapons or armor)

EXPORT (transform one type of item, weapon, or armor to another type)

TRANSMUTE (transform the cosmetic appearance of an item, weapon, or armor)

If I wanted, I could do some minor crafting. I had unlocked the Schema to forge a Tincture of Fortune (fern flower + pure water). I hadn’t tried the fern flower and linen cloth, nor any combination using my single {uncommon} coco de mer nut. Of course, there was no guarantee of success. My odds of successfully forging items depended in part on my Protocol and Probability stats, although I’d gotten lucky so far.

I could also forge a Kappa card from my collection of 10 card fragments, although I was dubious about the benefits such a Data Card could confer. I recalled the foul-smelling chelonian creatures and suppressed a shudder.

Yes, forging was an option. But converting my 100 Crystals into Value and investing that Value in my statistical subcategories might be the better move.

Storage was always a concern. Every bullet, every credit, every scrap of miscellany took up precious space. My avatar had 300 metabytes of storage space, with an additional 40 temporarily granted by my equipment. If I wanted, I could convert 100 Crystals into 100 more metabytes of storage, bringing my total to 400 (440). But that would in no way improve my chances of survival or killing power. At least not immediately.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Each ‘stat’ I wanted to improve would cost the current invested amount in order to increase the total by 10. In other words, I would need 10 Crystals to raise a stat to 20, and 20 Crystals to raise a stat to 30. But I would need the storage space to handle the additional data load of any increase.

I could always unequip some items or burn my skill in a pinch to free up temporary space, but I needed a direction. I had been going by feel, groping my way along. I didn’t have a clear ‘build’ strategy in place. No optimization. Then again, maybe being a Jack (or Jill) of all trades wasn’t the worst thing.

I closed my eyes and pinched the bridge of my nose, trying to stave off an oncoming headache. I tried to remember, from everything I’d learned so far–from the Concierge, info kiosk, friendly and not-so-friendly advice, overheard rumor, or just my own theorizing–what exactly each statistical subcategory was useful for.

Strength (20): Strength, under the Attack category, directly modified my ability to use melee weapons, and partially modified my ability to use thrown weapons. Although I did have one throwing knife stashed away, thanks but no thanks to Little Sadist, I carried a nice Mark I Trench Knife that had yet to see combat.

Accuracy (20): Accuracy, under the Attack category, directly modified my ability to use ranged weapons, and partially modified my ability to use thrown weapons. I have been relying heavily on my trusty snubnosed revolver, infused with +10% hellhound fire damage.

Essence (20): Essence, under the Defense category, represented my life, or the ‘measurement of the durability of my True Self(™) within The Collective.’ If I hit zero, my avatar would suffer deresolution and deletion, requiring me to be reloaded at a Restoration Point.

Resistance (10): Resistance, under the Defense category, acted as a sort of hardness–a built-in buffer regardless of any armor I had equipped. (Again, note the difference between using Crystals or Crypt for self improvement.) Resistance also helped protect against various forms of data corruption / status ailments, somehow.

Adeptness (10): Adeptness, under the Ability category, modified my use of special skills. For example, using my jiangshi skill, I could absorb Energy up to my Adeptness from a creature I killed. It might even improve my clurichaun skill, but I wasn’t sure.

Energy (30): Energy, under the Ability category, was required to activate any skills. My clurichaun skill cost 30 Energy per use. Energy was restored through resting during a cycle change, through the use of consumables, or through whatever occult means were available to the Serpents’ leader.

Speed (20): Speed, under the Movement category, was self-explanatory. How fast could I move through the environment? Not very. Speed also modified the use of some traps / deployable items, which I had yet to dabble in.

Agility (10): Agility, under the Movement category, modified my reflexes and maneuverability. including my ability to dodge incoming attacks. Agility also modified the use of some traps / deployable items. See above.

Perception (20) + (20): Perception, under the Processing category, related to ‘the interpreting of sensory information in order to comprehend the environment.’ It helped me detect threats and opportunities. With my B1-N0C-PRCPT-I 1 implants, Perception was technically my highest stat with its +20 increase and 4x zoom.

Persuasion (10): Persuasion, under the Processing category, related to ‘the ability to influence others.’ As it stood, most people ignored me, or didn’t bother to give me the time of cycle. But would this stat really have an effect when interacting with presumably sentient persons, like Volunteers and Citizens? Or did it only modify interactions with invasive entities, or maybe bots? I tried not to think about the unnatural powers of persuasion possessed by Der Schlächter…

Protocol (10): Protocol, under the Processing category, related to ‘higher cognitive functions such as knowledge, intelligence, logic, and prescience.’ I knew it could improve my forging, modified my use of traps / deployable items, and that Protocol requirements existed for higher level cybernetic modifications. I wondered how high the Protocol stats were for the Antisoc members, enabling them to manipulate the underlying system governing The Collective.

Probability (10): Probability, under the Processing category, was essentially luck, but luck that could be skewed in my favor. I knew that it influenced a number of functions, including forging and avoiding status ailments. Downing the Tincture of Fortune had temporarily boosted my probability of obtaining Crystals and discovering items of higher rarity. Did my overall Probability score have a similar impact? Would it enable me to reap better rewards and, say, encounter invasive flora of {uncommon}, {rare}, {legendary}, and even {mythical} frequency, maybe even relics?

Shiva on a stick. Could you imagine how strong I could become with 1,000 Crystals? But that would mean betraying my only confidant…

There have been times here in the Metaverse when I have felt a mysterious suggestion in the back of my mind. The faintest hint of whispers. What I assumed to be guidance or some sense of clarity emerging from my conscience, or from some dormant region of my physical brain–wherever it was, if it even existed. If such guidance was more than just wishful thinking or hallucination, I longed for it now.