Sophie had a vague impression of being carried somewhere, then being thrown atop a pile of soft, hard and warm things. Her eyes tried to open. Through blurry eyes, she could see the faces of Lyra and Jay beneath her. She could faintly hear the groans of the other kids as well.
They were in the back of a van, she realised. On one side, a scav sat on a small bench. Sadly, when she looked at him, he noticed.
“Mustn't have fried her enough,” he muttered. His arm came forward, shoving his taser into her body again. Lightning once again flooded her body and she convulsed, face contorted into a silent snarl. She dropped off again, the pain of her original injuries and the electricity too much to bear.
Oddly, only 15 minutes later, she woke up again. She was still in the van, though they were moving now, compared to previously. The same scav remained at the side of the vehicle, the hologram mask lighting up the dark interior to a certain extent. He noticed that she was awake, again.
“Again?” The confusion was evident in his voice. “Whatever…” The taser came down again and once more her mind shut down.
-----------------------
The next time Sophie woke up, she was being hauled out of the van. Her groggy eyes could barely make out how the other captives were treated similarly, thrown over the shoulders of their kidnappers.
She looked around, desperate to find something, anything, that might help her escape the situation. They were in some kind of industrial plant, that much she could tell. A tall smoke stack seemed to pierce the sky above the building they were entering. In the other direction, a tall, cylindrical building was visible. However, there were no identifying features. That was all she could see before the line of scavs, each carrying a captive, descended into the bowels of the building.
Inside, there was a wide array of rooms. One that seemed dedicated to drug manufacturing, though she was completely unfamiliar with what type. Another that appeared to be an administrative room? Her drowsy mind failed to comprehend what that was for. Do the scavs regularly have visitors? She didn’t get much of a chance to think about it as they entered a different room, straight out of hell.
Thick layers of blood caked the walls and floors. Medical equipment was present too; ripperdoc chairs, monitoring devices and large, blocky freezers. It was the chairs however, that drew the most attention.
Adorning them like pieces of macabre artwork, were bodies, all torn apart in various ways. Most terrifying however, was that some seemed to still breathe, even with arms or organs torn out. This has to be a nightmare. Yeah, that’s it. I’ll wake up and still be in the shack, with Mia and the others.
Her hopes were dashed when the train of kidnappers made their way into a much larger, more open room. They headed straight for one side of the space. Three, massive cages, one of which was occupied, stood menacingly. The scavs opened an unoccupied cage. All of the kids Sophie had been brought in with were thrown inside, one by one. There was no care, simply throwing them inside before walking out again.
Sophie, half awake, found herself flying through the air. No! The back of her head cracked against the ground and she instantly lost consciousness.
-----------------------
An unknown amount of time later, Sophie’s eyes fluttered open. The first thing she saw was the dirty, grey cement roof. Then she felt the immense pain emanating from her skull, where it had cracked against the ground. She groaned.
“She’s awake!” A somewhat familiar voice entered her ears and suddenly, Mia’s face was above her, upside down. Arms slipped under her own and she was dragged up until her head rested comfortably on the older girl's thighs. “Are you alright? You weren’t waking up. I was worried.”
“Eh? How long have I been unconscious?”
“I’m not sure,” she said. “Probably a day or two? It’s hard to tell the time down here.”
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Damn, I must have hit my head way harder than I thought. “What is this place?”
The older girl’s face twisted into a grimace. “A scav den. Although it seems to be different from what I’ve heard. Normally they chop you up once they have you. These scumbags seem to have a different agenda.”
A noise came from outside the cage and both girls looked over. A line of scavs were carrying more kids, all of similar ages to Mia’s group. They opened the door to the cage and threw all of the unconscious bodies inside.
“I need to check on them. Will you be alright by yourself?”
“Yeah, do what you need. Not like I can go anywhere.” Sophie spoke with resignation. Mia nodded.
“I’ll check on you soon, ‘kay?” The younger girl grunted in reply. With the other girl’s help, she was able to sit up, back against the cold wall. She watched as Mia went around, calming her friends and checking on the new arrivals. Her eyes moved on, beginning to look at the surroundings.
There were two additional cages on both sides of her own, each empty. The back wall of her own cage had a single toilet, covered in grime. That thing looks absolutely foul, the girl thought in disgust. Aside from that single amenity, the cell was completely bare. The other kids in the cell, specifically those from Mia’s group, each had various looks of fear plastered across their faces.
The twins were hugging each other tightly, Tessa nervously wrung her hands and Rei had curled up into a ball, seemingly in an attempt to hide from reality. Mia, Lyra and Jay seemed to be the only ones doing better but there were still signs of fear.
Sophie turned her attention to the new arrivals. They didn’t appear much different from Mia and the others. She sighed. This really doesn’t look good. Her attention turned to herself; more specifically, her body. There hadn’t been much time to stop and actually examine her condition. Now that she had nowhere to go, it was the best opportunity to find out what she was working with.
Her discoveries were pretty much exactly as she expected. All across her body, bruises bloomed. The purplish spots were almost like massive polka dots and she wasn’t able to find anywhere that didn’t have at least one. Her head was still sticky with blood, both from when she had woken up originally and when she was thrown into the cage. Obviously, all of that damage had taken a significant toll. Pain washed over her body in waves and she was physically exhausted. Mentally though, she was mostly fine.
Right. I do have one option to get myself out of this situation. With a mental command, she brought up her system page.
Name: Sophie ??? (Awaiting Host Choice)
Age: 14
Class: Available
Passives
N/A
Skills
N/A
Cyberware
N/A
Store: Available
L-Coins: 0
*Welcome Gift Box Available*
“Name and age are simple, though I think I’ll hold off picking a surname.” Sophie muttered, “a system store will hopefully be useful, and I assume that the L-Coins are a system unique currency. I wonder if the system can talk? Hey system, can you explain my status to me?”
Class: You may pick one class at a time. Each class comes with a set of skills and one Trait that unlocks at max level. Every class maxes out at level 100. When you reach level 100, you may evolve your class further along the same path or you can choose to start a new path. For example, the ‘Gunner’ class evolves into the ‘Markswoman’ class. You can however choose to take the ‘Thief’ class first before taking the ‘Markswoman’ class.
All classes that are unlocked and maxed will remain no matter what. Some classes require multiple classes to be completed before becoming available. For example, the ‘Assassin’ class requires the classes ‘Queen of Thieves’ and ‘Gunslinger’ to be completed.
“Right…I think that makes sense. What about the rest?”
Skills: Each class comes with a set of appropriate skills. Skills gain proficiency via actions directly associated with them; The ‘Tracking’ skill will gain proficiency when you track someone or gain more experience in tracking. Every point of proficiency will provide a small amount of knowledge. Skills typically start off at 0/100 proficiency points. Once a skill reaches maximum proficiency, it might evolve or fuse with other skills. All class associated skills must reach full proficiency before a new class can be chosen.
“You mentioned class associated skills, so are there other skills available?”
Additional skills can be bought from the system store. Price is dependent on the skill.
“Right…What about passive skills?”
Passive Skills: Awarded upon successful completion of a class, Passives are typically connected to whatever class you have completed. For example, the Passive associated with the ‘Soldier’ class is ‘Steady Hands’, a perk that makes it easier to aim under any circumstances. They can also be bought from the system store, though they are significantly more expensive than skills.
“And how exactly do I level my classes? Do I have to kill people and farm exp that way?”
Classes gain levels via actions associated with the class. Stealing will naturally level the Thief class if possessed.
“That shouldn’t be too hard. Can you explain the store and L-Coins as well?”
The System Store allows you to buy almost anything you could possibly want using L-Coins. L-Coins can be earned through completing system missions.
“How do I get missions then? I don’t seem to recall being given any.”
Missions will overlap with any jobs or gigs you obtain in the world. They may also appear randomly, be spawned to provide a challenge or be given as guidance. Here is your first mission, generated based on your current situation.
New Mission
Find a way to escape the Scavengers.
Difficulty: Very Hard
Reward: 2000 L-Coins, 1000 Eurodollars, Mid-Grade Healing Injection, ???
“That doesn’t help at all. Can I open the Welcome Gift Box now?”
Opening… You have received the following:
* Basic Interface System
* 1000 L-Coins
Would you like to install the Interface System?
Sophie thought about it for a moment. “No, it would just give the scavs something else to rip out of me, aside from my organs. Not to mention it’d be super suspicious to suddenly possess one.”
Acknowledged.
With the basic explanations out of the way and of no real help, the girl turned her attention to the Class section. Maybe you will have what I need.