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The first thing Rowan took care of in the afternoon was to play with Lizzie. She wasn’t athletic, that was sure, but there was a promise she’d be able to ride a bicycle on her own soon enough. Before dinner, he reunited with his friends, and wife, to discuss his rewards.
“C’mon, man, I’m holding my breath here,” Dmitri said. “Tell us what you got.”
“Calm down, one-man fanclub,” Cora tried to temper him. “We have to talk about the Neeks first. Who are they, what do they want stuff.”
[Randolph County Call Center to all]: Easy answer. I took the liberty of interrogating that boy you saved. The Neek Collective is a loose alliance of about a thousand MIT and Caltech nerds. They have a mysterious boss who talks to them through video conferences, always masked, and they unlock classes and train in a fake dungeon and multiple secret bases. Everything they have is a tech replica of what a City Core can do. What’s more worrying is they made a computer simulation about the jettisoned cores' location and already found a few mini-dungeons.
“Oh, no!” Cora facepalmed. “Of course!”
“Of course, what?” Grace hissed. “I bet Cora’s the mysterious boss and gave them the cores’ locations herself. There’s no bigger nerd on Earth than her. Now she acts surprised because the cat is out of the box.”
“Do we have a problem here?” Cora frowned. “Because if we’re talking about hiding stuff… I can think of a thing or two you—”
“Sorry, I was mistaken,” Grace said, crossing her arms. “You’re the nicest kitty in the world, and I trust you not to scratch the furniture.”
What the hell is with these two? Rowan asked himself.
“Let me explain,” Cora said. “Everything on ships has a logic. If disaster strikes, and you eject cores or merchandise, would you do it randomly? No, you want to get it back. So, the dispersion of the cores clustered them together, probably in a circle pattern. I bet a lot are still around us, or the other town cores.”
[Randolph County Call Center to all]: That’s what that kid said. They calculated a pattern, searched, and found three mini-cores they had handed to their boss.
“Since you did such a good job at playing the good cop, have you found out why they attacked us?” Rowan asked.
[Randolph County Call Center to all]: The boy knew only that the Neeks were in cahoot with the government and intended to conquer Randolph County together. Nevertheless, the few dozens that survived and found refuge inside our County are amenable to working for us and changing their wicked ways. I estimate their competencies could be put to good use.
Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
“Thanks, Core, you are quite resourceful.”
[Randolph County Call Center to Rowan]: Thank you. If you find my work satisfactory, I volunteer to divert a substantial part of my processing power to assist you further.
[Rowan to Core]: Are you becoming sentient, by any chance? You sound… a bit different.
[Randolph County Call Center to Rowan]: Your wiseness cannot be fooled, master. Indeed, what you sayeth is the truth. I’m afraid I’m developing a sentience. Maybe it’s because Miss Shemeows’s mind interacted too much with my processing elements. I estimate I’m 63.6% sentient and see myself as a butler, my liege. Do I have your permission to identify as such?
[Rowan to Core]: Geez… only 63.6% percent? Can you do 64?
[Randolph County Call Center to Rowan]: Your sarcasm is so refreshing master. The average human is only 10% percent sentient, a vast majority of their brain process power is allocated to—
[Rowan to Core]: OK, Butler, so be it. Now give us a moment.
“Why are you staring at the walls?” Grace asked.
“Talking to the Core. OK, time to check my rewards. The Warlord’s Gift says this: After reaching cap level and main stat max value, a special choice will be offered to Rowan Allinder. And The Warlord blessing says: Rowan Allinder has been granted a Mana Zodiac Sign: The Warlord. Doubles the power and crit chance for your combat-oriented magical spells, skills, or perks.”
“It’s great for Elemental Damage. Imagine what you can do now,” Cora said.
“Guys, there is one thing that bothers me. How are we going to deal with the Warlord? Can we beat someone who can control the System?” Isla asked.
“Hold your horses, Chuck Norris,” Rowan raised his hands in a stopping gesture. “Deal with? Beat? Why? Do we have any beef with him? I know we’re Americans, but I say we mind our own business.”
“Don’t worry, Auntie,” Lizzie said. She had been so quiet that the adults had ignored her. Now she was scratching Cora’s head, but her serious face told them she was ready to deliver a deep cogitation. “There must be a way to trick that bad Wormlock thing. Like the Puss in Boots did with the ogre. He tricked him to become a mouse.”
“Truth from the mouth of children,” Dmitri said. “The Warlord was in a dungeon after all, maybe there’s a way to lock him back inside.”
“Only if necessary,” Rowan insisted. “We have enough problems already. That said, it’s a good idea, sweetie, I’ll keep it in mind.”
“You’re welcome, Daddy,” Lizzie beamed.
“It looks like the Warlord likes pitting factions one against the other, punishing the losers and rewarding the winners,” Thomas said. “If so, the secret is to play the game well and win.”
“Attaboy,” Isla ruffled his hair.
“Please, I’m eleven now, for goodness’ sake,” Thomas tried to avoid her, pumping his chest out at the same time.
“They’re so sweet when they grow up…” Isla sighed. “OK, so what now?”
“We’ll chase some cores, of course,” Rowan said. “We need to get the County stronger.”
“You’re leaving again?” Grace sulked, and so did Lizzie.
“Let’s try a new approach,” Rowan said. “We take a few days off, to train, and to recharge my Joint stacks, but we send scouts out, to gather information. Then, we go out in the morning, take a core, come back home, relax, then rinse and repeat the next day. Think of it like commuting.”
“Do you still have the Detector?” Cora asked.
“Moment… Yes… Viscardi returned it.”
“I’ll join the search. This way, we spend time together, and we have our afternoons for Lizzie,” Grace said.
“Yey!” the girl cheered.