Chapter 12.

“We can’t just shut it down,” the man in black said to the woman in black in the bunker where they were beginning to regret their life choices. Once the insidious nature of the infection had been made clear, spreading to people who were simply passed by ambulances rather than any traditional infections mode known to man, the uninfected like the pair of them were ordered to shelter in place.

She didn’t ask what he was talking about. She knew he was talking about the website. It was frustrating for both of them.

“I know,” she said, and he could hear her frustration in her voice. “And we cant DDoS them, because they’re growing to handle that already. The higher ups aren’t happy that they’re locked in their panic rooms, and we’re not happy we’re stuck in here without air conditioning, but that doesn’t mean that you need to repeat things we both know.”

“I’m brainstorming,” he said. “What can we do if we can’t shut it down? What are our options?”

She sipped a bit of water through a straw, making an annoying sound that she knew bugged him. Probably because it bugged him and not due to being thirsty at all. He sighed as she thought.

“We could infiltrate. Implant disinformation, run counterintelligence, run actual info-gathering and start recruiting assets from those who will be delving,” she commented.

He frowned. “Don’t be stupid. Assuming that the rumors of ‘dungeons’ are true, they’ve already set aside a multi-level force designed to clear them before they ever become a threat. Whatever it is that the aliens intend to throw at a dungeon … what are they calling themselves?”

“Depends on who you ask,” she answered. “I call them delvers.”

“Well, the delvers aren’t going to have the coordination of our elites. Or even the rank and file military forces we’ll be sending, if it seems that we can secure a base inside the dungeons. The civilians will be irrelevant and forced out within days, if not hours. That’s my prediction.”

She sipped her drink just to annoy him. “Yeah? Let’s see how that prediction holds up two weeks from now,” she said, and she went to the sink to refill her drink.

They were decision makers. Movers and shakers. Power players who did the work behind the scenes, deciding who would say what by moving around impressive sums of money, or by whispering in the right ears, or through any number of other actions.

They didn’t have a system yet.

They wouldn’t receive one for two weeks, as the government that they served completely forgot them in their bunker in the middle of nowhere.

The man in black’s prediction didn’t hold up very well at all, it turned out.

~~~~~~~

John was in the hardware store when his phone rang. He picked up when he recognized the number as that of one of his daughter’s friend’s father.

“Hello Jose,” he said, his eyes looking around through the various tools and building supplies. His new class was in overdrive, and he was finding it both extremely pleasant to let the ideas of how to build a trebuchet out of two by fours and plumbing supplies flow through him.

“Are we really still thinking about letting our kids go through with this?” the Cook on the other end of the line asked. “I know that—”

“Are you trying to sew dissent, Jose?” John asked, throwing a multitool into his basket and moving on to another aisle. Junior was nearby with his own basket full of odds and ends, and the two tinkerers were planning on putting their heads together to compare notes on what their classes wanted them to build before they checked out.

“No, I’m just saying, now that we’ve all had some time to think—”

“Sounds like sewing dissent to me, friend,” John said. “Or are you trying to assert control? Are you upset that our kids seem to know how to handle this new world better than we do? Because I’m proud of them.”

“My daughter was almost blown up by your son with this new … magic bullshit,” Jose said, his voice angry.

“Sorry about that, yeah,” Jose said. “Which, to me, is just all the more reason to go with them. To make certain they’re not getting in over their heads. Who knows, maybe dungeons are easy and we’ll blow through them. Or maybe the only way to keep our kids safe will be for them to see in person how dangerous they are and have their parents swoop in and save them. Either way I’m not letting my kids take this on alone.”

The phone abruptly went dead, and John sighed. He found the aisle with the rope and his Tinkerer abilities began going into overdrive.

“Oh,” he said. “Yeah, we’re going to need a lot of rope.”

~~~~~~

The day drew to a close. The parents who had dropped their kids off at Eli’s house came to pick them up. Alaina brought a change of clothes for Maia’s burnt outfit, and everyone else retired to their own homes to rest for what might be the final time before the end of the world as they knew it.

Although some would eventually argue that the world as they knew it had already ended.

The adults went to bed listening to news reports about how the spread of the system, while perhaps disruptive to the status quo, had thus far led to no casualties. Newscasters spent time interviewing those who had woken up with their new abilities and the menus in their heads. Government officials promised official responses “in the coming days and weeks.”

Eli, sitting on the couch with his mom, thought it was funny that the Titan ship in orbit was largely forgotten by the news media. As were the Core Stones which had landed on Earth and started the entire process.

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“Thanks for backing me up with the other adults, mom,” Eli said before they went to bed.

“What were you expecting? I’m not going to just throw you to the wolves. But you’ve got to show that you’re worth it, Eli. So far everyone is following you because you’re a step ahead of everyone else in figuring things out. If that changes, there are going to be challenges to hold onto your throne.”

“I’m not a king or anything,” he said, “just a party leader. And if someone else can do the job better then I’ll step aside. Honestly I’m not entirely certain that it wouldn’t be better if I’d let someone else handle it from the start, but nobody else is standing up to do it, and, well, I know things at this point that give me an advantage.”

“Because of Gabri and your conversation with this Titan,” his mother supplied.

“Yeah,” he agreed. “Gabri is a great resource. And Erandius answered a few important questions for me.”

“Well, I’m proud of you,” Mattie said. “Now go to bed. It’s been a long day.”

“Right,” he agreed, and they turned the TV off. There wasn’t anything interesting on anyway.

~~~~~~

The next day, the entire party arrived at the Mathews’ house with the supplies they’d gathered the day before. Elaine was missing, stating that she needed to work but would be around for the opening of the dungeons tomorrow.

They spent a few moments to address the matters what they’d discovered through the news that morning. Something like sixty percent of the world was presently unconscious, presumably receiving the system. The response to this from those who were still awake varied. Some were using the opportunity to loot and rob, while others were being good citizens and staying home, waiting for society to come back online again.

TitanSystem.App had a major influx of new users. Eli got a few more pings asking him for enchanting advice, or if he was available for a party, or various other messages, but mostly he focused on his own party rather than his phone.

They set up a clearing for Luke to practice his low level magic in relative safety while everyone else donned the protective sports equipment they’d found or bought or ‘borrowed’ from the school the day before.

Peter, the thirteen year old warrior, was dressed in his football gear even as he wielded a baseball bat. He wanted a sword, but between his natural physical powers being enhanced by the arrival of the system and his ability to tap into Stamina, he was already quite dangerous with just the bat.

Sophie, Peter’s older brother and Eli’s classmate/fellow Astronomy Club member, had arrived with their deceased father’s old compound bow and was practicing with an archery butt nearby. She reported that her skills were interacting with the bow in a way that she was still figuring out, but that the arrows had more ‘punch’ than they should.

They weren’t worried about Peter and Sophie’s mother’s equipment; Elaine, as a cop turned Sharpshooter, was likely the most prepared for the situation of all of them.

Luke’s older brother had purchased three crossbows. Johns Junior and Senior were in the process of tinkering around with theirs, while Susan was alternating between practicing with her own crossbow and sparring with the warriors using a quarterstaff. Which, she reported, suited her quite well.

Maia had recovered entirely from her burns the day before. Her parents had, at her request, purchased some hockey padding for her, as well as a hockey stick for a weapon.

That left Matilda, who went dressed in a simple Gi rather than wearing armor like the other warriors, and Erik Estabon, who was wearing a thick leather motorcycle jacket and a pair of jeans. Mattie had chosen for her weapon a crowbar, while Erik had arrived in the morning with a machete.

John Sr. passed out hardhats to everyone who didn’t have sports helmets. Everyone wore sturdy hiking boots.

And so, in this hodgepodge of equipment, the group began to practice with their newfound Skills and Abilities, and their Teamwork.

This continued even as their phones beeped with updates from the government to ‘stay calm and shelter in place.’ Eli frowned and investigated the cause of those updates and was dismayed to find that a significant number of people had taken to using their new abilities for criminal and antisocial behavior. The police was responding, but traditional tactics were less effective against the system-enhanced criminals.

He could only shake his head at the idiocy of it all, but when Elaine showed up hours later she was frustrated.

“You’re certain that people who go into the dungeon will emerge even stronger than those who remain on the surface?” she asked Eli.

“Definitely,” he said. “That’s the entire point of dungeons to begin with.”

“How much stronger?” the policewoman asked.

Eli shrugged and turned to Gabri, who was watching with amusement as Luke failed to cast a simple spell. Gabri realized that the question was being directed at him, and he shrugged.

“It depends on how deep they go,” the faerie answered eventually. “The dungeon will reward some experience for killing monsters and enemies, but also for completing objectives, resolving puzzles, and avoiding traps. The deeper you go, the more experience you get from the system. But anyone who reaches floor 10 should be level fifteen or higher.”

“And what could a level fifteen criminal do to a level one person?” Elaine pressed.

“Oh, this and that,” the fae said, grinning. “If they’re particularly deranged? It wouldn’t be pretty. They’ll be about eighty percent stronger in every area that matters by the time they emerge.”

Elaine cursed, then returned to her patrol car and had a conversation with her radio for a while.

At three PM, the training montage was abruptly interrupted by the system.

Notice: Dungeons shall be opening to all system users in 12hrs.

Delve as deep as you can for Experience, Gear, and other Rewards.

Form a Party and prepare.

Minimum party size is five.

Rewards and difficulty increase for every additional combat capable person.

Rewards increase exponentially the deeper you go, so aim for the lowest floor possible!

Time until Surface Monster Spawns begin:120hrs

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