The White House.

The next month passed in a blur for the president. The scientists had determined that the objects in orbit were dispensing swarms of nanites to cover the earth. Once their payloads were expended, the alien objects disappeared.

From a political perspective, the president was forced to fend off several attempts to place the blame on her for all the strange incidents that were occurring. Civil unrest was rampant in the first few days, which forced the President to send additional assistance to the states and local governments. Federal agents and the National Guard deployed to not only quell unrest but also defeat the creatures that appeared.

Political opponents tried to capitalize on the chaos, launching outrageous claims, some of which were even true, against the president. The president deflected these political attacks with a brutal skill, turning the public against her accusers more times than not. Eventually, the efforts to impeach her ended as America and the rest of the world tried to come to grips with the new reality that faced them.

At the thirty-day mark from the Upgrade—which people all over the world had adopted as the name for the event—the president convened a meeting at the White House to get an update from all her advisors and to prepare a plan of action for the future.

“Thank you all for joining me today as we deal with what is happening to our world. The last month has been a whirlwind of activity and I feel we have just been putting out fires and have not developed a cohesive plan to deal with the Upgrade. That term has stuck with the public so it’s probably best if we call it the same unless there are any objections?” The president asked with a smile, confident there would be no objection.

Her confidence was buoyed by her rapidly rising level and the power those levels represented. She now stood at level 11, the highest in the world according to the experts. The constant political fallout over the Upgrade had led to many “quests” for the president and loads of those experience point things. She was already thinking about her next level gain, halfway tuning out the Surgeon General as he gave his review.

“As far as our scientists can determine, the nanites are for the most part benign and they have the potential to do some wondrous things to the human body. They are already working inside us all to reduce the effects of aging and everyone on the planet will now enjoy an extended life span. How much longer we will live remains to be seen, but the consensus is that the higher level a human attains, the longer they might live. Many factors will affect this, but someone’s personal level and the allocation of stat points to the constitution stat seem to be the most important.

“Conversely, reproduction rates have dropped significantly around the world and we feel that is also a result of the nanites, and the GGS that controls them, limiting births to compensate for the greatly enhanced lifespans of humanity. We are looking into a workaround for those trying to have children, but I have little hope given the superior technology that stands in our way.

“Most of the population has been upgraded, the only exception seems to be children. While nanites are present in their bodies, they do not activate any powers or implement an interface into their field of vision until they reach their eighteenth birthday. There is speculation on why that date was chosen, but I feel it is most likely due to the majority of nations seeing that age as a development milestone in the journey from child to adult.

“While not everyone has developed a class, it appears that most of the population have all been granted classes that reflect their occupation, skills, or hobbies. People who gain experience and level up are given upgrades by the nanites to reflect their new level. So far, there seems to be no limit to what enhancements the nanites can provide or the levels that a human can attain.

“The quests that are occasionally offered to some people seem to be based on their skills and desires, not everyone receives these quests and we’re not sure how the system determines when they should be issued. I have hope that as our scientists level up, they will begin to unravel more of the mysteries surrounding the nanites.

“Changes brought on by the nanites are widely varied. As the initial contact statement said, many of the powers and abilities are reflective of several video game concepts. We have reports from around the nation of people with exceptional strength, magic-like powers, and even strange creatures appearing, but that is beyond the scope of my review,” the newly minted Surgeon General reported.

Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.

He was a bit long-winded but had done the president a vital service in proving she was mentally stable during the initial days of the Upgrade. The Homeland Security Secretary was next on the agenda.

“Thankfully, unrest seems to have abated for the most part. The actions of your administration, and those of local officials have proven reasonably effective. In addition, people are beginning to accept the new reality that faces us all.

“To keep a handle on things, the local police forces have been granted federal funds and military-grade equipment to ensure they have all the resources necessary to protect their communities. Additional training from the military and upgraded SWAT teams are being formed to deal with the more dangerous situations.

“While we have solid policies and preparations in place to reduce civil unrest, other crimes have skyrocketed. Some people falsely believe that the fastest way to level themselves is by killing other people. Sadly, it has been confirmed that killing other humans does give experience to the killer.

“The only thing working in our favor is that people who commit multiple crimes are now shown as hostile in everyone’s interface. The tech people called this being ‘flagged for PVP’. Those people who are flagged can be easily found and taken down by law enforcement, who incidentally, remain one of the fastest leveling groups in the nation. Law enforcement personnel have been reporting large experience gains from stopping crimes or even just rendering aid to a citizen.

“The more frightening aspect of this new wave of crime is that it appears many criminals are developing skills to mask their crimes. At least for the time being, our detectives and federal officers seem to have out leveled the majority of these criminals and can see through their defenses. It is still too early in the Upgrade to know what will happen next, but we have formed a task force to react to any new developments.

“I believe the secretary of defense will speak to military matters now,” the homeland security secretary had left them with as many questions about the upgrade after his report as they had when he had started.

The one thought that stuck the president was how would they even know if a high-level criminal existed. With their enhanced skills, they wouldn’t even show up on law enforcement radar. She made a point to ask about this later, jotting down a note in her interface as the SECDEF stood and began his report.

“The military situation is fluid. Initial fears that our soldiers would be outclassed by people leveling quickly appear to have been misplaced. A strong training regimen has kept our forces on par or ahead of the average world level and ahead of the militaries of most other nations. We are working with experts across several fields to continue developing new tactics and weapon systems to deal with the increased dangers, but some of the old tried and true methods still work.

“Despite these nanite enhancements, good old firepower still seems to do the trick. On the screen you will see the video of what can only be called a dragon,” the SECDEF pointed to the screen that showed the crumpled body of a dragon lying in front of the smoking town it had been attacking. The president and frankly everyone in the country knew the story.

“Let’s make sure we get that pilot here for a photo op, give her some kind of medal and a picture alongside me,” the president interjected, never missing an opportunity for some favorable public relations exposure. Aides hustled about to make her orders a reality as the SECDEF continued.

“Based on our initial reporting and with the potential of more attacks by the strange creatures that have started appearing, I recommend we pull our overseas forces back to the states to defend America and its territories directly. Other than some obligations we need to fulfill with our strategic allies, I recommend a complete withdrawal from the middle east and a greatly reduced troop commitment to South Korea and Europe.

“All those forces that are freed up can redeploy back to the states and be used to deal with any exceptional threats here at home. There have been some disturbing incidents with our forces overseas and I want to get our troops home,” the SECDEF reported.

The president thought that it was a great idea to bring the troops home, it would be a PR goldmine for her. People needed to feel safe in these troubling times and knowing the military was nearby and ready to help would be a great reassurance to the citizens of the country.

If it put other nations at a greater risk, too bad. They needed to step up their game and not rely on the US to shoulder the burden any longer. The president was almost salivating at the thought of all the votes and all the extra funds that ceasing the constant overseas deployments would bring in.

***

I won’t bore you with further blathering from the various cabinet heads, but I did want my readers to get a taste of what was going on behind the scenes with our leaders. It is my belief that the president stood the test of the initial chaos, providing leadership to a nation that was starving for it. Her administration was able to craft a plan around the suggestions of her various cabinet officials and experts. A plan that kept the people of America safe…for the most part.

You may find that you have held an incomplete image of the president. The president has been depicted in various ways by many bad movies and boring novels written by hacks, but I exhort you, my dear readers, to see the whole picture. It is evident that history judges the president, as they should, on her later actions and not as much on the early leadership she exhibited during the initial onslaught.

We all realize now, more so than people did then, that there will always be dangers in an Upgraded world. Some dangers are ones we can plan for and overcome with proper training and stat allocation; others are the stuff of nightmares. As always, standing between us and the nightmares are our brave armed forces…