Adric slowly regained his faculties, marveling that he survived. Not opening his eyes, he stayed perfectly still, listening. He remembered the fight and the fact there had been another operator in the room when he had lost consciousness. Playing dead may not be the most glamorous course of action, but the fact he wasn't dead meant that he had, against all odds, won the fight or that he was being kept alive for a reason. Adric was leaning toward the latter because he was sure he had passed out flat on his back, not leaning against a wall like he currently found himself doing.
“At least my hands aren’t tied,” Adric thought as he tried to understand the space around him. The first thing that got his attention was the smell of blood and bodily functions, suggesting he was still close to where he had fought the goblins. A slight rustling in front of him caught his attention, and he focused on the sound, trying not to show any expression on his face as he directed his attention forward. A brief hollow whir of something flying through the air came to his ears just before he felt the light thump of something striking his forehead before landing in his lap.
After several more light thumps of shell casings bouncing off him, he realized he was wasting his time pretending to be asleep; Adric opened his eyes slowly as though just waking up. Even after having just fought a group of goblins in his kitchen, he was still unprepared for what he saw. “What the hell is that?” Was his first thought as he stared into the expressive yellow eyes of a blood-spattered white-haired creature. A fox woman of some sort, wearing some space-age outfit. He noted the blue stains on the bandage around her neck and on her clothes, but what got his attention the most was the red blood on her hands, his blood. There was also the fact she was armed, and he was not. Adric looked around and caught a glimpse of his guns off to one side in his peripheral; his attention was brought back to the fox woman when she waved a blood-covered hand at him and, in a shy voice, said, "Hi!"
Adric didn't know what surprised him more: he was staring at an alien creature or that she apparently spoke fluent English. Adric's training kicked in at her words, reminding him of all his experiences with these kinds of hostage situations, which were precisely zero. He had never spoken to a freaking alien before, so he raised his hand and responded to the creature in front of him as eloquently as he could manage, "Um, hi." Then, he broke out in a coughing fit when his solar plexus spasmed. Remembering the goblin stabbing him, Adric clutched at his chest.
“Careful, or you’ll remove the bandage,” The creature in front of him said as she moved to reach for his hand but caught herself, quickly snatching her hand back out of his reach.
With another cough, Adric asked, “You patched me up? Why?”
“I…I don’t know,” the fox girl’s expressive yellow eyes bored into his, “I think I was supposed to…I think we can help each other. I’m Hex, by the way.”
“My name is Adric,” he responded, “nice to meet you, Hex. And thank you for helping me.” He reached out his hand.
Hex shrank back when he reached for her, her hand going to the pistol on her hip.
“Oh, sorry. It’s just a greeting from—” Adric started to explain.
“I know what a handshake is,” Hex said defensively, “you just surprised me.” Then, glancing around, she added, “There is much we need to discuss, but we are not safe here. Do you promise not to harm me if I let you have your weapons back?”
"She's too trusting. Or she knows something I don't." Adric thought but nodded his affirmation. Then, not confident she knew what a nod meant, he said, “I promise not to hurt you if you don’t try to hurt me first.”
Hex stared at the man, Adric, for a long moment, “Can I trust him? I really wish I could remember why I chose this man!” She didn’t let her frustration show as she slowly nodded to him, “Okay, I am going to trust you, Adric.” She gestured to his weapons, asking, “Do you need help getting up?”
Flexing a little, Adric was surprised that his leg and chest were already feeling better, so he shook his head and stood up slowly. Hex stood but maintained her distance as she watched him check his pistol and shotgun. She flinched when he changed the magazine in his handgun and reloaded his shotgun but said nothing.
When Hex was sure Adric was done, she gestured to the goblins slowly cooling on the floor, asking, “Have you checked your System notifications yet?” when Adric shook his head, she said, “You will likely have several kill and experience notifications from the goblins, but you will also have one saying I have taken your share of a kill.” She pointed at the bandage around her neck and the one on his leg, “I used the items from one of our kills to save us, so please don’t think I stole from you.”
“Thanks,” Adric said, then asked, “So how do we do this?”
Hex pointed at one of the warriors he had killed and said, “Touch it and think ‘loot.’”
Adric did as Hex instructed, and slowly read through the long list of options that popped up in his vision.
Loot request: Goblin Warrior Level 3
Loot Options:
Option 1: User disassembly (Recommended): Selecting this option will allow the user to remove all useable parts from the defeated foe, sometimes resulting in the discovery of higher rarity components, items, or weapons.
Option 2: 50/50 Split: This option will allow the System to reclaim 50% of the defeated foe's components, items, and weapons in exchange for synthesizing the remaining 50% into a single user-designated category. Categories are as follows: components, items, weapons, or system credits. All synthesized components will be based on the subject's type, class, and level. Note: Users may withhold common weapons from synthesis if they are not in contact with the foe's body; this may reduce the amount of synthesized components. Choosing this option will never produce higher rarity components.
Option 3: Sell back: Selecting this option will sell the defeated foe and all its weapons and items back to the System in return for system credits (SC). Note: this option is only available for System Spawns.
Adric was not only a warrior; he was also a hunter. To him, disassembling a corpse for all its useable parts was the only way to honor the animal properly. Although he was conflicted about whether to think of these creatures as honorable prey, he still wouldn’t pass up an opportunity to try his hand at harvesting what he could from them. He mentally selected ‘Option 1’ and read the following prompt.
The User has no disassembly skill; no hidden items will be highlighted.
“How do I get the disassembly skill,” Adric thought aloud, temporarily forgetting an alien was in the room with him.
“You just start harvesting from the body; if you do a good enough job, it will be offered to you,” Hex responded from where she was crouched over the dead goblin mage.
A message popped up in Adric’s vision an instant later.
User Hex would like to spit loot from Goblin Sparkmage Level 4. Allow user Hex to loot on your behalf? Yes/No
“What option will you choose? Adric asked before accepting her request.
“Fifty-fifty, with items as the category.” Hex replied, “I already have his spark wand, and he had a dagger in his belt, so the skill won’t take the wand. I want to choose ‘items’ because we need more healing products.”
“First, there is no ‘we.’ I never agreed to help you,” Adric retorted, “I appreciate you patching me up, but I am not in the habit of taking in strays.” Adric figured there was no reason to sugarcoat it, and he didn’t want this…whatever she was, getting the idea that they were suddenly friends just because she helped him. Besides, no one helps for free. “What are you anyway?” He couldn’t help but ask.
“I am a Prism Vixen. And why wouldn’t you want to team up? With your combat prowess and my System knowledge, surely, you can see how we would work well together.”
This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.
"That's exactly it, Miss Prism Vixen," Adric gave her a hard stare, "you just showed up out of nowhere a day or so before this System said it was going to take over the world, packing a laser pistol and dressed like something from a sci-fi movie. Then you save me with some magical bandage material that you got from looting one of our kills which you somehow knew how to do. Now you want to team up." He narrowed his eyes at Hex, "You aren't even human, and I’m sure that if your species had been present on this planet before all this, your kind would have already made itself known. So, where are you from? How do you know so much about this system thing, and what's your angle?" He paused for a second before adding, "Items are fine."
"I was born here a little over a day ago. So, I guess that makes me an earthling. I have very few memories of my time before I woke up." Hex said, trying not to lie but not to disclose the entire truth, "I only wanted to team up because you seem…safe."
She made her selection, and the mage's body burst into black mist, catching Adric off guard. He stared in amazement as mist floated towards him, and two items formed before him. One was a roll of bandages, and the other was a small blue crystal the size of a thimble. He noted Hex also received a roll of cloth. Hex walked over and tried to hand him her item. At his curious look, she pulled out two vials from a bag at her hip, saying, “I took all of the items from the last one, remember?”
Adric waved her off, saying gruffly, “You used some of it to save me, so keep it, and we’ll call it even.” Then he gave her a hard stare, “Just to be clear; I don’t trust you, and I can assure you I am not safe.”
Turning away, Adric started going through the warrior’s belongings, checking the pockets on his armor before removing it. The creature reeked, and it was all Adric could do not to vomit, but he persisted. He didn’t know what he was looking for, maybe a note or something that would give him some idea of why these beasts had appeared in his kitchen. A message popped up in his vision.
Congratulations! You have acquired the skill Deconstruct Level 1 [Locked]. Use a skill point to unlock this skill. You have reached the maximum allowable level in this skill until it is unlocked.
“Hmm,” Adric thought after reading the message, “It’s just like she said,” He glanced quickly in the fox’s direction, trying to decide how much he could trust her. She was just sitting on his couch looking off into the middle distance, so he went about searching the goblin's corpse. “How did this get so complicated so quickly?” He grumbled internally, then looked at the goblin in surprise. Several areas on its body had an ever-so-slight glow, including its ears and above what Adric thought would be its heart and liver, assuming its anatomy was similar to a human's. “Well, that makes things more convenient.” He thought, unsheathing his knife.
***
Putting the items back in her pack, Hex went to the couch and sat while Adric rifled through the pockets of the warrior. He didn’t seem to mind her being there, but she also noted he didn’t want to talk, so she checked the messages from the fight to pass the time.
A Sparkbolt has struck you! All movement speeds are reduced by 10% for 10 seconds.
Congratulations! You have acquired Lightning Magic resistance Level 1 [Locked]. You will now receive slightly less damage from lighting magic. This resistance will be unlocked upon full System integration. You have reached the maximum allowable level in this skill until it is unlocked.
A Sparkbolt has struck you! All movement speeds are reduced by 10% for 9.9 seconds.
“I don’t understand,” She thought, “How did I start a partial System integration and why?” From what she could tell, nothing was beneficial from what she had done, but that alone made no sense. She knew she had been an AI program with virtually infinite processing power when she put all of this in motion, so there was very little chance she had made a mistake. All she could think was either the administrator had discovered her plan and disapproved of it enough to interfere, or there was something she wasn't seeing. Unable to come up with anything after a minute, she moved on through her notifications.
Your group has defeated Goblin Sparkmage Level 4. Experience earned.
Your group has defeated Goblin Warrior Level 3. Experience earned.
Ding! You have leveled up! Race, Prism Vixen, has leveled up to level 2. You have received 3 attribute points and 1 skill point. All attribute points are banked until the User chooses a class. No class options are currently available.
Congratulations! The User's System interface is now unlocked. Please choose the type of interface from the following options:
Option 1: Basic interface
Cost: Free
Description: A non-modifiable interface that will display only basic information when opened.
Option 2: Standard interface
Cost: 100 SC
Description: A modifiable interface displaying the User's energy levels in real-time. In addition to basic information, status effects will be shown when the main screen is opened. Two additional user-defined data points may be added to the real-time display for 150 SC each.
Option 3: Advanced interface (Recommended)
Cost: 1000 SC
Description: A fully modifiable interface with the real-time display of the standard interface. Three user-defined data points may be added to the HUD at no additional cost; additional data points may be added on a cost-plus basis. Users will receive one each: spell, ability, weapon, and item quick access slot embedded in their HUD. An item inventory will also be available on the main screen for 2500 SC.
Note: User must advance past Tier 1 for additional interface options.
“Either I have made a terrible miscalculation, or I have done something truly devious and had my memory wiped for it,” Hex sighed, “or both.” Choosing the free interface option, she stole a glance at the human who, to her surprise, was cutting into the chest of one of the goblin warriors with his knife, black blood coating his arms up to his elbows, while the other warrior he had started with slowly dissolved into mist a few feet away. There was a stack of armor and weapons near him, right next to several…organs? Hex was so surprised she blurted out, “What the hells are you doing?” Before she could catch herself.
Adric looked up for only a moment, “I got the disassembly skill, and those,” he pointed to the pile of organs, tongues, and ears, “were all highlighted.” He looked at the dissolving body and said, “The skill also told me I have a time limit to loot the corpses once I start.” He stopped cutting briefly and fished a small vial from his pocket. Displaying it for Hex to see, Adric asked, “Can you read this? I found it in this guy’s pocket.”
Hex was confident the human, Adric, was not currently a threat, so she came over, taking the vial from him. She glanced at the label and said, “It’s a healing vial with ten uses. A little dropper is attached to the cap; I had to use three drops to heal you from the one I received when I looted the first warrior we killed.” She handed the small vial back to him.
Adric looked at the small vial in Hex’s hand without taking it. She stood above him where he was crouched over the goblin, the blue-soaked bandage prominent on her delicate neck.
Adric suddenly felt a rush of fear; the initial adrenalin from the fight had passed, and his situation was finally settling into his mind. “I’m in my freaking kitchen dissecting a goblin in a pool of blood talking to a fox woman…I am so out of my depth here. I think I might need her more than she needs me. Maybe a little goodwill will help.”
Reaching up to Hex’s hand, Adric asked, “Did I do that to your throat?”
She instinctively reached to the bandage around her neck and nodded, quickly saying, “Yes, but I don’t blame you. I shouldn’t have surprised you like I did mid-battle. I feared there were more goblins and wanted to get you behind cover.”
Reaching up, Adric closed her clawed fingers over the vial and said, “Keep it as repayment for saving my life.” When Hex nodded and placed the healing tincture in her little shoulder bag, Adric asked, “Why did you save me anyway? And please don’t lie to me.”
Hex didn't know how to respond and only stared at Adric in thought. She wanted to tell him everything; the only problem was she didn't know everything. Other than the fact she had built her bunker under his home and left a message for herself stating she had started the integration early for them, she had no idea why he was important.
Adric waited for a response from the suddenly uncomfortable-looking Hex. When it seemed like she wouldn’t respond, he returned to his grisly work. He was on the final goblin when she finally spoke again.
“I left myself a message before I arrived in this body. It said I had helped our cause by starting the initiation early for us—oh, that came out wrong!” Hex looked panicked when Adric fixed her with a hard stare and she started babbling, “I started the system integration—oh, that’s even worse! Wait, let me explain!”
Adric had stood up from his kill, his hand instinctively reaching for his pistol, “I think you had better start making sense real quick,” he said in a tense voice, “because it sounds like you are the one who sent the first message, the one that got me shot and stabbed, the one responsible for the chaos around the world.”
Hex held up her hands and stepped back, “It was me but not me. I was an AI program, but now I’m not. Now I’m alive like you.” Adric took a step toward her, causing her to flinch. She continued desperately trying to find the right words, “Please understand, the System coming here was inevitable. I was just a program designed to facilitate the introduction and prepare the inhabitants of Sol-3, what you call Earth, for System rule.”
Adric was trying to process Hex's disjointed explanation. She didn't seem to be trying to deceive him; if she was, she was doing the world's worst job of it. He looked back at the goblin he had just been flaying and considered that under the current circumstances, anything was possible. He had questions, though: "Are you still connected to this System thing? And if you are, can you turn it off? Also, if you are some AI program, how come you aren't…well, smarter? Because, quite frankly, you sound like an idiot right now."
Hex dropped her hands to her sides and fell to her knees in the middle of the room. She stared at the floorboards as tears started flowing down her face unbidden. Shaking her head, she mumbled, “This isn’t how it was supposed to be. I’m supposed to be strong and confident! I had so much knowledge, and now it’s gone.” She looked to Adric, the strange man who she was now afraid might kill her or, at the very least, try to capture her. She held out her hands, pleading with him, “The System only allowed my consciousness to be downloaded and only a fraction of a percentage of my memories with it. Honestly, I have no idea why I decided to be downloaded here of all the potential places on this planet other than a stupid message I hid in my pocket lining saying you were important for some reason, and I had helped us by partially releasing the System early for us.” When Adric didn’t respond, only continuing to stare at her with his hand on his weapon, Hex covered her face in her hands and wept. She had been alive for less than two days, and now she was going to die at the hands of a stranger, and the worst part was she had only herself to blame.
A few tense seconds passed in Adric’s home; the only sounds were those of a woman crying. Then, there was a click followed by the crack of a gunshot.