Alexis told William that John was still busy with the Interface, collecting and analysing data. She added that the party range in respect of experience gains seemed to be about 500 metres, so if possible, they should focus on eliminating rabid pets in the areas surrounding the base.
The group just continued moving down the stretch of the river for the next half hour, killing several more dogs and 2 cats, meeting 3 more people. Only one agreed to come along to their base, the rest were planning to strike out on their own. They had previously agreed to not force the issue in the event that people had their own plans, not willing to antagonise anyone if not needed. It would also become necessary to move people into the neighbouring houses if more agreed to join.
After cleaning the river properties they moved back to base. To their surprise two teens had arrived already and were now quietly observing John. One turned to William and asked: “I have Inspect, just noticed that he levelled up about 5 minutes ago. How did that happen?” “Party experience sharing, 500 metre range.” he replied succinctly, inviting both to the Party. They sat down for a moment, waiting for a comment from John. John had missed the conversation, so his first statement was “Huh? You’re back already?”
“John, we’ve been back for ages.” Alexis shot back, “You were lost in the Interface, what kept you busy?” He answered with a question: “Anyone opened up their Skill Menu yet?” When he received a unanimous “No!” for an answer he sighed and said, “Just don’t. It’s an absolute mess. I have over 13000 skills, ranging from breathing, walking, running, motor control, meditation, sphincter control, I kid you not, to gun handling, aiming, target acquisition, shooter’s stance, trigger control and recoil suppression. They appear to be mostly divided into sub-skills and main skills as I also have Skills called Firearms, Rifles, Pistol and Hiking which should encompass some of the below. However, there appears no organisation whatsoever. Wish I could complain to the System Administration.”
“DING. Complaint of Player John John Johnson in respect of Interface functionality has been noted and forwarded. Please expect an Administrator to contact you shortly.” They all heard the voice, shocking them into immobility. Alexis broke the mood “You just lodged a maintenance ticket.” she giggled, “John John Johnson, really?” and then broke out laughing. William started snickering too, before too long the group all joined Alexis in laughter. All except John, “I thought it would be a funny name” he sulked. “But good to know I can lodge complaints,” he cheered up again.
“Anyway, before we get even more side-tracked, I have a couple of announcements to make. Even with the limited data I have available, it seems that level scaling might be exponential, but I will definitely need more data to confirm. For now the risk-reward ratio is skewed to killing lots of lower level opponents as this exposes us to less risk without affecting experience gains significantly. Although, if stat points work the same across the system, a Level 10 will only be one and a half times as powerful as a level 0, provided similar starting stats and neglecting the effects of Skills, Achievements and other boosts.”
“Most importantly, I have discovered the System’s currency of exchange. It is quantified quantum fluctuation potential. This means, for us lesser beings, quantum fluctuation potential batteries or rather crystallised experience. The Interface also refers to these as Crystals, graded in denominations factored by a hundred, from 100 being Mortal to 100 to the power of 5 being Immortal. I have no idea how to obtain or make them though, nor for what they can be used”
John added, “Except for one thing, instant communication, probably based on quantum entanglement. You can add a friend, physical proximity only, and exchange an Interface handshake, which will allow you to communicate no matter the distance. Other chat functions have not been enabled on earth yet. I suggest we use this, I’ll come up with an efficient system later today, provided we have a willing relay. It costs 100 Experience per handshake for each party, but apparently we can loan it from the System. Lizzy, could you coordinate with everyone and see if someone would be willing to build an experience deficit to become a relay?”
Lizzy confirmed that she would try to find someone willing, probably one of the less adventurous teens might be interested against assurance that they could be levelled safely. They discussed their immediate plan of action further, John and Michelle, the van der Merwe girl, would stay at base. Miguel, the other teen, would start looting the cleared properties and be assisted by anyone else showing up at base. Michelle had also agreed to become John’s chat relay, adding William, John, Alexis and Miguel as friends to her Interface. She also confirmed that she would now need to earn 500 experience to reach level 2. John found out that he couldn’t drop a level, but that the deficit was added to the next level up requirement as well, which was good to confirm.
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Before they left, they all grabbed a quick bite to eat. 3 hours later, Alexis was getting beyond tired of killing dogs, a breed of pet which she always had loved above any other. It hurt her soul to see the mindless beasts charging at them, being hurt and then killed. The entire group was grim, no one was taking any joy in their actions. They had stopped chatting a long while back, each lost in their own thought. Alexis shot a chat to Michelle, asking how they were doing add the base.
A minute later Alexis received a reply, saying that John was still busy with the Interface. Michelle was also doing some research on instruction from John, she had also sent the new arrivals to loot after John had added them to the party. Miguel had indicated that they were on their way back with the 5th load of gear. John had also given them specific instructions as to what they should focus on for the next few loads. She suggested that they come back for lunch.
Alexis quickly called the group over, telling them that they would break for lunch. They trudged back, still quiet and grim, most of them covered in blood to some extent. Lucy spoke up; “I’ll be staying in base if we’ll continue doing this, I can’t take it anymore.” echoing everyone’s sentiment. William just sighed, then adding: “We’ll see what the plan is for the rest of the day.”
When they arrived at the base they could see that Miguel and the other boys were filling up water containers and stashing them in the pool shed, Alexis immediately caught on to John’s thinking. They still had running water, the question was for how long. Stashing water was a brilliant idea. William ignored the teens and headed straight to the pool, jumping in clothes and all. A slight red stain spread out from where he emerged out of the water, beckoning the rest in. Best way to get somewhat clean for now, he urged them on.
A moment later, everyone followed his lead, then relaxing in the cool water. Alexis got out first, drying herself on the patio in the warm sun. Lizzy followed and immediately continued to the braai area, starting a fire. Alexis joined her a moment later, noticing that they had large pile of defrosting meat next to a tin bathtub standing next to the braai, silently commending John on asking the teens to collect it. She started spreading out the pile, removing it from the various containers it was in. Lizzy instructed her how to rub in salts and spices and put it in the bathtub to soak in wine and vinegar for the next day or two before they would smoke it. Alexis was halfway through the pile, her hands frozen, before the others joined them.
John came out of the lounge and made a beeline straight to William. Alexis didn’t pay attention to what they were discussing, focusing on getting more meat ready for smoking. After a while William shouted for everyone to drop what they were doing and come to the braai area. Everyone trickled in, William stated that this was a meeting to discuss the way forward, also asking that everyone introduce themselves. The process didn’t take too long and Alexis noted that the three newcomers were Stephen, Carina and Roland, the latter whom she recognised by the infected scratches in his face.
“We have to start splitting the current group up, one part to continue operations in town for the next few days and the rest to start moving gear out of town to another base. “For those not in the know, we’ll be establishing a base at John’s plot up in the mountains, it should be more secure in the long term considering Windhoek will turn into a warzone soon.”
William suggested that anyone present take the afternoon of to find any friends and family they still wanted to join them, but stated that they should be back before sunset as the group would need to raid several specific shops during the night for necessary supplies and equipment. William and John had decided that they themselves with Lucy and Alexis would scout them out in the meantime, unless anyone else would like to join them.
Starting tomorrow, John and Alexis would head out to establish the other base, William, Lizzy, Mike, Lucy would stay in town and continue operations until the situation became untenable. Everyone else would need to consider whether they’d like to head out or stay in town for a bit. Anyone not scouting or looking for friends or family should help moving supplies to the strong room in Roland’s house and move the weapons there back to the base in the course of the afternoon or see what else the surrounding houses could provide.
With that said they started lunch, which was simply sandwiches topped with perishables that would soon become rare for most, everyone discussing who they would try to find or whether they would head out or stay in town. In the end, it turned out that only Roland, Miguel and Carina would try to find some friends or family, the rest indicating that their friends were either overseas or in stasis.
It also became clear why Stephen was so withdrawn. After having been asked he explained that unfortunately his wife and daughter were overseas visiting with his in-laws. His daughter would be in stasis but he wasn’t certain he’d ever see his wife again. Travelling 12000 kilometres and crossing the Mediterranean Sea to find her was simply not feasible and her chances of surviving were slim. Norway in January wouldn’t be the best place to try and survive without electricity or petrochemical combustion.
With lunch concluded, everyone except those who had decided to continue looting and moving gear, headed out on mountain-bikes. Carmen had decided to come along on the scout whereas Mike and Lucy would stay working at the base.