Aidan followed his friend as he meandered through the camp. He stopped at their first destination, a tent marked A43, and called out. “Hey Wang, you in there?”
There was a shuffling from within the tent, and a large Asian man slipped outside. He was tall, around 6’5, and built like a brick shithouse. He had sharp features with high cheekbones that framed a set of black eyes. His slight five o’clock shadow contrasted with the cleanly faded hair on the sides of his head and the spiked-up hairstyle.
“What’s up, boss,” Wang rumbled.
Guzman peered up at the man. “Going on a mission, and I need a heavy.” He paused as if he was thinking through something. “How do you get your hair to stay spiked up? Do the replicators make hair gel?”
Wang chuckled and nodded at Guzman’s bald dome, “Why? Are you jealous?”
“Not at all,” Guzman said in mock outrage as he pointed at his lack of hair. “This is purely tactical. It stays clean, doesn’t need to be washed, and best of all, the reflection off my shiny skull blinds the enemy.”
The two other men laughed before Aidan teased his friend, “You had the whole System at your fingertips—you could’ve had any hair you wanted, and yet you chose to remain bald.”
Guzman just shrugged, “Bald is beautiful.”
“Whatever you say,” Aidan said before turning to Wang and proffering a hand. “I’m Aidan Steele, your friendly neighborhood diplomat.”
Wang raised his eyebrows as he shook the envoy’s hand. “Guzman said you’d be coming. Didn’t think you’d be a diplomat, though. I heard you were a damn good door kicker.”
“I guess now I just knock politely,” Aidan deadpanned.
“For some reason, I doubt that.” The man replied. “I’m Peter Wang, our team’s Heavy Trooper.”
“Nice to meet you.” Aidan turned to his friend. “I never learned what your Class was.”
“I’m a Shock Trooper. Troopers, in general, are kind of a multi-purpose Class. I have skills in just about every type of weaponry or explosives with class attributes geared toward speed and resiliency.”
Guzman hooked a thumb toward Wang. “Wang has the same weapon skills, but his class attributes are more for causing as much destruction as humanly possible.”
“Got it,” Aidan nodded. “I fought soldiers in my tutorial. They were hard to put down.”
“Soldiers are just a Basic Class,” Wang clarified. “Troopers are an Advanced Class. We get more attributes per level, which puts us head and shoulders above a normal Soldier. We have a few of those in the camp, but they’re pretty rare.”
“Why’s that?” Aidan wondered.
“Our tutorial strategy,” Guzman answered. “We heard from the Japanese that if you are told about the tutorial, that person gets the same scenario as everyone else. They’ve developed whole strategies around ensuring each of their people get the exact class their faction needs.”
Aidan finally understood how the tutorial worked. Since the Americans didn’t tell their people what would happen during the tutorial, they all got different scenarios to play through. Hence, Aidan repelled boarding parties on a starship, while Guzman had to defend a fortified position from a wave of enemies.
“So, if you’re told about what the tutorial entails, you’re basically guaranteed to get a Basic Class?” Aidan clarified.
Guzman nodded his head. “Yeah, we have fewer numbers, but our overall combat strength is higher. If we get a Soldier, it’s because of an unfortunate outcome—not the norm.”
Aidan took note of the conversation to ask Astra more about the subject later. “Alright, so who are we picking up next?”
Guzman led the way through the camp to pick up the rest of their team. First, a Tech Trooper by the name of Alex Weir joined them. As the growing team approached, he was chewing on a ration bar outside his tent. Weir was a sandy-haired, blue-eyed man that looked like he would be more comfortable hanging out by the beach than dealing with communications and other IT woes. Aidan was surprised to realize it was the same Marine that Aidan had handed his access card at the range. After the tutorial, the chance meeting felt like a lifetime ago. Weir merely nodded politely while savoring his food before following them to their next teammate.
Next came their medic, a swarthy-skinned man with dark hair and green eyes named Arif Faraj. He had an easy smile and kind eyes but seemed more of an introvert. Guzman loudly played up the man’s medical expertise and stated that their medic had saved them from respawning more times than they could count, but Faraj had humbly downplayed his own role.
Their final member, Jai Agerwal, was an Indian-American man who served as the team’s combat engineer. He seemed excited to leave the camp. Apparently, he had spent more time digging latrines and putting up the camp’s fortifications than his actual job, which he considered blowing things up to kingdom come.
Overall, the team was well-balanced. A mix of professions covered all the bases, but they were still about half the size of the units that Aidan was used to running with. When they were assembled by the front gate and exchanging small talk, Aidan mentioned the size of the team to Guzman, but all he got was a shrug and a half-hearted explanation.
“This is primarily a science mission, and the government is fairly strict about who they’re letting into the System. There are eleven other purely military teams in addition to this one. That’s only seventy out of the seven hundred people currently stationed in the camp. The others are scientists, researchers, and various other professions. You’ll figure it out after being here a few days.”
Aidan wanted to ask more, but Guzman clapped his hands to get everyone’s attention and started to brief the team on their mission.
“Alright, team, for this mission, Steele is going to be in charge as our resident diplomat.”
The members were all seasoned professionals, and no one voiced a complaint. Aidan tried to reach out with his psionic abilities to get a feel for the group’s mood, but all he sensed was a steely determination. He smiled in satisfaction.
It’s nice to be working with a good team again.
I agree, Astra replied. Every good Envoy needs to surround themselves with competent assistants.
Aidan didn’t comment. Instead, he watched Guzman start to draw a basic terrain model in the dirt. It wasn’t much more than a square to represent the camp, some concentric circles for zones, a line to indicate a road, and squiggles that could’ve been trees, but it got the point across.
“Alright, everyone is familiar with the surrounding region, but I’ll explain it for Steele’s benefit.”
Guzman pointed to the square, “this is Camp Plymouth which is our starting point. The circle around it represents the agricultural zone that we control. Beyond the ag-zone, we have the wilds with a few points of interest, like the mine and a couple of ruins.”
Guzman traced a line from the Camp to the squiggly lines in the distance. “Now, our objective for this mission is the woods to the East of us. If we somehow separate, and you fall into a mineshaft or find yourself in ancient crumbled structures, you’re way off base. In that event, fall back to the camp. We don’t know of any enemy personnel operating in the area. Still, teams Beta 2, Charlie 1, and Delta 1 are on perimeter defense—teams Alpha 2, Echo 1, and Fox 2 are operating here, here, and here. Since we don’t have comms and can respawn anyway, there are no teams in support.”
Guzman pointed to three crosses marked in various areas of the wilds.
Astra, can you scan this terrain model and overlay it with our minimap?
That’s easy, Astra assured. As you move through the terrain, I’ll update the model accordingly. If we had a hologram projector or communications equipment, we could quickly speed this briefing up. Guzman would only have to share his map with us and walk us through the hologram.
Aidan heartily agreed. Yeah, I’m missing my tutorial equipment right about now.
Unaware of Aidan’s mental conversation, Guzman continued with the briefing.
“The woods are approximately five miles from our current position, and we don’t have any ground transport, so we’ll be making the trip on foot. Wang’s fat ass probably needs to lose a couple of pounds, so the PT will do everyone some good.”
The group chuckled at Guzman’s good-natured ribbing. No one was happy about having to trek five miles on foot, but the Shock Trooper’s well-timed joke took away some of the sting.
“Once there, we come to the meat of our mission. Our goal is to meet up with the local class-three humanoids. They appear to be sentient but not overtly hostile. They patrol the woods and peacefully rebuffed Fox 1 when they were encountered. Since then, we haven’t sent a diplomatic team because we didn’t want to aggravate our neighbors, nor did we see any point in doing so when we couldn’t speak their language.”
Guzman stood up and patted his hands on his thighs. He looked over at Guzman. “The situation has changed. Hopefully, we will get Steele in front of them and start the conversation. He has some psychic hoodoo that should make negotiations more likely.”
The other members of the team appraised the envoy. The combat engineer, Agerwal, finally voiced what everyone was thinking.
“Does that mean Steele can read our minds?” The man was clearly uncomfortable with the proposition.
Aidan shrugged but decided to be honest with them. “Right now, no. I can only get a vague sense of how the team is feeling. I can’t read minds, and I can’t even tell which feelings are coming from who.”
Agerwal picked up on the unsaid implication, “But you might be able to when you level up more.”
Aidan shrugged again. “Maybe, but I’m not interested. I’m sure we all know what it’s like to have your mind invaded. After all, the tutorial read us like an open book. It’s not an experience I wish to impart to my friends.”
Astra quipped, I feel like you’re talking to me more than them.
Of course not. You’re the best brain parasite I’ve ever had. Aiden’s response was delivered with deadpan seriousness.
Ha-ha, you’re so funny. Look, everyone, the evolved monkey can make jokes! How did you evolve for millions of years and still end up a disappointment?
Aidan’s words seemed to mollify the assembled men. The steely determination he had felt waver had now returned.
Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
Authority increased to level 4! You have earned 20 experience.
Psionics increased to level 2! You have earned 10 experience.
As if the notifications were the sign to start moving, Guzman clapped his hands. “Alright, staggered patrol. I’ll take the lead, followed by Wang, Weir, Steele, and Faraj. Agerwal, you’ll bring up the rear. Mostly, I don’t want to hear you whine about how you never get to blow things up.”
The rest of the team chuckled while Agerwal shot the Shock Trooper an aggrieved look.
“You know it’s true, Guzman. What kind of engineer doesn’t get to blow things up? I might as well have been a logistician.”
“Sure, sure.” Guzman sounded like he had heard the whole thing before. He addressed the rest of the group. “Make sure you grab food and water before we leave. We’re guns down and visors on in five.”
Aidan followed the rest of the team as they trudged toward the nearby mess tent. Outside, there were giant spits with something that resembled large dogs being cooked above a merrily burning fire. As he watched, a cook approached the fire and tossed a few logs underneath the flames before returning to the tent.
The Tech Trooper Weir elbowed Aidan and pointed at the spits. “We eat whatever we can hunt and farm. There are huge wolves in the wilds that make for a pretty good meal. If you’re vegetarian, they have some wheat cakes and honey that they just finished harvesting a couple weeks ago.”
Aidan had never eaten wolf…or dog, for that matter, but he was happy they would have something to eat. Inside the tent were some clearly handmade wood tables and benches with a few clusters of people chatting amicably or eating their food. A long self-serve table in the back was loaded with various cuts of fire-roasted meat and packaged rations.
Instead of heading for the serving table, Wang’s lumbered form led the group to a storage chest to the side. He placed a palm on the chest and then moved out of the next person’s way. The strange procession continued until it was Aidan’s turn.
He placed a palm on the container and realized there were stacks of various rations inside the five-by-five inventory. There were enough smoked meats and packaged rations to feed an army. Aidan supposed that hunting had been good before swiping ten wheat rations, ten steaks, and ten canteens of water. He knew he wouldn’t need that much food, but he liked being prepared.
He followed the other team members back to the rally point and asked Astra about the inventory.
Will the food stay fresh while it’s in my inventory?
Yes, Astra answered. It takes an impossibly long time for items in your inventory to degrade. Think of it as a vacuum-sealed form of suspended animation. The inventory kills any living thing that enters, so it doubles as a way to sanitize your food and water.
Aiden was impressed despite himself. System technology would probably do more to alleviate things like world hunger than anything else. It was indeed the start of a post-scarcity society. His cynical side figured that humanity would find other things to kill each other for.
Once everyone was accounted for, the team set off at a brisk pace. Aidan slipped on his combat visor. Astra immediately was a fan.
Ah, it’s like I can see again! She enthused.
What, my eyes aren’t good enough? Aidan teased.
Not at all. Seeing through your fleshy sight is like trying to see through dirty water. The shapes are all there, but the detail is lacking.
Aidan frowned at the sentiment but kept his thoughts to himself. Instead, he did something productive and started scanning the rest of his team.
Jesus Guzman, Lvl 25 Human Shock Trooper
Peter Wang, Lvl 20 Human Heavy Trooper
Alex Weir, Lvl 23 Human Tech Trooper
Arif Faraj, Lvl 25 Human Med Trooper
Jai Agerwal, Lvl 22 Human Engineering Trooper
AI Operations increased to level 3! You have earned 15 experience.
After scanning his teammates, Aidan turned his gaze outward, but there wasn’t much to see. A couple agricultural technicians were working in the wheat fields, but they weren’t using any equipment beyond common farming implements that the Envoy could distinguish. He figured they would probably be able to use more advanced equipment at higher levels. They might even be able to build sizeable vertical farming compounds or something similar. Otherwise, he couldn’t imagine why they were called technicians instead of simple farmers.
After the agricultural zone, the terrain became slightly more varied. Gone were the endless rows of wheat and corn. Instead, they had been replaced by grass-covered hills that stretched into the distance. Thankfully, the vegetation had been tamped down on the team’s path. The envoy wouldn’t quite call it a road, but it was clearly a well-traveled corridor by the Camp’s denizens.
Aidan quickly grew bored with the cheery landscape. There were only so many wildflowers and diminutive animals to help convince himself that the walk was enjoyable. Despite his boredom, he didn’t let the seemingly peaceful landscape affect his performance.
With well-practiced ease, he settled into an observation routine. First, he scanned the horizon, taking particular care to note any ridge lines of nearby hills. He focused on the midrange in an attempt to detect any adversary that may be attempting to ambush them. Finally, he checked the path’s edges and any place where a bomb may be concealed.
It wasn’t that Aidan was genuinely concerned with hidden explosives. All available intel indicated they were the only humans nearby. Instead, the envoy didn’t want to let his skills get rusty. He would’ve mined such an obvious transit point if he had been the enemy. The team was disciplined and maintained a loose separation in their formation for precisely that reason.
The downside was that the distance kept them out of easy speaking range. Aidan was sure everyone was equally bored as he was, but raising their voices to be heard wasn’t worth the effort. Worse, it could be potentially dangerous. The envoy was about to start a conversation with Astra when Guzman raised a fist to signal a halt.
The energy among the team became electric. Despite the group’s absolute stillness, Aidan could feel the barely contained power beneath. Each team member was straining their senses to drink in as many of the surrounding details as possible. Weapons were hefted in preparation to fire, and knees were slightly flexed to allow for faster movement. The team was operating as a single organism, and Aidan felt himself at the center of it all.
Psionics increased to level 3! You have earned 15 experience.
The notification sobered the envoy up. He hadn’t realized that he was using his abilities to subtly influence the team around him. He was slightly concerned about the unintentional use of his powers, but that concern was wiped away as a ghostly howl reverberated through the hillsides.
The terrain made it difficult to determine the source of the howl, but the entire team contracted like a single organism retracting into a protective shell. Soon after, they fell into a tighter formation, and howls sprung up around them. Aidan counted five—no six—separate cries. Even though the envoy couldn’t determine where the howls were coming from, that didn’t stop Astra.
In the corner of his vision, he saw his map zoom out slightly, and then eight blinking dots were marked.
Shit, I missed two, He complained.
That’s what I’m here for. Astra quipped back.
Aidan quickly took control of the situation. “We’ve got eight contacts, and we’re surrounded,” he shouted.
“Wang and Guzman, we’re pushing forward,” he ordered. “We only have two in front. The other six are behind and to our flanks. Weir and Faraj cover three to six. Agerwal and I will take six to nine.”
It was a testament to the men’s training and discipline that they moved without argument. Guzman had said Aidan was in command, and that’s all that needed to be said. There was some shuffling as the men took their positions.
When Aidan confirmed everyone was ready, he shouted, “move out,” and the team slowly advanced down the path. The long grass rustled around them as they moved, but their ambushers didn’t reveal themselves. Through Aidan’s map, Astra tried to keep track of the moving beasts, but the red dots would often pause and skip ahead to another location as she analyzed the sounds and movement occurring around them.
“Spook them a little,” Aidan called. “Fire a few warning shots.”
The team was more than happy to oblige. They peppered the surrounding grass with laser fire. Aidan contributed himself with a few well-timed bursts. Aidan heard a pained yelp from behind him, and a flickering red dot suddenly became deep red.
“Wang, fire at 2 o’clock”
The trooper’s heavy machine gun launched a barrage of lasers toward the indicated position. The team was rewarded with a System message.
Targeting increased to level 2! You have earned 10 experience.
Lvl 30 Dire Wolf slain. Group Experience earned: 269
You have earned 36 experience.
Aidan cheered the successful kill, and a heartbeat later, a second message crossed his vision.
Authority increased to level 5! You have earned 25 experience.
The team was nothing if not a meritocracy. It was Aidan’s plan and his instructions that net the group their first kill. Their faith in his abilities had been rewarded, and as a result, he saw an increase in his authority.
After the wolf was killed, the grass around them settled into an uneasy stillness. The envoy couldn’t be sure that the markers on his map were accurate, so he didn’t call out any more positions. Instead, the team waited in uneasy silence.
All at once, the grass around them exploded with action as the wolves sprinted toward them.
“Fire at will!” Aidan shouted. His order was accompanied by a fusillade of fire. Aidan heard more pained yelps but had no time to worry about anyone but himself as a mass of tan-colored fur exploded from the vegetation in front of him. With a reflexive thought, Aidan used his psionic power to deflect the enormous wolf aiming for his throat.
Psionics increased to level 4! You have earned 20 experience.
Telekinesis increased to level 2! You have earned 10 experience.
Aidan didn’t hesitate to fire a three-round burst into the animal’s skull as the beast crashed to the ground.
Small Arms increased to level 2! You have earned 10 experience.
Aidan didn’t hesitate as he heard a primal scream erupt from beside him. A smooth pivot brought his barrel to point at a wolf savaging Agerwal’s arm. He pulled the trigger and launched a burst of bullets into the creature’s brain. The wolf released its hold on the combat engineer’s arm and fell to the ground in a heap of twitching limbs and pooling blood.
“Medic!” The envoy called as he searched for the next enemy.
He didn’t have anything to worry about. The rest of the dire wolves had been cleanly killed by the rest of the team. It was only Agerwal’s misfortune to get two of the beasts that led to his injury.
Faraj rushed over to where the engineer was cradling his mauled arm and started pulling supplies from his inventory. Aidan observed without getting in the way. The man’s methodical application of bandages revealed a thorough understanding of combat first aid. The envoy noted that Agerwal still had the use of his fingers and the unending stream of prolific cursing assured him that the engineer would be just fine.
Guzman walked up and slapped him on the shoulder. “Good work, Steele. I couldn’t have commanded that better myself.”
Aidan chuckled, “I doubt Agerwal agrees.”
“You’re probably right,” Guzman chirped. “But he’ll be fine, Faraj’s skills will increase his natural regeneration, and within a couple of hours, it’ll be as if he weren’t injured at all.”
Aidan nodded as he turned his attention to the notifications he had received during the brief battle.
(6x) Lvl 30 Dire Wolf slain. Group Experience gained: 1668
You have earned 216 experience.
Congratulations! You have reached level 2. You have two free attribute points to assign.
Lvl 35 Elite Dire Wolf slain. Group Experience gained: 625
You have earned 122 experience.
Small Arms increased to level 3! You have earned 15 experience.
Aidan felt a rush as he experience his first level-up. He gained a ten percent increase in almost all of his stats. The envoy quickly put his two free attributes into intelligence and perception. At this stage of the game, he wanted to be as well-rounded as possible until he got his bearing. After that, he could try and optimize the distribution of his attributes.
He watched as his life, stamina, and mana all increased. He felt slightly more robust, faster, and overall better. It was like he had been wearing weights on his whole body, and a level-up had somewhat reduced the load. The entire experience was terrific.
Still, Aidan checked his experience bar and realized he was about ten percent of the way to level three. He had expected that the last battle would have given him a couple of levels, but he was sorely disappointed.
Astra, how much experience would I have gained if I had killed all the wolves alone.
Astra didn’t miss a beat with her reply. You would’ve made 1692, or enough to hit level 3 and be well on your way to level 4.
Yikes, does the System encourage people to play alone? Aidan wondered.
Not quite. It just rewards difficulty and skill progression. Astra sounded nonplussed. Here, on the ground, with a whole team to support you, you won’t have many opportunities to defeat scores of enemies. Eventually, humanity will reach the stars, and battles can always be found in the void.
Aidan shook his head in slight impatience. He wanted to see combat in space instead of messing around with wolves on Earth. Guzman thought the envoy was shaking his head at Agerwal.
“Don’t worry,” Guzman tried to assure him. “This is your first battle, so it’s natural to be worried. Wolves like this are all over the wilds. We’ll probably get into at least one more scrap before we reach the forest.”
“You’re right,” Aidan grinned back at his friend. “Just trying to get a handle on all this.”
He paused as a thought struck him. “Have you had to respawn yet?”
“Nah, thank God.” Guzman made the sign of the cross over his chest.
Aidan’s face must have betrayed his confusion because Weir replied as he handed Agerwal’s fallen rifle to its wielder.
“It blows, man.” He said solemnly. “I died once, and it’s not something I’d like to do again.”
“What’s it like?” The envoy wondered.
The tech trooper thought for a moment. “Well,” he said slowly, “I imagine it’s a lot like dying. Everything goes cold and dark. You’re alive but not alive.” Weir seemed to be looking for the right words to describe his experience, but evidently, he didn’t find them. “It’s a bad trip. Better to let the doc patch you up and spend a few hours healing.”
“Yeah, it fucking sucks,” Agerwal sounded annoyed as he gingerly flexed his injured arm. “Can we go now?”
“Stop messing with your wound,” Faraj calmly admonished the man. “You’ll delay the healing.”
Agerwal looked like he was going to say something snide, but it was an unwritten rule to never piss off the doc.
“Got it, doc.” He said instead.
Aidan grinned at the exchange but decided not to poke the bear. Agerwal could work out his frustration on the wildlife instead of his teammates.
Drama over, the team filed out in formation and left the wolves to rot. There were better things to do and better places to see.