“Wake up wake up, we’re moving now” hollered out, as vehicles and machines rumbled to life. My tent flap flew open, and I sat up in my cot, alarmed but calmed down immediately once I recognized who was standing in my tent.
“Whaddayamean” I slurred out, feeling like I got flashbanged from the sudden light.
“Like right fuckin now, dude” said Damian with a toothy grin. “Two weeks ahead of schedule, I know but Inferno took a big hit” he said all in one breath.
“How big of a h-” I started
“Big enough that Chief’s dispensing all the War Games rewards and authorizing rollouts of advance squads” Damian interrupted with.
I swung my legs down and reached for the nearest pair of pants. Shit,I gotta go to Shaman Alex right now.
“You gotta go to Shaman Alex and make a decision right now. Watchers are a part of the advance squad” Damian said.
“Watcher” I correct him “One step ahead of you, but thanks” I try to smile at him but it feels awkward on my face. Throwing a 2 day temper tantrum over my [Tier 0] bonuses will do that. Damian’s a constant in my life since the War Games started 6 years ago. The ups and downs of competing in the War Games together became the basis for us becoming so close but after seeing my status sheet when I turned 18; I had spent 2 days shutting everyone out. Safe to say graduating had not gone the way I had wanted.
All around me, the temporary camp had come to life as our little army had begun packing up. Tribe members loading gear into their customized overland-style vehicles. Even the big 18 wheelers had been turned on and sat idling as turrets, droids and crates of ammo were being loading into them. As I passed by the big military style tent that served as HQ, I saw the little two person tent next to it that belonged to the Shaman.
"Shaman Alex? You in?"
"Come in, come in" Shaman Alex's voice called back. I lifted the tent flap and ducked inside the tent. Shaman Alex was sitting in front of a collapsible table reading some report by the look of it on his tablet.
"Ahh, figured I would see you soon" he said with a slight smile. The Shaman was one of the youngest Shamans ever at just 32 years old with short sandy hair, tanned skin and soft eyes. Shamans usually were in charge of major groups within a tribe and consulted the Chief on important matters. Traditionally, Shaman Alex was in charge of education, and schools for the Seattle tribe but this op had called for manpower from all over the continent. The other big role for an Educator Shaman is to advise [Tier 0]s on which Teams they should be joining as they hit adulthood.
"Seems fate has forced your hand but are you ready to make a decision?" He said, after putting his tablet down and turning on his stool to face me.
"I thought I was, on the walk over here but now I'm not sure." I responded.
"Lets look at your status again, and talk it through, okay?" He grabs his tablet again and starts typing on it. "You officially completed [Tier 0], two days ago on your birthday and got your [tier 0] bonuses based on how you spent your first 18 years of life, with great emphasis on your 6 years in the War Games. The short of it being, what you spent your time doing affected your brain development, affecting the potential bonuses and synergies with what cyberware you use".
"Punch a lot of bags leads to reduced [Strain] or more power when using punching cyberware." I sum up.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
"Simply put, yes" Shaman Alex replied."[Strain] being the limiting factor for how much cyberware your brain can handle, with different people having different amounts of [Strain] in general and even different [Strain] costs for the same piece of gear." He finishes. Shaman Alex flips his tablet around and shows me "Here you are."
Mathias Ruthers Age: 18 Tier 0 Completed Strength 5 Dexterity 7 Mind 8 Armor 10 Strain 2/35
Tier 0 Bonuses Notes Long Guns I [Common] 10% reduced [Strain] for shooting based ocular, shoulder, hand implants. Neural connections attuned to long range, non-automatic guns. Averaged 15hr/week at shooting range, tutored by Marksmen Alisha - ST Cyberdeck I [Uncommon] 12% reduced [Strain] for cyberdecks. +5% RAM recovery, +1 max RAM. Excellent student, excelled in advanced math, complex problem solving - ST Techie I [Common] -10% cost to manually control drones. -5% cost to manually control droids. Enrolled in engineering courses 1,2, and 3 - ST Balanced Body [Common] -10% reduced [Strain] for medium body cyberware. Split PT time across cardio, weights, stretching - SA Stealth I [Common] -10% reduced [Strain] for sound deadening cyberware. -5% accuracy lost when using using silencer. Effective scout in variety of environments - ST
Strategist II [Rare]
-20% cost for [Active Link]. Max inputs for [Active Link] increased from 1 to 3. Planner by personality, took leadership during War Games, information based decision making - ST
I smiled at the notes left by Shaman Terry who had guided and taught me for much of my life, just like the other children from the Gulf Tribe. I was surprised as to how heartwarming it was to see the notes left by the gruff older man. He always said he cared in his own way.
"6 bonuses is a goddamn boon, you know. First time, I've seen such a poor reaction to 5 or more bonuses" Shaman Alex chuckled. "But you aren't the first or the last, highly ambitious youngin to not get spec'd for the Team they want" he continued. I knew the elder was right. 6 bonuses with one of them being rare caliber was a big deal, but it wasn't what I had worked for all these years.
"Shaman Terry sent out your status to all the teams you had requested. You were graded C+ for Marksmen, C for Solos, C++ for Netrunners, and A+ for the Watchers"
"I didn't request the Watchers though, why should they be included in my options" I complained. The Tribe's true strength came from decentralization and specialization. The tribes were spread out, and moved around often making them incredibly hard to pin down. The other branch of their strength was specialization, all the trainees from the War games were expected to join the Team that they were best suited for, not the one they wanted the most. That cultural pressure had been what was keeping him up at night. Every member of the Tribe would be disappointed in me if I didn't pick the Watchers, and those who picked their specialization would get better starting gear, better jobs, first line for new gear. Pissing the Tribe off was something I couldn't afford.
"I did everything I could to be a sniper, controller or runner" as I continued to moan about the situation. Shaman Alex just smiled sadly.
"If anyone can get information you don't want them to have, it's the Watchers..."
"So are you ready to make your decision?"
I took a deep breath and looked over my status one more time. My [Armor} stat was nothing special, just normal human resilience. My max [Strain] was above average but not genius level. I knew what I had to do.
"I'm ready."