Alpha Physics! Book 1: Wagga: A LITrpg Apocalypse, changed earth progression fantasy, page 1
ALPHA PHYSICS
Book 1. Wagga
Author: Alex Kozlowski
Copyright
Copyright © 2020 Author Name
All rights reserved.
Contents
Copyright
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Chapter 63
Chapter 64
Chapter 65
Chapter 66
Chapter 67
Chapter 68
Chapter 69
Chapter 70
Chapter 71
Chapter 72
Chapter 73
Authors Note
Bibliography
LitRPG Guide
Other Groups
Chapter 1
Adrian paced out the width of the excavation. Today was a good day. Going home to the family after two weeks on site made it a good day. There was nothing better. Two hours to go, and he would be flying.
The rock on the cliff face was dusty as his fingers glided across the grain. It was nothing special, just standard sandstone, the same as all the roads he had driven along. Cut as it was through the different layers of the rock that had solidified millions of years ago, multiple twists of colours were visible.
The last check completed. Preparations for stage two were humming. Within a month, stage one would go live, and the solar plant would light up half the state. There would be parties and bonuses.
Smiling, he flicked to the call function on the phone in order to summon a taxi.
There was a sharp explosion of light, or feeling, or change, or sudden shocking energy. Everything became weird and strange.
It was like existence was being reformed. Air was expelled from his lungs as he felt suspended in the middle of a mosh pit with the loudest speakers thumping, the bass taking over his body. His eyes squeezed shut to minimise the attack of the strobing lights. His ears were screaming, and it felt like the ground itself was wriggling. What felt like rods of steel were spreading through him, robbing him of all movement. Yelling was no option; lungs were completely unresponsive. Not even his fingertips were taking orders.
And then it got worse.
Something collided with him. It felt alive: It was heavy, affecting all parts of his body. Eyes flushed with a strange light and a humming sound penetrated through everything, drowning out the noise and the flashes of light and the screaming of rocks and the moving of earth that seemed to happen all around.
Green text flashed in front of his sight, hovering just in view.
Adrian Fitzgerald.
Don’t Panic.
What the hell?! Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy?
A thrum of agreement and a bit of sheepishness, like the joke was a bit juvenile and maybe it had not been the best introduction.
Don’t Panic is very useful advice.
WHAT IS HAPPENING?
Noise, lights, vibrations; all the senses were going haywire. He was feeling everything but no actions, no blinking, no toe wiggles, and definitely no moving.
There was a pause, like something was thinking or pondering how best to explain to an ant what hydrogen fusion was and how it related to the magnifying glass that was being held above it.
Then it was reconsidering the explanation, deciding it was all too complicated, and maybe a lecture on refraction was more appropriate. Sunlight comes in, and the shape of the crystal focuses light into one point, creating heat. The ant smolders under the magnifying glass.
Reassess.
Optics is also too tricky. A simpler explanation was required.
The magnifying glass is responsible.
Ok standard text it is.
There was a pause, like it expected a response.
Sure
Adrian Fitzgerald.
I am an interface.
Somewhere on your planet an Armageddon event has occurred.
What the...? An Armageddon event? What happened?
The scrolling text did not slow down.
We know that most sentient species, when attempting to unravel and understand the science behind the beginning of the universe, will trigger this Armageddon event.
This has happened to millions of species before your own and will continue to happen. Many attempts to warn species have been tried. However, the physics of the base universe has thwarted these attempts. So, an advanced help system was created to reduce the likelihood of extinction.
A sense of sadness and helplessness accompanied the dry text. However, the text kept rolling so fast that he could barely follow it.
Armageddon, extinction, the words rolled around in his head. How was a project manager supposed to follow, and how did this relate to him?
Within a particle accelerator somewhere on this planet, an “Alpha Particle” was just created.
This Alpha Particle has divergent properties and physical rules relative to the base rules of physics your race has been aware of to this point. The alpha particle, once created, acts as a catalyst to duplicate itself and establish new rules of physics. These new properties spread at the speed of light throughout the physical planet and atmosphere.
The emergence of new rules of physics almost always creates an extinction Level event. We design our help system to prevent extinction from occurring.
The new rules of physics are substantially different from the physical rules that previously existed.
The scrolling text stopped, and Adrian froze in shock. His mind was racing, trying to understand what was happening. New rules of physics would change everything. Technology, life, it could all change.
He was being regarded with impatience.
Anxiety built up in his stomach and wanted to burst. There was no way to hold it down or suppress it. Butterflies erupted and blood flowed from his limbs. A bed. To crawl into a bed and pull the covers over his head.
There was a feeling just at the edge of consciousness. A man with a dodgy mustache throwing his hands up and saying, “I knew the Don’t Panic warning was important.”
The words of the text just hung there as his brain shut down.
More information. I need to know more.
Desperately grasping for knowledge to cling to.
The alpha particle has altered various material properties.
1) Conductivity of metals has changed, rendering useless most electrical devices.
2) Some exothermic reactions occur differently and will no longer produce the same level of force. This will affect firearms, combustion engines, chemical processing plants.
3) High energy waves or particles have reduced ability to impact the world. What was dangerous radioactive material will now be safe to handle.
4) The event has altered quantum physics, rendering nanotechnology useless. Conductivity modifications also contributed to this.
5) Various chemical bonds have reduced strength which disproportionately impacts advanced ceramics, significantly curtailing their effectiveness and strength.
All life forms remain viable along with structures which are not dependent upon nanotechnology or advanced ceramics.
Civilization was dead. Cars would no longer work, phones would stop. How could life go on? Everything was going to crumble.
Too much. Too much.
Skipping the important but boring bits…
Wait, what important bits?
A couple of paragraphs of text flushed their way past his eyes before stabilizing.
What did I just miss?
There was no response.
Adrian Fitzgerald, I am one of those non-sentient interfaces, and my purpose is to help you navigate the alternative world that you exist in.
I will help you gain skill s.
I will help you understand magic.
I will help you survive.
Sentient hosts must indicate acceptance for help to be provided.
Do you accept an interface?
Adrian gulped. He was struggling to get his head around this.
Apparently some stupid scientist somewhere had destroyed the world, or at least changed it beyond recognition. Evidently lots of races did this, and some ancient benevolent race had created an interface to help sentient creatures survive the alpha physics conversion.
Was it plausible? Adrian would have said no, but the floating text told him differently. There was no further information available to aid the decision. It required a decision. Could he trust the interface? Could he afford not to trust the interface?
Do you accept an interface?
The text flashed, and it added a new bit
(Please note: While relative time has slowed, it has not stopped. Indecision may cause unwanted fatality.)
The additional note was ominous. Was the interface rushing him to trick him, or was it telling the truth? There was no way to tell. However, the interface was asking permission, and Adrian suspected that if it had tried to merge without consent there would have been no way to stop it. Instead, there had been an explanation and a request for acceptance. His best bet was to just go with the flow and make choices based on the information on hand.
Selecting. Yes.
Chapter 2
New words flashed once more in front of his face.
Starting full meld...
There was little pain associated with the merge, but he could feel it. He could feel the interface crowding into his skull; he could feel it sinking thirstily into his skin, running down his fingertips, jerking into his bones but with no pain. It was almost soothing.
Everything hummed in a satisfied fashion. There was a feeling that the interface was approving of him, a general sense of encouragement and hope.
Probably his imagination, Adrian thought, after a moment of consideration. The interface had specified that it was non-sentient.
The humming stopped. The crashing, bashing world with an explosion of lights returned in full force.
Interface merge complete.
You are in an active mana storm.
You need to focus on improving aspects of yourself.
The world crashed and hummed, and Adrian felt the surrounding energy: alien and strong and impossibly full of potential.
Eye performance is not optimal. Physical state is underdeveloped. Joints have wear and tear. Reaction speed is slowed.
A focus on getting younger will improve the chances of survival.
Could the interface really make him younger? Could the clock be turned back? Would this nightmare end with him being a fit twenty-five year old?
There was no harm in trying.
Get younger. Imagine self-getting physically younger. There was no sign of progress, but he focused anyway. Get younger, denser muscles, extra flexibility. Lose wrinkle lines around the eyes.
Improvement to additional skills is also optimal.
Suddenly there was a wrenching sensation. It threw him into memories, but they were not his memories. They were memories of something else and somewhere else.
The body was different, more gangly, stronger, and vicious.
Tucked up against a cliff. Focusing on hiding himself. Watching the world go by. Observing everything that moved past the hiding spot. As strong as he was, he would die if noticed. Focusing on hiding.
Hiding was imperative.
A big black panther. It was the size of a bus. It was sneaking around, sniffing. Focus on blending into the background. The panther had previously demonstrated its keen sight; it had spotted a deer hiding in the bush, ten and twenty days ago. A deer that had somehow avoided his notice.
Needing to blend into the background. Focusing also on hiding his smell. Focus on hiding his heat. Focus on suppressing his magical aura. The panther was a predator that used all those senses to find its prey hiding in the forests and grasslands.
The panther was looking around.
Holding dead still. Hoping that the panther would not notice. Praying that his craft was sufficient. Forcing the world to ignore this little section of cliff face. His magic was hanging out, creating a weave to hide behind. Manipulating it to be stronger. Anything in order to vanish. To be noticed was to die.
Hazing the lines, camouflaging against the cliff face. If the panther got into the right position, he would attack and kill it, and then break the fast. There had been no food for days, but he held his position knowing unintended movement was death. Keeping muscles primed and ready to act while slowing the metabolism. It was the way of an ambusher.
Two more steps, and then it would be at the right spot. Saliva flooded his mouth in anticipation. The cat must have sensed something because it spun away before its feet touched the mark. The opportunity passed. That did not matter, he was alive. He had hidden successfully and avoided the gaze of something stronger. There would be other chances to hunt.
There was another wrenching sensation, and he found himself back in the present.
The world was roaring again, and his bones were shaking. The text was still hovering, encouraging him to improve aspects of himself.
Eye performance is not optimal. Physical state is underdeveloped. Joints have wear and tear. Reaction speed is slowed.
A focus on getting younger will improve the chances of survival.
Younger, younger, younger, Adrian thought, remembering the years that had gone by: getting slower, suffering sport injuries, his stomach and weight increasing.
Get younger, fitter and stronger. Replace fat with muscle, replace slow with quick. Younger, younger. He repeated the same words endlessly while wondering whether it was working.
There was a feeling that it was working, but accepting the thought would just be faith. There was no feedback to confirm progress. The text was the same, and the noise, light and vibrations had not changed.
Another wrenching moment.
Crouching against the cliff wall. Another memory that came from something else. The feel of skin, bones, posture was like before. It was a memory from the same creature as earlier. Watching the world staring at it, being invisible, fading into the background.
Watching a massive bird circling above him. The sky was more purple than blue. Observing its deadly talons and the dense energy that flowed through every movement. Even with the element of surprise, it would be too strong to ambush. The Adrian part admired the bird’s beauty. It had flames dancing over its feathers. Is that a phoenix? Do phoenixes even exist?
He focused exclusively on hiding. This bird was the ultimate predator. It saw everything. Movement, static images, magic, tracks that animals left, the Bird would see it all.
There were different methods of fading.
Depending on how the light hit you, you could use it to fade differently. In the dark it was easier. But even when lit by the sun, as he was, there were tricks for those clever enough to utilise them.
Not too much magic. The bird in the sky could observe it after all. Keep it all natural, just fade into the background. Keep absolutely still. Movement was death.
When lit by the sun, you had to force your skin to match the surrounding colours, be a chameleon and blend into the background.
Don't use magic. If he did, the magic bird would see and catch him. Huddle against the cliff face. Be nothing to see. The cursed bird kept circling above for hours.
Focus switched to his body. Who knew how long the bird would keep hunting in the sky above? Getting muscles to conserve energy. Also, being ready to move at a moment's notice in case the bird left an opportunity to hunt. Continually flexing energy from toes to knees to hips and then in a line all the way to the fingertips. Keeping muscles warm and ready to go. Subconsciously lowering metabolism because life never guaranteed successful hunting. Once, it had taken over a week for the gods of the hunt to deliver a successful ambush. So many creatures large and small slipped away through damnable luck and amateur mistakes. Then there was a miserable rat. Even raw, it was delicious.
Adrian’s conscious mind recoiled at the memory. Sweet, bloody, like biting into a tender steak. Then the bones got stuck in his teeth. They were so crunchy.
The Bird suddenly spied something. It plunged to the ground and swept upwards, holding a large lizard in its claws. It crawled in triumph as it winged east whence it came.
Relaxing now, only slightly, though. The danger had passed, but there was still the hunt. Time ticking by, holding himself still. Patience was rewarded when a deer emerged from the bushes in front of him. The deer was cautious. Just like him, it had hidden from the deadly predator. But now, it thought it could emerge safely to feed. It took a couple of steps. Its ear’s twitched. It lowered its head to take a bite of grass before quickly flicking its head up to watch for predators. Another step. This time, when it put its head down, its body blocked its vision of the spot where he hid.
