Enter System, page 10
part #1 of Natural Laws Apocalypse Series
He turned to Rob.
“I think you've got the highest strength, so you'd be doing the actual pushing.”
“Okay by me,” Rob said.
Marc turned to Felicia.
“You'll need to do the steering, maybe help push some on the door?”
“Sure, what about you and Jeff?”
“Jeff and I will stand watch. I have a ranged attack with my Mana Dart and Jeff can Stealth and come in from behind anything that wants to attack us. Is everyone okay with that plan?”
“Works for me,” Jeff said, swallowing the last of the chocolate bar.
“When do we do this?” Rob asked.
“Well, there's no time like the present. If we see anyone while we're out there, we should probably tell them what we're doing and that there'll be a Safe Zone here when we've finished,” Marc said.
“Good plan,” Felicia added. “Two birds with one stone is a good thing since I don't fancy walking around and yelling out for people in the current situation.”
“Well, we may need to do that later on if we want to get as many survivors as possible. Plus, if something does attack us while we're doing that we might get more loot and experience that way,” Marc said. “I agree, getting attacked by surprise would be a bad thing, but if we can control where we are so they can't get close without us seeing them? That's a different story entirely.”
* * *
As soon as they made it outside of their temporary Safe Zone Marc was on guard again. The outside air, which should've seemed fresh compared to the inside of the school, held scents that he wasn't used to. They weren't ones he wanted to get used to either since the only thing he could compare it to was when he'd found a dead, decaying rodent in the basement of the house and had to get rid of it.
“Heh,” Jeff said. “This might be easier than I thought.”
“Why?”
“Well, you remember when you tried to make the Safe Zone yesterday?”
“Yeah, what about it?”
“There was a map in there, one that showed the area it was going to create. That map didn't include that section of the parking lot,” Jeff replied, gesturing towards the farthest reaches where there were still a number of cars parked.
“We just need to get those cars into the area it had designated and I bet they count,” Jeff finished.
“I didn't realize you could see that,” Marc said.
Jeff nodded towards Rob and Felicia.
“They probably couldn't, I've got a skill that allows me to see non-shared screens of others if they're of my level or lower.”
“And you didn't think to mention this before?”
“Hey, be glad I'm mentioning it now. It might save us some work. But I think we'll probably need to go down to the shop before we move cars. Unless there are keys in them, of course. Most of those are late enough models that the steering wheels will lock with no key,” Jeff said.
“Well, let's go check and move the ones we can. Then to the shop? What's there to help?”
“Wheeled ramps. Push the cars up the ramp and then the ramps can do the steering. It's something they have for the mechanic courses they run sometimes.”
Marc wasn't even going to ask how Jeff knew all of that.
Probably he was blowing off his real classes to hang around the shop too, Marc thought. I've got no idea how he managed to graduate, never mind make it into college.
There were eleven cars in the area of the lot that Jeff had pointed towards. Now they moved out there and started looking them over. A few of them had keys still in the ignition and those would move easily, although they wouldn't start. Marc shuddered and then refused to look at the bloodstains on the pavement near some of those cars.
I don't want to know. There's nothing I can do about it now, he thought.
“Hey, I'll go get the ramps while you move these, okay?” Jeff said.
“No!” Marc replied. “First off, we need you to keep watch along with me out here. Secondly, do you really want to be going into the school on your own? We only made the gym and locker rooms a Safe Zone.”
“Hey, I can Stealth.”
“While dragging those ramps you were talking about?”
“Oh hey, why don't I just stay out here on watch, then we all go for the ramps later on?” Jeff replied as if he'd never suggested otherwise.
Marc nodded and moved his gaze back out to the open areas beyond the parking lot. There were trees and bushes that might offer some cover out there, so he didn't want to ignore it. Felicia got the wheels set before Rob started pushing and then things started moving more quickly.
They managed to move five of the cars before they needed to retrieve the ramp. Marc wanted to check and see if the cars were actually counting towards the metal they needed, so they stopped back in the gymnasium before heading for the shop.
“Create Safe Zone,” he said.
Insufficient resources to create a Safe Zone in this area.
Resources required:
Wood: 1000/1000
Stone: 1000/1000
Metal: 883/1000
A temporary Safe Zone may be created in this area for a monetary fee of: 10 silver coins.
Your temporary Safe Zone lasts 24 hours and includes this room only. Add additional rooms and their functions for an additional 1 silver coin per room. Creating a Temporary Safe Zone in the location of an existing one will simply reset the counter to 24 hours.
“Yeah, it's working. It looks like we get credit for about twenty metal per car we get into the area so another six and we're good.”
“We'll need to get one from somewhere else,” Felicia said. “There are only five left in the lot.”
“So be it, that's better than having to get all of them from elsewhere,” Marc replied. “Heck, maybe we'll even find one that will start.”
They'd tried that with the ones that had keys in them, but none of them had even turned over. Jeff had opined that maybe it was like a strong EMP and only the older cars that didn't use computers would still start. Marc personally thought that the internal combustion engine had been classified as complex enough that the System immediately started them deteriorating. Even if that were the case, an older model with a carburetor instead of fuel injection might still run a little bit, enough to get it to the parking lot at least. So that's what they'd look for when they moved out to get the last car later on.
Heck, if we get an older one it might even count for more than just twenty metal, Marc thought. Most of those older cars used a lot more sheet metal than the newer ones.
They didn't run into anything as they went to retrieve the wheeled ramps. Once they had them to the parking lot, they discovered that they'd work for the purpose, but they were a royal pain in the ass to use. By the time they got the last of those cars to the correct area it was nearly lunch time.
“Alright, quick break for lunch, then let's get that last car,” Marc said.
“Easy for you to say,” Rob said, slightly out of breath. “You're just standing watch.”
“True, you're putting the most effort in, but it'll be worth it,” Marc said.
“I hope,” he added, under his breath.
A half hour later they headed out into the town. The school was at the edge of the town, slightly separated from the rest of it.
“Hey look,” Jeff said. “There's one of the older ones. Maybe we can get it started?”
“Only if there are keys in it,” Felicia said. “Unless hot wiring cars is included in your skill set.”
“I'm offended,” Jeff said.
“Sorry,” Felicia hastily apologized.
“Let me finish,” Jeff said. “I'm offended that you could possibly believe that I would not have the skills to hot wire a car.”
He slipped into the old junker.
“Nope, no keys. Give me a second here.”
He pulled a long screwdriver out of his inventory, placed the end of it in the ignition, then slammed it home with a solid hit to the handle. When he turned it, the engine sputtered, black fumes coming from the exhaust pipe.
“Damn, you really can start a car with a flathead screwdriver,” Rob said.
Marc just shook his head.
“I think Jeff had a secret life that he never told any of us about back in high school. I always thought he blew us off because he was antisocial, but now I'm starting to think it was because he had more exciting things to be doing,” he said.
Felicia nodded.
“It does make you wonder, doesn't it?”
“Hey, this thing has crap for power right now. You mind walking back, guys? I'm not sure it won't stall out if we put more weight in it,” Jeff called.
Marc just waved him off and started walking.
At least he can't make the Safe Zone without us since I have the core. Wait, I do still have the core, don't I?
He checked and found it still tucked into his inventory. After Jeff had revealed that he'd seen the Safe Zone screen the day before Marc had been a lot less sure of some things he'd taken for granted.
“Alright, as soon as we can get back, we can make the Safe Zone. I hope,” he said.
“I had an idea. None of the monsters can read, right? Why don't we put some signs on the telephone poles telling people to come to the high school for a Safe Zone,” Felicia said.
“Let's do it. Jeff got to ride, so he can just wait a few more minutes for the rest of us. Let's not take too long though,” Marc said.
“Anyone got paper and something to write with?” Rob asked.
Felicia pulled out a small stack of paper and several pencils. Things she'd taken and stashed while they were clearing the school.
“Here, write fast,” she said.
* * *
Marc only finished two signs, and brief ones at that. He spent most of his time on guard. They hadn't even seen any people, but that might be because they were all hiding.
At least I hope that's the reason, he thought.
Felicia had run off eight signs in the same time, and Rob had done six. They spent a couple more minutes putting them up in various easily accessible areas, then headed back towards the school. Jeff was still in the car he'd driven, although it wasn't running any more.
“What took you so long?” he asked.
“We put up signs directing people here to the Safe Zone,” Marc said. “We figured the monsters wouldn't be able to read them, but people would.”
“Oh, well, never mind then.”
Marc could tell that Jeff had planned on giving them shit about going so slow, until he actually found out why.
He was the one opposed to others showing up before though, it looks like he might've changed his mind now, Marc thought.
“Well, let's go see what we can make now,” Jeff said, getting out of the car.
Back in the gym, Marc pulled up the Safe Zone creation screen one more time.
You have sufficient resources to create a basic Safe Zone in this area.
Resources required:
Wood: 1000/1000
Stone: 1000/1000
Metal: 1000/1000
Designate power source for Safe Zone:
Monster Core – common – poor
Lesser System Token
Common System Token
Marc focused on the line with the monster core on it and the whole screen flickered and changed.
Due to core usage in creation process, you have two Perks added to your Safe Zone.
1 – General power will be supplied to Safe Zone. This may be used with purchased items or System altered items. Power slots will still be needed for some buildings.
2 - You have your choice of guardians for your Safe Zone. This Perk will require additional resource expenditure.
Gargoyle – Stone 100/100
Wooden Golem – Wood 100/100
Metal Golem (insufficient resources – Metal 17/100)
Hell yeah, I'll take a flying guardian, Marc thought.
He focused on the line that read 'Gargoyle' and the screen flickered, only this time the screen disappeared after flickering.
A small table rose from the floor in front of him. Once it reached waist height it stopped rising and a wire-frame diagram appeared on top of it, one that looked a lot like the school, except with a wall shown around the outside of the Safe Zone area.
“Crap,” Marc said. “Hey, Jeff? How many of your engineering classes did you actually show up to?”
“Why?” Jeff asked.
He'd been over at the shop podium again, but when he turned around and saw the wire-frame diagram in front of Marc he practically charged across the room.
“All of them,” he said. “They weren't boring like high school was.”
Jeff was practically drooling.
“Want to make some alterations?” Marc asked. “We're looking for safety first, everything else can come after.”
“Well, it ain't 3D CAD software, but I think I can handle it. Any other requests than safety?”
“Ummm, see if we can alter the footprint to include some grassy areas? I doubt we'll either want to, or be able to afford to, eat out of the shop all the time. So maybe some room for growing stuff?” Marc said.
“Can do,” Jeff replied absently.
He was already reaching into the wire-frame image, pushing, pinching and altering things. As Marc watched, Jeff raised the outer walls by a few more feet. They'd looked to be about six feet previously, now he had them up to ten feet. Then he started drawing in platforms on the inside of the wall, with stairs going up to them.
He stopped abruptly.
“Hey, this says it'll take more resources to do this. Do we have more?”
“I think we have more wood and stone, but hardly any metal. Go ahead and do any alterations that take wood or stone, hold off on ones that need metal. Hopefully we can upgrade more later on,” Marc said.
“Okay, cool, let me get back to this then.”
Marc headed over to the shop podium, starting to browse on his own. A few minutes later, Jeff interrupted him.
“I think I got it, but there's a symbol I don't know. Take a look?”
Marc headed back over and took a look. Jeff's alterations had the place looking more like a medieval keep than a high school. He noticed the symbol Jeff pointed at.
“Oh, that's our guardian. Extend a stone ledge over the main entrance and place it there? He's a gargoyle.”
“A what?”
“Yeah, because we used a core instead of a token we got Perks. We'll have power and a guardian. I assume the water is included since it was with the temporary one.”
“Well, it looks like it might not be too bad here then. Let me get this finished up.”
Jeff made a few more gestures in the wire-frame drawing before turning to Marc.
“It wants you to authorize it since you initiated the construction,” he said.
Marc reached down and touched the wire-frame.
This design will use an additional 83 stone and 137 wood beyond base cost.
Safe Zone design complete? (y/n)
He focused on the 'y'.
Initializing Safe Zone construction. Inform current inhabitants to beware of alterations underway. Alterations starting in: 60 Sol-3 (Earth) seconds.
Marc put his thumb and forefinger in his mouth and whistled. Felicia and Rob came running over.
“What's the problem?” Rob asked.
“The Safe Zone is starting construction and it told me to warn the current inhabitants that alterations would be underway. Do we want to go outside for this?” Marc asked.
“Probably a good idea,” Jeff said. “There are a fair number of internal changes that are going to occur, fewer outside though and I know what areas I left clear.”
“Well, let's get out of here then,” Marc said. “Hopefully it won't take long. Thirty more seconds until it starts.”
The four left quickly, headed out to a patch of grass that Jeff said he hadn't altered at all.
“But watch out, we'll have a wall building back behind us and I don't know how the materials get there,” he added.
As they watched the school morphed into a new shape, one almost reminiscent of a small keep, if not quite as fortified. They did have to move once as the stone and wood swept out past them, floating an inch or two off the ground, then assembling into a ten foot high stone wall with a firing platform on the inside of the wall.
It might've taken ten minutes total before Marc received a message.
Safe Zone construction complete. Would you like to name your Safe Zone? (y/n)
Marc focused on the 'y'.
Safe Zone name:
Well hell, Marc thought, I've never been good at naming characters or anything else. Let's go with something everyone should recognize.
The blank area filled in with Marc's choice: Any Port
* * *
Chapter Eight
“Really? Any Port?” Jeff scoffed.
“Hey, any port in a storm, right?” Marc replied.
Felicia snickered, but Rob nodded vigorously.
“I agree with Marc,” Rob said. “It's a good name.”
Jeff just muttered under his breath.
“It's not a bad name,” Felicia said, “but maybe next time you should talk it over with the rest of us?”
Marc hung his head, slightly embarrassed that he hadn't even considered that.
“Well, next time something needs a name, I'll try to remember that,” he said.
Felicia patted his arm.
“Like I said, it's not a bad name, but I think we all could've done better if we worked on it together,” she said.
I already said I'd try to remember next time, Marc thought. What's she trying to do? Embarrass me enough that I have no chance of forgetting?
Then he felt bad for thinking that since he did have a tendency to forget things like that occasionally. When he got excited about doing something, he tended to push through until he was completely done with it, much like he had when naming the Safe Zone.
