Enter System, page 41
part #1 of Natural Laws Apocalypse Series
Then he gritted his teeth and walked back into the building. He thought Felicia would be either back in her room or in the infirmary with Natalie right now. The infirmary was closer so that's where he went first.
Sure enough, Felicia and Natalie were sitting in the waiting area outside of it.
And the fact that Jeff actually put in a waiting area boggles my mind. Maybe there was a preset infirmary design that he just plugged into the design? That would explain it, and I do believe that he would've thought of adding an infirmary. He's spent enough time in the hospital himself that he'd remember.
Marc cleared his throat gently and both of the women looked up at him.
“Felicia? Got a quick decision to run by you,” he said.
“Go,” Natalie told her. “Dad's going to be fine according to what Eugene said, he just needs to get his food and water reserves up in his body, then you can heal him.”
Eugene, that's the Druid's name. I know we were introduced, but I just didn't remember it. I'll try harder this time since I'm hoping to work with him and figure out how to train more Druids.
Felicia stood and headed over to him.
“What is it, Marc?”
“Well, remember you told me I should ask for help making decisions?”
She nodded.
“I went to finalize the expansion and got another prompt. We've got another perk due to the quality of the troll's monster core and this time it gave me a choice.”
“Spill it, what do we have to choose from?” she said.
He described the two choices, sharing the notification so she could see it.
“I'm leaning towards the guards,” he said. “Because if we keep expanding, at some point we'll have more walls than people to guard them. Already it's just sort of a volunteer thing because I don't want to insist that some people take guard duty.”
“We've got what? Four power slots? How many of them are we using?”
“Well, the smithy is converting over to one, so we'll get that expansion slot back, but it'll use a power slot. I'm pretty sure that we'll want a Sawmill eventually, Crafters will probably need the wood from that as opposed to the recyclers. You know we'll want a Brewery and I think that used one also. Oh, and we're using one for Wired Communication within the Safe Zone. I think of that like a Safe Zone wide intercom or something, or a limited small town telephone setup?”
He shrugged.
“So yeah, we could use two more power slots, but I think having the Phantom Guards would be a better option.”
She closed her eyes for a moment, nodding her head.
“Either one would be good, but you're right. With the amount of expansion we want, and the fact that we have the expanded expansion slots with the good core, manning the walls will be an issue unless we get lots more survivors. So, yes, I'd pick the Phantom Guards.”
“Think I should run that by Jeff and Rob also? Or just go with it.”
“Just go with it. I think Rob would be happy to just go with your choice, and Jeff? Well, let's just say I think interrupting him right now wouldn't make him happy. Ella said something about 'rewarding' him for helping her find the right group to join.”
Felicia snorted.
“I'm pretty sure that he didn't have much to say in the matter of which group she joined though, she can wrap him around her little finger like nobody's business.”
“But he did, at least, encourage it?” Marc said.
She nodded.
“Yeah, he did. I'll give him that much credit on his own, but I think I know who'll be wearing the pants in that relationship, whether he realizes it or not.”
Marc chuckled and wondered if his running to Felicia with this decision meant that she was wearing them in their relationship. Then started chuckling harder when he realized that they actually had one.
“What's so funny?” Felicia asked, looking more curious than annoyed.
“Oh, not much. I just realized that you and I finally have some sort of relationship, even if we haven't exactly laid out any ground rules for it, and all it took to get there was the end of the world as we knew it.”
She stared at him for moment before bursting into laughter.
“When you're right, you're right. I mean it's funny, but it isn't. It seems that gallows humor is the one that comes most readily to hand nowadays though.”
“I'll take it. Any humor at all seems to lighten the load some. Have you been noticing it also? The things that just didn't bother you back before level five seeming to have more of an impact now.”
Her face took on a serious look and she nodded.
“Yeah, and you're right again. With all of that slowly encroaching on us, even gallows humor helps. Now, if you'll excuse me, I want to get back to Natalie. Finding her father was another bright spot, at least for me. It helped ease up some of those feeling that were coming back.”
Marc nodded.
“I'll go get this expansion finished. It's been hours since I first started it.”
“Rather eventful hours though, so it wasn't a waste of time or anything, just a delay,” she said.
She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, then went back into the waiting room. Marc returned to the gym, selected the Phantom Guards perk, then stepped out like he had earlier. This time, he got to watch as the materials pile got down and busy. Wood and stone flew off into the darkness towards the areas of the wall that were expanding. Metal went flying towards the front door of the keep and Marc worried about that until he realized that it was probably the materials for the base of the Wired Communication upgrade.
The doors opened to allow the metal in, then closed behind it. Marc just sat there staring as the rest of the changes took place in front of his eyes. The moon was bright so he could actually see the wall from where he was and he discovered that the existing wall simply pushed forward to the new boundary, the materials building the connection between the portion that had moved and that which had stayed where it previously was.
So yeah, people could actually stay on the wall during the expansion, not that I think anyone will want to do that. Wait, no-one but Jeff will want to do that, I could see him doing it though, Marc thought.
* * *
After watching the expansion progress for a few minutes, Marc realized that he was wiped out. With everything he'd done over the course of day he was exhausted. He thought about stopping by the infirmary again, but instead went straight to his room, promising himself to check on Natalie's father first thing in the morning. He didn't even try to meditate or work on his Mana Manipulation skill, simply crawled into the shower, then into bed. In moments he was asleep.
He slept the sleep of the dead. There were no dreams, very little movement, and even though he was fully rested when he woke it didn't feel as though he'd slept for very long at all. He pulled himself out of bed and walked to the window. The sun was rising and was only about halfway above the horizon.
Wait, that means I only slept something like six hours. I'm pretty sure it wasn't thirty and I slept a whole day away, but I've never felt well rested when I only got this little sleep before. I wonder what's up?
He stayed true to his word, dressing and going to the infirmary first thing. Natalie was still there, but in her father's room now. Felicia was nowhere to be seen and Marc guessed that meant she was sleeping.
“Hey, how's he doing?” Marc asked softly.
Natalie, who'd been dozing lightly in her chair, snapped upright and spun to face him.
“Marc,” she sputtered, half asleep.
Marc didn't get his answer from her though, instead he heard a raspy, masculine voice from the bed answer.
“Apparently much better, due to you and your friends.”
Marc glanced over and saw the man's eyes open. As he watched, the man drew himself up into a sitting position in the bed.
“So, Natalie tells me you're the one in charge of this Safe Zone? And that you're seeing her old friend, Felicia?”
Marc kind of shrugged.
“Yes? I mean, I am in charge of the Safe Zone, although I try to run most decisions through my group. Felicia and I have a...”
Marc raised a hand, then wiggled it back and forth.
“thing going, something between us. We haven't exactly tried to define anything yet. We've known each other long enough that it just feels like a natural extension of our relationship?”
He wasn't sure he was explaining it well and that was why he'd phrased the last as a question.
Natalie's father started to laugh, but interrupted it with a cough and settled for a quiet chuckle.
“Yup, that sounds like a relationship to me. She'll keep you on your toes that way.”
Natalie frowned at her father.
“Not that that's a bad thing or anything,” he quickly added.
Then he stuck out his hand.
“Bill,” he said.
Marc took it and replied with his own name.
“So, Natalie's been telling me what you've been doing here. She mentioned a bunch of classes, but it seems like she missed mine. I didn't tell it to her before because the name's none too flattering, but if you've got room, how would you like to add a Scavenger to your Safe Zone?”
“That's your class?”
Bill nodded.
“What's it entail?” Marc asked.
“Minor fighting capabilities, about those of a Scout. Where it shines is that I can Scavenge things. What that means is an increased chance to find an item of a type I'm looking for. Things like food, weapons, and the like. Plus, twice per day, when I find something with the Scavenge skill I can choose to Systemize it.”
Marc froze, then ran Bill's words back through his mind again.
“You can Systemize items? Two daily?” he asked.
Bill nodded.
“Don't know how long that'll be good for, lots of stuff is falling apart already, like the floor under my feet a few days ago, but while it holds up it sounds like a pretty powerful skill, right?”
Marc shook his head.
“No. I mean yes it is, but it'll stay a powerful skill, not just for how long the current items take to decay. Were you aware that items that are Systemized fix themselves? I assume that's back to how they were right after Systemization, but even so damaged items repairing themselves is crazy powerful.”
“Yeah, so? I can do a bunch until it's all gone, then kaput,” Bill said.
Marc grinned.
“Nope. Items made under the System, with its Crafting system? They don't appear to be Systemized, they're just normal items that don't suffer the deterioration of the existing ones. Once you can start Scavenging items like those? You'll still be able to Systemize them and improve them. At least, that's how I'm reading the situation.”
“Oh,” Bill said. “I didn't realize that, I just thought anything new made would automatically be Systemized.”
“No, we've had some people working on things. A Seamstress and we just got a Trapsmith. None of their items were Systemized items. They were System items so they don't decay at the fast rate, but they don't read as Systemized.”
“Well in that case, you have a use for guy that can track items down and improve them? At least a couple a day anyhow?” Bill asked.
“I'm sure we will. And we'll be able to use your skills to add even more items to the Safe Zone up until the final bit of decay sets in. Plus, non-Systemized items brought into a Safe Zone don't decay at the fast rate anymore, so even more than two a day if you can find things and bring them back. Then eventually you can Systemize those items after we can't retrieve any more from outside the Safe Zone.”
Bill turned to Natalie.
“He's a quick one, isn't he? No wonder it was him and his group that got a Safe Zone set up around here first.”
“I don't know dad, I don't know him that well. I just know what Felicia told me, but I figured her opinion was probably biased so didn't pay that much attention. Maybe I should've.”
She looked at Marc curiously and he blushed.
“No, I'm not that quick-witted, I don't think. I am smart and we've made lots of different plans also. What I just mentioned was just combining those plans with the skill you told me about.”
“Close enough for me,” Bill said. “When can I get started?”
He tried to swing his legs over the edge of the bed, but Natalie stopped him.
“No dad, you stay in bed until one of the Healers clears you.”
“And after that we normally give people forty-eight hours to get their heads wrapped around the new world,” Marc added.
“Son, I spent days trapped under that safe with nothing to do but think. I thought I'd die, but instead I'm alive. I've had the time I need to get my head wrapped around the new world you mentioned. Now I'd prefer to be out there making sure more people get a chance to do the same. Natalie told me you're looking for survivors and I'm hoping that I can Scavenge survivors as well as I can anything else.”
Marc stopped dead. He hadn't even considered that possibility. If it worked he might be able to, or rather Bill might be able to, find any more survivors in the town. At the very least they could offer them residence in the Safe Zone and let them know where it was.
And make it perfectly clear that they have to pull their own weight to be here. I don't want to have to evict anyone else. It makes me feel dirty, even just telling Jeff to do it does, and who knows what show he'd put on next time if I asked him to do that.
* * *
“I'm going to head down for breakfast. If I see Felicia, I'll send her up here to check you out, Bill,” Marc said.
Natalie glared at him.
“Don't look at me like that. You know Felicia won't give him a clean bill of health if she doesn't think he's good,” Marc said. “And the sooner we can get him added to a group and headed out, the more people we'll be able to save, hopefully. Assuming you can Scavenge survivors,” Marc added, shaking his head.
“I can only try,” Bill said. “But the class includes things like tracking for game animals and using Scavenge to find those, so I've got hope.”
“Well, it was very nice indeed to meet you, Bill. Hopefully you'll be up on your feet again in no time.”
Marc headed out and hurried towards the cafeteria. Once he was there, he realized that he was early again.
I was early the other day too. What's with this, I was never an up with the dawn type, but I've been getting a lot less sleep recently and been feeling a lot better. Is that a result of my Constitution increasing as much as it has?
He sat down after checking if they'd gotten any coffee brewed yet and claiming a cup for himself. As he nursed his coffee he ran through the groups they had, trying to determine which would be the best fit for Bill.
He's not going to add a lot of combat capability, so they'll need decent combat skills. So probably our group, which I don't think will happen because we don't have a regular schedule on going out, or Ron's group. I bet Ron would be all over finding more survivors. Some of the groups go out to find spawns to kill, but he takes his group out to find people and just kills any of the spawns they find along the way.
Marc nursed his cup of coffee until breakfast was ready. Grabbing food, and another cup of coffee, he settled in to wait for Felicia. He was impatient and it didn't help matters that it took her until nearly the close of breakfast hours to arrive. When she did, he relaxed. She had Bill and Natalie with her.
He followed them into the line, the waitresses only operating during lunch and dinner, procuring one final cup of coffee and desperately trying to ignore Alice's flirting by taking Felicia's arm. That caused Felicia to look at him curiously, then back to the server and return the gesture, clutching his arm possessively. Alice's crestfallen face told Marc that he might have less to worry about with dodging Alice's flirting from now on.
Why do I feel bad about it though? It's not like I was encouraging her, unless she thought me getting here early a few times was encouragement.
“So, Bill. Did Felicia say you're good to go?” Marc asked, after they took seats.
“She told me I'm good to be out of bed, but she doesn't want me leaving the Safe Zone until tomorrow.”
“I want to keep an eye on him, just in case,” Felicia said. “He was in really bad shape yesterday and I'm astounded at how quickly he recovered.”
“I am level five,” he said, “and Scavengers get Agility and Constitution for their levels. So my Constitution is a bit buffed. I'm sure that has something to do with it.”
“Even so, I want to keep an eye on you for a day and make sure you don't run out of energy again halfway through the day. That could be deadly if you were out scavenging.”
“Did he tell you his idea?” Marc asked.
She shook her head.
“He thinks he might be able to use his Scavenge skill to find survivors,” Marc said. “I'm thinking we should group him up with Ron's party to do that since they've been focused on finding people more than fighting.”
“That's a good idea,” Natalie said. “I know they're pretty strong, so there shouldn't be nearly as much danger for him that way.”
“Hey, I'm right here,” Bill said. “Don't talk about me like I'm not.”
“Now you are,” Natalie said, “but you weren't for a few days. I'd rather not go back to having you not right here.”
“Sorry Bill,” Marc said. “It's probably good to take the single day off. You weren't exactly in shape to actually rest where you were.”
He grunted in reply.
“Ron's group has already left for the day anyhow,” Marc added. “So, I'll talk to him about it when they get back this afternoon. I'll introduce you too, Bill, if you're willing.”
“Yeah, we can do that. My wife stopped by earlier, so I need to go talk to her some more. She's not gonna like this plan, but if I can save more people, I feel like I ought to. You know, pay the favor forward and all that?”
Marc nodded.
“So, if they get back and are interested, I'll be with my wife. Do you know which room we're in?”
“Um, Felicia does at least. She showed me once so I could ask Natalie to work as a guard—”
