Apocalypse Redux

Chapter 38: Chaos

“That’s quite the suggestion. Are you sure?” Bailey asked.

“Sure? Of course not, but there is some pretty significant circumstantial evidence.” Patrick replied.

“First of, there are the instructions. They contain more information than most regular instruction manuals, but that just means they’re absurdly thorough. Sure, they lack the usual ‘this is all you’re likely going to need’ summary at the beginning and take forever to completely go through, but they’re good enough to find out literally anything you might want to learn.

“The really important parts, the dangerous parts, aren’t well explained at all. Nothing. Jack squat. Bupkis. Fuck all. Just the key to unleashing monster’s that haven’t walked the Earth in millions of years or even only existed in humanity’s collective nightmares with no explanation.

“But all of that is relatively self-explanatory. Summon monster, kill monster, get stronger. The core idea is pretty basic and blindingly obvious. And then yesterday happened, when we learned that the monsters can spawn autonomously if they’re left alive for too long.

“Normal monsters that can still be taken down, even if it takes heavy ordinance. Once they spawn in and start causing a ruckus, whoever is needed to take down the monster in question will be contacted and that will be that. Until it causes any trouble, it can be left alone, right?

“Except that isn’t actually the case. No, we’re dealing with creatures able to replicate on their own, and in a form of what is essentially a hyper fast version of parthenogenesis to boot.”

“Sorry, Parthenogenesis?” Isaac asked.

“Virgin birth.” Patrick explained “Summoning in new monsters on their own is basically the same thing, right?

“Anyway, point is, this is a gigantic sting in the tail of what appears to be a rather simple system on the surface. One we only discovered through sheer chance because Isaac got curious about a completely unrelated matter. Then, there is the whole thing about how monsters track the summoners. How long would it have taken for us to figure that out if he’d just sat in his chair? How many more nasty problems will we find by running head long into them, rather than careful study or discovery?

“Basically, we have the thoroughly well explained [Class] system, which looks attractive as hell, calling for people to take the obvious road to get stronger … with all the hidden dangers that entails.”

“That’s … disturbingly plausible.” Wechsler was the first to answer.

“Type that up, but don’t send it out just yet. A hypothesis that dark in the current situation might get us shut down, no matter how idiotic that is, long term.” Bailey said.

“That sort of makes sense, but why give monsters the ability to track their summoner?” Amy asked “Isn’t that a little counterintuitive if the entire point is to get us to dump more monsters into our laps?”

“No witnesses.” Raul said hollowly “If the monster runs off, there will be at least one person who knows what it was, which people can deduce countermeasures from. But if it kills the summoner, followed by anyone who was nearby thanks to the general aggression all the monsters have, that unilaterally prevents basically all specialized preparations. Besides, no one would ever summon if the damn things just ran off.”

“There’s a disturbing thought.” Bailey replied after a moment “Unfortunately, we don’t really have a way to check whether any of that is true. If anyone realized something, spots possible proof or thinks of a way to prove it, make sure to write it down. We’ll gather it all and see if anyone can figure out any kind of proof, but until we have more proof, let’s stick to giving warnings instead of telling everyone that the [System] itself might be out to get them. Like I said, alarming everyone in an atmosphere this tense isn’t going to lead anywhere good.”

“Are you sure?” Patrick asked.

“If we put a hypothesis like that out in the world, we’re going to scare the hell out of a lot of people, some of whom will take the idea and run with it, going in completely insane directions and starting a panic. And then we might get shut down simply because the optics of having a [System] research group are bad, and then, we won’t be able to find out about other problems ahead of time. Let’s keep this in mind, but not publish it until we can find out something definitive, one way or another.” Bailey declared with an air of finality about it.

“There’s almost certainly another shoe, ready to drop.” Amy muttered softly, clearly having forgotten that everyone around the table had at least some degree of supernatural hearing. Well, everyone except Wechsler.

“What was that?” Bailey asked.

“Something Isaac said last night. About why he wants Levels, because there’s likely going to be another problem we’re yet to see.” she mumbled, slightly embarrassed.

“Like she said, I’ve thought there was something nasty waiting in the wings from minute one.” Isaac added “Something with this kind of potential for destruction and no real explanation for anything that happened … there’s no way we start out knowing the complete picture. Plus, you know, all those stories that are, in hindsight, horror stories.”

“So we’re back to those books, then?” Patrick asked “Do you have any particular insights from them, or just a general sense of unease?”

“I’m sorry, but what books?” Wechsler interrupted. Normally, he stuck to the background and kept quiet, but this time, it seemed he’d completely lost any kind of comprehension for the conversation currently happening.

“There’s an entire genre devoted to the idea of a [System] existing in the real world. Sometimes, it’s in a fantasy world that just works like that, sometimes, it’s in a fantasy world the main characters get transported to, and sometimes, it just gets introduced to Earth. And when that happens, it’s usually apocalyptic.” Isaac explained “It’s part of what had me worried all the way back at initialization. But there isn’t much there that’s comparable to our current situation except the setting and the [System]. I’ve been able to draw some parallels based on the similar mechanics, but nothing that really helps. Most of my information comes from mythology.”

“Do you think someone somehow predicted this and turned it into a book as a warning?” Wechsler asked.

“The good ol’ ‘warnings hidden in media’ thing?” Raul asked “It’s a thought, but normally, those are a lot more popular, right? I mean, if you leave behind a warning, you make sure it gets heard. Everywhere I’ve seen it done, it’s always something everyone has heard about, like zombies or dragons, not a relatively obscure and fresh subgenre of Fantasy and Sci-Fi.”

“Those are stories, though. Assuming the real world works like that is going lead you down the wrong path.” Patrick pointed out.

“Still, if you go through all the effort of planting stories, you make sure people hear about it and make sure the information is something actually useful beyond that the [System] is bad.” Raul pointed out.

“They might not know any specifics.” Bailey suggested.

“If all those books were warnings, their Systems sure as hell diverged pretty quickly into all sorts of different directions, so if any of them were warnings, we have no way to truly find the ones actually meant to be useful except maybe look at the earliest examples, but those might have been inspired by simple video games. Let’s just drop this for now and if one of us notices something weird, we can revisit the topic.” Isaac suggested.

“I, for one, don’t really intend to go diving deep into literature because there might be information there, based on a mere hypothesis that someone else would have almost certainly stumbled onto in the past three weeks. Any author who’d properly predicted this mess would be crowing from the rooftops, and if they didn’t, their fans would.” Bailey shut down that discussion.

“Now, moving on, today's agenda, and some things we need to plan for next week. I know it’s boring and I handle most of the administrative crap, but we have to get through this.” he announced.

“Up first, future plans. Obviously, we need to investigate this new mechanic, but given the restrictions, that’ll have to wait, pending approval. Isaac, Patrick, you both had some decent ideas, write those up and send them to me. In addition, we have a few other experiments to continue, but barring an utter disaster occurring, I don’t anticipate any problems.

“In fact, we seem to have gotten quite the boost from the latest revelations. In addition to state funding, we’ve received numerous private donations, some rather sizeable, like the one from a collective representing several gambling establishments from Las Vegas that’s not telling us the reason for their support in a weirdly specific way.”

As he said that, he looked pointedly at Isaac. After all, he hadn’t given them a thorough play by play of his time in Sin City and there was a lot one could read into something like that.

“Thanks to that and pressure from various offices responsible for public safety, our building is getting somewhat rushed. The underground portion for summoning is being built first, with overtime approved and all else that can be done to speed it up. We should be able to use them in a couple of months while they finish the rest. Karl, Isaac, see if you can find out the best material to armor the summoning rooms with.

“Now, did any of you happen to get the [System Researcher] [Class]?”

Raul, Patrick and Amy replied in the affirmative.

“Right, see if you can discover the principles behind your ability copying [Skill] and put together a list of useful ones to acquire, work with the others for that.

“Unfortunately, there’s even more to do, though. The police are currently working on a pilot program to level up its employees and our local department was chosen due to proximity to us. At some point in the next week, a few of you will have to go over there to give them a good once over, make sure there aren’t making any obvious mistakes.

“And that brings me to my last point. On Monday, we’re going to have a demonstration in front of the building. Two of them, in fact. One is an animal rights rally; the other is demonstrating against the fact that we’re summoning. Just ignore them, come around the back, no flashy maneuvers of flying over the crowd or walking through people, alright?”

“Fine.” Amy grumbled.

“Sure thing.” Isaac shrugged. That last comment had clearly been aimed at the two of them.

“Animal rights? Seriously? They do realize that monsters are rabid as a matter of course, and will kill any human they come across and need to be put down?” Patrick practically spat “Do those people do any research before they start protesting?”

“Presumably, just on websites that agree with them. Echo chambers and all that. Some people actually do do their research, but not all of them.” Wechsler sighed.

“How do you know about this ahead of time?” Isaac asked.

“Any demonstrations have to be announced ahead of time. Haven’t you ever gone protesting?” Karl asked.

“’fraid not.” Isaac shrugged.

“Now, I know we’ve got a lot to do, so we’d best get started, shouldn’t we? I’ve got some more paperwork to do, but then I’ll join you in here so we can put our heads together.” Bailey announced and headed out of the room.

The rest of the day was a lot calmer than normal, given that they were mostly in the meeting room instead of constantly summoning man-eating horrors from another dimension.

Isaac himself was also a lot busier than he normally was, given that he was constantly rotating between the various groups. After all, knowing monsters was useful both when it came to finding durable materials, knowing where to get cool materials and what problems might occur with monsters that were left in the world for a long time.

There was the occasional summoning when Karl wanted to get some various monster bits to analyze with his new sensory [Skills], but not much.

As it had slowly become par for the course, they stayed until well past seven pm, but eventually, they did go home. Well, all but two.

“Adam, can we talk for a moment?” Isaac asked.

“Of course.” Bailey said, instantly sounding worried “Let’s go to my office, shall we?”

Despite having been in here a mere couple of weeks ago, Isaac was surprised at how much it changed. The hydraskin handbag they’d given him as a joke had ended up in the place of honor in a shelf on the wall, joined by various other knickknacks from their experiments.

Meanwhile, the bookcase looked like a caricature of what a professor’s bookcase should look like. There were all the normal, standard zoology books that gave a rough overview over the entire field of study, joined by more specialized ones that focused on what Bailey’s specialty had been before all this, but those only took up about two thirds of the available space. Then there was a mass of mythology books and a couple that even had titles like ‘Cryptids: What they are and where to find them’, though those were noticeably newer.

But the most out of place were the ordinary novels, countless books which often had the word ‘LitRPG’ somewhere on their cover or spine. Isaac could tell that only a handful of them had been read through based on the cracks in their spine, or more often, the lack of ones, but they’d all at least been opened.

“So, what did you want to talk to me about?” Bailey asked.

“I’m going to be frank for a second. Levels. More specifically, your Levels. You’ve probably levelled up a couple of times just from someone else killing your summoned monsters, but that still leaves you well behind the curve.” Isaac stated bluntly.

“I’m not all that interested in fighting. I’m a scholar at heart and a [Healer] in [Class], I don’t really intend on advancing that far.” Bailey replied, shaking his head.

“Except you don’t have to be. I know this might sound a little weird coming from me, given that I’m a bit of a martial person, but ultimately, there are countless benefits to levelling beyond just raw power. For one, simple being healthier, having senses far better than normal, and you’ll never need glasses or anything else.”

“Isaac, are you calling me old?” Bailey asked, a twinkle in his eye.

“No, I’m calling you human.” Isaac shrugged “Beyond that, you’ll only need a fraction of the amount of sleep you normally need and your mind will get faster. It won’t be an outright intelligence boost, but your thoughts will be far faster than before. Even if you never have to fight, even just to defend yourself, just a few levels have the potential to change your life. And if you hit Level 10, you can actually get some privacy again.”

“Privacy?” Bailey asked.

“Anyone with [Inspect] can read your status as if it were their own.” Isaac explained.

“Is that what you’re doing?” Bailey frowned.

“No, I actually can’t do that anymore. My version lets me get a rough read on anyone’s stats, including those of a monster, where a normal [Inspect] will only return the name and Level.” Isaac explained.

“Ok, assuming I decide to start levelling, how would you go around that?” Bailey asked.

“However you want. You’re a [Healer], I’m going to assume you’re not that eager to jump right into warfare, but you can just keep levelling by summoning something I kill. It’ll get you to hit the max XP you can get from a given monster a bit faster, but at most, that’ll only feel the effect far, far into the future.” Isaac said “Of course, there’s also the option of slowly levelling through doing your job as it aligns with your [Class].”

“I think I’ll take the option of summoning monsters for you to kill.” Bailey agreed “So, I guess we’ll get started on Monday?”

“Actually, we can get started right now, if you’re willing. I don’t have any weekend plans I can’t cancel at the drop of a hat and I think this is worth it.” Isaac proposed.

“Thank you for that offer. Unfortunately, I do have some important things to do on Saturday. How about a few hours tonight?” Bailey suggested.

“Alright, great. Shall we?” Isaac asked, standing up and beginning to move over to the door.

“Actually, there’s something else we need to talk about. Could you sit back down?” Bailey asked, voice grim.

Isaac froze for a moment, then turned around, walked back and sat down.

“What is it?” he asked.

“Are you ok, Isaac? And I don’t mean physically, I know you heal like something out of a comic book.” Bailey said, clearly unwilling to outright state what he thought “I know I’m not a psychologist, but please know you can talk to me.”

Isaac sighed internally, he supposed this conversation had been a long time coming.

“You mean normal people don’t throw themselves at monsters all day, every day?” Isaac asked in a mock-shocked tone. He’d have to be very careful about how he handled this, mostly because he was pretty sure his head wasn’t on straight, at the very least, not as current society saw it.

Convincingly looking fine would simply make it appear he was convincingly lying. But outright admitting to being in a bad place might land him on some sort of administrative leave. And if he, gods forbid, outright told the truth … actually, that might go well, but it might also backfire and go horribly wrong, so he mentally tabled that option for now.

“I’m sorry, that was catty.” Isaac sighed, taking a deep breath “I’m scared, Adam. Scared of the future, scared this power that people have been given, scared of what fresh hell someone might summon into this plane. When that first [System] screen appeared, it was like a horror movie come to life. Like watching Nightmare on Elm Street and then having a dream in which a creepy guy with a … ok, bad example.”

“Maybe like coming face to face with a guy wearing a hockey mask with a machete in their hand after watching Friday the 13th?” Bailey suggested.

“I suppose. Point is, those books,” Isaac said, gesturing at the bookcase standing off to the side “They all depict most people dying. Sometimes, it’s just mentioned every time the heroes want to leave their safe area, that they ‘have to go look for survivors’. Other times, it’s front and center. You can hear the silence, the emptiness around the character, feel that hollowness in their heart as they realize there is no one left alive they might run into, picture that scene of countless broken-down cars on the highway like out of some post-apocalyptic movie.

“Entertaining to read, but not something I ever want to see happen. The first night after initialization, I had a nightmare to that effect. But then, things didn’t immediately go to utter shit, I calmed down a little and realized that madly fighting wasn’t what was needed, knowledge was. That’s when I went looking for you and things transitioned from dire and apocalyptic to fascinating, if still insanely dangerous. The power I’d already gathered was useful and nice to have, but not a dire necessity in the face of an oncoming apocalypse. And then, something happened to change that.”

“The party.” Bailey said grimly.

“Actually, no. That was something I knew was happening from the news and having that appear in front of me and surviving, that was more of a confirmation of my own capabilities than anything else.” Isaac shook his head “It was our discoveries. Like Patrick said, it’s starting to feel like all of this was created with malicious intent, intended to kill us all. It felt like I needed to be strong enough to survive all that, so I started fighting again and I just kept going. And it’ll probably be a while before I stop again.”

“Thank you for being honest with me.” Bailey said, surprisingly formally “That can’t have been easy. Look, the most important thing here is that you’re staying safe. Are you doing that?”

“My status might claim my greatest [Skill] is [Piercing Strike], but I know it’s actually knowing how to pick my battles. Remember, I had to survive long enough to actually get my regeneration.” Isaac noted dryly. Bailey blinked owlishly at him, then let loose a bark of laughter, but quickly stopped himself from showing further signs of levity.

“I believe we both know that ‘it hasn’t killed me yet’ is not a good reason to keep doing something.”

“I’m aware. But I’m not doing this because I simply want power, because I want to surpass everyone else. I’m doing this because I want to make sure that when shit truly hits the fan, I can do something about it. And for that to happen, I need to still be alive. I am being careful.” Isaac clarified.

“Even if it doesn’t look like it?” Bailey asked skeptically.

“Even if it doesn’t look like it.” Isaac confirmed “I know I’m hardly in a position to claim to be staying safe because summoning is inherently dangerous, but that’s the truth. I’ll only do something to truly risk my life in situations like that party, where there’s a reason for picking the fight other than the pursuit of power. Power is meaningless if you aren’t alive to wield it. Lives saved, on the other hand, are worth it regardless.”

Mentally, he added ‘And my survival isn’t the win condition here, humanity’s is.’

But he refrained from voicing that thought out loud, given how it would, at the very least, make him seem suicidal.

Instead of answering, Bailey took a deep breath to buy himself a little time. Then he spoke.

“I think that’s an interesting way to look at that. But it also sounds like something you can’t keep up forever. If you want to talk to someone, I’ll always be available. Or if you want to talk to a professional, the university is perfectly willing to provide someone. Just … don’t keep all that trapped inside until it bursts out. You won’t be doing yourself any favors, or anyone else, for that matter. Or just do something other than fighting.”

“While I might be working myself like a dog, I’m hardly the only one, am I? Sure, my ‘work’ is one of battle and bloodshed instead of paperwork and bureaucratical infighting, but both are exhausting, aren’t they?” Isaac said.

“What do you mean?” Bailey asked.

“I have fantastic senses, remember? I can see the faintest hint of bags under your eyes, no matter how well you try to hide them, and smell the caffeine coming from your pores. You’ve been working hard, too hard. You’re just as alarmed as I am, and we’re both pushing ourselves this hard.” Isaac replied, sighing.

“I suppose that’s true.” Bailey sighed.

“It doesn’t have to be, though. All you need is a couple of Levels to make working through the night perfectly doable.” Isaac replied. To his utter surprised, Bailey just started laughing.

“What a pair we make, don’t we? We both can’t let well enough alone.”

“We do. But we’ve also got a damn good reason. Saving the fucking world.” Isaac said.

“Are you sure it’s going to get that bad?” Bailey was suddenly serious again.

“We’ve got no idea how powerful monsters will get at the higher Tiers. All we know is that there’s a marked increase in power with each one, going from murderous housecat at Tier 1 to things that can beat basically any creature on the planet except a few apex predators and top tier herbivores at Tier 2. Tier 3 is already beyond anything the world currently holds, and Tier 4 are basically worth having their own legends. Tier 5 … a Tier 5 monster could probably trash this entire building in a matter of minutes. As to where things go from there … we can only speculate, but it’s sure to be bad. And we can be certain that someone is going to end up summoning one of those, be that out of stupidity or for malicious reasons.”

“That’s dark.” Bailey stated, deadpan “But you’re right. Sooner or later, someone is going to end up summoning something high Tier and it’s going to be incredibly powerful. And then, we’ll need the strength to fight it, or the knowledge to sucker punch it.”

“In that case, why don’t we work a little towards that end?” Isaac suggested “The summoning room’s free, after all.”

“In a minute, Isaac.” Bailey stopped him “Before we got off track, we were talking about, well, talking. I’m not going to make you do anything, but just promise me this: if you ever feel like you can’t handle the situation anymore, like you might go off the deep end, talk to me. Or anyone else, for that matter. Just talk to someone.”

“Thank you, Adam. I promise I’ll talk to someone if I ever feel like I’m not up to this.” Isaac solemnly said “I’ve got no intention of ‘going off the deep end’ as you put it.”

“It’s good to hear that, and my door is always open.” Bailey nodded, getting to his feet “I suppose now’s the time to start summoning then, isn’t it?”