Chapter 483 (1/2)

Hank pulled the brim of his hat lower and leaned back in his seat. Outside the train, the landscape blurred past, the Manatech launching their tiny vehicle at such speeds that distance, or at least the distance that was within the confines of the Zone, meant nothing.

Although Hank’s brother was a giant dick, he had something that Hank wanted, so Hank was unwillingly dragged from the Class C City that Hank called home, Mottles, towards one of the two Class A Cities in their Zone, East Providence. Of the two, Hank would much rather travel to West Providence, which was the technological hub upon which their whole Zone turned; meanwhile, Hanks current jaunt would take him to the political capital.

More than anything else, Hank hated politics. He hated the posing, he hated, the rhetoric, he hated the quick shifts between enemies and allies that happened so quickly that it wasn’t even worth the time to grow close to anyone.

Humans were built on connections with others, Hank believed. And he believed that politics was the practice of self-mutilation of genuine and personal connections. It all left a very bitter taste in his mouth.

But Hank supposed he should consider himself somewhat lucky. The early days after the arrival of the System were chaotic and dangerous. Even though the upper echelons of humanity had been warned, and had concentrated weapons, scientists, and supplies in this one location, it had still been touch and go for a while in the week that followed. Although soldiers had been warned that a great enemy would be coming, they expected soldiers, or tanks, or planes.

They didn’t expect demons, or chimera, or fucking goblins.

During that time, Hank hadn’t known about the oncoming storm, he had just gotten lucky to be stationed as a park ranger near his nation’s capital. At the time, he was just a hiking enthusiast who loved the sights and smells of the country, and his brother was a nobody, working as a clerk for a Senator from the South.

And now…

Hank sighed and shook his head angrily. When one of the train’s attendants walked past, he raised a hand and mimed taking a shot. She smiled politely and nodded, even though there was thinly veiled judgement in her eyes. Hank didn’t care, he just hoped she knew to bring him whiskey. Maybe he should have mimed sipping it.

But then he would have been dishonest, wouldn’t he?

While the soldiers and the politicians were struggling to remain in control of their tiny fiefdoms during the initial monster incursions, the scientists had holed themselves up in what would become West Providence, and begun to experiment. Very quickly, they realized they could gain Levels in strange, almost abstract Skills like Scientific Theory, and Organic Chemistry, and they pushed a lot of boundaries in those first weeks, frothing at the mouth in the presence of this tangible progress.

Very quickly, there were many deaths and accidents, but there was also progress: Plasma weaponry, manatech, and power suits were just a few of their more widely known inventions. There were huge jumps in farming and pharmaceutical technologies, which would have been worth billions of dollars in the past, but now were relatively useless, due to the positive benefits of the System.

But of course, the greatest contribution of West Providence, and the reason that they maintained their status as a Class A City, despite pressure from East Providence, was due to Ghost.

While most scientists were fascinated by the tangible, Thomas Karman was drawn towards a different pursuit: Artificial Intelligence. Not as a pursuit in and of itself, of course, he was too much of a scientist for that. But Dr. Karman wondered whether it wasn’t just people and monsters that were slaves to the System.

Could their creations earn the System’s approval as well?

For 3 months, Dr. Karman slaved away, working and creating. He tried different structures, different mediums, different evolution paths for the different intelligences. During that time, humanity had largely righted itself. Increases in Stats and Skill Levels allowed the army to quickly sweep through the monsters, establishing safe areas where people could live without fear of an ogre climbing through their window.

Even if he was being modest, Hank was at the forefront of that effort. Before the System hit, his hobbies included creating his own bullets and putting himself beyond the range of cell service in order to truly experience the raw, beautiful danger of nature. Now that danger came knocking, and Hank’s bullets were an invaluable tool against the invasion...

Many, in the early days of his rise to prominence, suspected that Hank would very quickly run out of room to grow. After all, his Skill related to shooting pistols and empowering pistol bullets, so undoubtedly he would soon be passed by snipers, or soldiers with assault rifles and proper training. But everytime Hank would find himself in a dead end, the System would provide a Path, a new Skill, an opportunity.