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Chapter 44 – A question of morality
🕑 Added 2024-10-13 14:00:08 +0000 UTCJace crunched his way across the ice and snow. Ollie stayed curled up around his neck. The sound of Jace’s foot-claws was the only noise other than the whistling, whipping wind.
“How are Wayfinders made?” Jace asked to pass the time.
“We are programmed! An Artificial Intelligence program. We then get put into a variety of simulations that help us shape our personality. Finally, we emerge in our default ‘blob’ form in the Starlit Sea. Once we get an Aspirant, we take on our new shape.”
Jace nodded, “Why is mine a river otter? You were a bit dismissive the last time I asked.”
“I do not know if I am being honest,” Ollie replied. “I just know that it is something to do with the animal most suited to your personality.”
“Tell me more about them,” Jace stated as he began a descent into an icy crevasse, shoving his prosthetic fingers into the wall while his feet made their own footholds.
“They are generally friendly, playful, and intelligent. Plus, they are social creatures in groups. They can be mean and defensive, and some are very territorial loners.”
Jace smirked as he reached the bottom of the crevasse and drew his sword. That sounds a little like me, he thought. He had really enjoyed his time playing with the other street kids, and reignited that joy of play when he took Chroma under his wing. I’m not sure about the intelligent part. I didn’t get much schooling.
<<<<<>>>>>
[Warning! You are about to enter a Complex!]
[This location has been marked by The Cosmic System as Tier 2.]
[Number of foes to clear out: 2.]
<<<<<>>>>>
[Quest: Slay the Frost Giants.]
[Time Limit: N/A.]
[Reward: Epic (Skill Evolution) Boon.]
[Sender: The Cosmic System.]
<<<<<>>>>>
Dark Matter Blade (Rank 5) [Rending], Dark Matter Shield (Rank 2). Jace’s sword thrummed with energy, and there was a slight, shimmering blue glow to it now from the new Swordmage Stance Evolution.
Ollie flew up from around his neck. “Frost Giants? Oooh, exciting! They are big, slow, and hit hard. Plus, they are very, very durable.”
Jace heard a dull thud from in front of him where the crevasse opened into an icy cavern. Taking cautious steps forward, his eyes shifted to the purple hue. He saw the two, hulking creatures – hunched over in this small space. Oh, that’s pathetic, he thought as he saw them smushed into this area. “Is this a joke?” Jace asked.
The creatures saw him, roared, and began crawling towards him on hands and knees. Ollie frowned and stroked his whiskers, “That is strange. Normally, a Complex is suited to the inhabitants. It could be because Double-A forced these Complexes into the world. My best guess is that these two were living here on the glacier – maybe this is their home? And when Double-A used whatever spell or Skill to create the dungeons, they became trapped in here? That is my best guess.”
Well, this should be easy, then. Jace walked forward, and deftly dodged the one on his right that tried to grab at him. He reached out with the blade, cutting into the flesh on the back of the hand as the purple and crimson miasma spread. The one on the left did the same, and he nicked it as well. Backing off, he stood at the narrowest part of the crevasse and waited for the [Rending] effect to finish them off.
“That won’t work,” Ollie muttered. “Look close at the crimson nebula.”
Jace focused his vision, shutting his left eye to zoom in with his right eye and not become disoriented. He saw that the crimson miasma was stuck in a tug-of-war. “Can they regenerate?” Jace asked.
“Yup! Looks like you need to do more damage. Probably the brain.”
Jace nodded, “I don’t want to risk injury this close. Let’s just make this easy. Dark Energy Beam (Rank 1).”
The grey-purple dot shot from next to him and slammed into the one on the right, piercing through the top of the head and shooting out the back. The creature collapsed in a heap. The one on the other side roared and went to its fallen ally, holding it close to himself.
Jace felt his heart sink. Were they… “Ollie, are giants like people?”
“Technically no. They are just below the threshold for being counted as a person in The Cosmic System.”
Jace grit his teeth and fired off another Beam at Rank 1 at the one who was covering its ally, dropping it instantly. He felt like he had sprinted a mile straight, and leaned against the icy wall as he took in shuddering breath. “This…Archmage…he’s evil, isn’t he?”
Ollie shrugged, “Evil, good, morality is made by those with power.”
<<<<<>>>>>
[Quest Completed: Slay the Frost Giants.]
[Time Limit: N/A.]
[Reward: Epic (Skill Evolution) Boon.]
[Sender: The Cosmic System.]
<<<<<>>>>>
That’s not right, Jace thought. Throughout his whole life, he had felt a sense of right and wrong. Stealing? To survive, and only from the corpos and gangs. But from other street folk? Never. Violence? If necessary to survive, but not just for no reason at all. Even lying was frowned upon in the community he grew up with. Only lying to outsiders was allowed. And we weren’t the ones in power. So how the hell did we make moralities?
Jace didn’t voice his concerns to Ollie. He walked forward, “Dust them, please.” He also snagged the golden dungeon core off of the pedestal that had appeared a few dozen feet in front of him.
<<<<<>>>>>
[Stardust Acquired: 1000.]
<<<<<>>>>>
“I want to level up. What are we at?”
“2620 Stardust,” Ollie replied with a look of concern on his face.
“What?” Jace asked as the otter regarded him, floating silently in front of the Aspirant.
“Are you troubled by my statement? Your face looks grumpy.”
“Kind of,” Jace replied as he made his way to the crevasse and grappled his way up and out. “It’s just…that whole morality statement you made. People in power were greedy, corpo assholes. And I still have a sense of right and wrong.”
“Most species do. It is part of your biology. Species that evolved to a level of sapience were already or became social creatures. That requires an inherent level of trust, and so your brains evolved to have a sense of right and wrong that would foster community and trust. Not all species that reach sapience.”
Jace trudged towards the next Complex. I…suppose that makes sense. I don’t know nearly as much as Ollie does about human bodies. “So, my brain is hardwired with morals?”
“Kind of. Societal shaping also has an impact. It is a complex subject.” Ollie’s demeanor shifted to his upbeat mode as he changed the subject. “Oh! You wanted to level up. What Skills do you want?”
Right. There’s no point to talking about morality. These creatures in Complexes aren’t people. He took stock of his current set of Skills. I have ranged options; I have a trap option. I’m good in melee, and I have a way to make myself sneakier. What am I missing to give myself a well-rounded set of Skills? He wracked his brain but couldn’t think of any new Skills…except, “Is there a way for Dark Matter to heal me?”
“We’ll find out!”
<<<<<>>>>>
Name: Jace Seren (Aspirant, Tier 2)
Power [Class Level]: Dark Matter [Swordmage 39]
Skills: Skill Name (Rank) [Evolutions]: Universal Translation, Environmental Adaptation, Dark Matter Blade (Rank 5) [Rending], Dark Matter Shield (Rank 3) [Reflecting], Swordmage Stance (Rank 3) [Astral Annihilator], Dark Matter Dart [Exploding] (Rank 4), Dark Matter Cloak (Rank 3), Dark Energy Mine (Rank 3) [Distant], Cosmic Infusion (Rank 10), Dark Energy Beam (Rank 10), Dark Matter Mending (Rank 2), Starfire Stride (1/day), Arbiter's Anathema (1/day), Archmage Geomancy (1/day), Archmage Hydromancy (1/day)
Stardust: 620
Equipment: Swordmage blade, (Medium / Snowguard / Burnguard) Devastation Armor, Wirecannon Arm, Anathema Arm, Dragonclaw Devastation Legs, All-Seeing Dragon's Eye, (Heavy) Venture Pack, survival meals (x34), enhanced canteen, optimized medical kit, flint bar, flashlight, Omnitech prosthetic repair module (x1 charges), (Restful) Wildercloth tent, Devilsram wool bedroll
Boons: x4 Common (Equipment), Common (Information), Uncommon (Information), Epic (Skill Evolution)
<<<<<>>>>>
Dark Matter Mending (Rank 1) - The user cures a single injury or affliction on themselves.
Dark Matter Mending (Rank 2) - The user cures a single injury and affliction on themselves.
<<<<<>>>>>
That would’ve been useful when I lost my eye, Jace thought.
“Oh, it won’t regenerate missing limbs or the like. That would need a Skill Evolution,” Ollie replied.
“Don’t we have one of those?”
“We do.”
“Let’s use it.”
“You got it!”
<<<<<>>>>>
[Using Boon: Epic (Skill Evolution).]
[Applying to Skill.]
[Skill Name: Dark Matter Mending.]
[Evolution Name: Vampiric.]
[Effect: The user may use harm inflicted upon others as the energy source for this Skill.]
<<<<<>>>>>
“That’s cool,” Jace said. “That, combined with [Rending] on the blade means that I could heal myself over and over during a fight, right?”
“Yup!” Ollie’s tail wagged with enthusiasm. “This makes you way harder to kill as long as you have something to hurt.”
Jace cracked a smile, “Eight more dungeons in this tile.”
>>>---<<<
Xera sipped her morning coffee. The drink from Earth had grown on her, and she savored the bitter flavor offset by just a hint of something called a ‘creamer’ – which to her made little sense. Why not just call it cream? She thought as she took another sip.
The Cosmic System was functioning well today. Jace was progressing nicely – despite his injury recently – and was well on his way to Tier 3.
A screen opened next to her. An alert she had set up. It drew her gaze immediately, and she devoted her full attention to the intercepted communication from Deckard Stonewall, the leader of the Nebula Alliance. Scanning the message led to her scowling. That bastard!
Xera, for a moment, panicked. The Nebula Alliance was making a move on Earth that her calculations of a worst-case scenario showed as not happening for a month at least. She pulled up a communication with her temporary ally, ensuring that her shroud was active. It was a piece of magitech she had developed – it made her a dark silhouette with indiscernible features and a warped voice. Perfect anonymity.
The calm, gentle face of Star Daddy, leader of the Star Council faction, appeared on her screen. “Ah, X. To what do I owe the pleasure of this spontaneous communique?” he asked with a broad grin just barely hidden behind his bushy beard.
“We have a problem. Deckard is on the move.”
His eyes narrowed and the frown turned upside down into a scowl that matched her own. “When?”
“Two days.”
“Damnit!” he slammed his desk and there was an explosion – like a supernova in miniature form – just under his fists that left a blasted, burned desk underneath. “We had a month!”
“We did. He must have made a very enticing offer to one of the large governments.”
“What is our workaround?” Star Daddy asked as he regained his composure and straightened in his seat.
“I am going to cause a fluctuation at the portals. I’m going to lock down Earth.”
His jaw went slack, “You…you have that power?”
She nodded, “Your Ascendants and other agents on Earth will be trapped there until I re-open the portals.” But it’s going to cause a bit of a mess. She sighed. I’m going to be busy in the meantime, coming up with all the bypasses and rerouting connections.
“Make sure you tell The Negotiator. He has a few Signers there.”
Xera nodded at the suggestion. The Negotiator was the Ascendant who facilitated the Planetary Independence Pact, and was her main point of contact who could then contact the rest of the Ascendants who had control over their singular world. “I will do so.”
“I’ll tell my Signer and her bodyguard to speed things up. You need to tell your agent to get a move on.”
“He’s doing The Dungeon Run. They are on Day 3 out of 10.”
Star Daddy nodded curtly, “Give me a few hours to notify my agents. I’ll send you a message when I’m ready for you to cut off access to Earth.”
Xera nodded and shut off the video connection. This will adversely affect the Civilians who may be coming or going. But I don’t have a choice. Jace isn’t ready for a Tier 2 world with firearms. He needs to be Tier 3 so that he won’t be instantly killed by a lucky shot. She pulled up a message screen to Ollie and advised him of the development.
<<<<<>>>>>
[Got it! We are making good progress. At level 39 out of 50, and then we will have to hold off until we are done with The Dungeon Run for any higher levels, so we don’t get kicked out by Double-A.]
<<<<<>>>>>
She typed off a response wishing the otter luck and sat down in her large chair. “Josie, start diverting energy from sectors 8AJ, 4RP, and L79. Those worlds can afford a lesser connection to The Cosmic Corridor for a few weeks.”
