Homestead Survival

<01 August 2024, GRAND MESA OF SUMMER , A+>
[Theo]
Theo was shocked; the creature looked like something from the deepest part of his nightmares. "Wh... What?"

The creature shifted in a way that sent shivers up Theo's Spine. Then, the voice that had not really registered the first time spoke again. Its deep bass tones overlayed incredibly high-pitched tones and a spine-shivering sense that there were more voices he was incapable of hearing. "The System has tasked us to speak with you, System User Theo Oskar Sorrenson. If you know the location of the other System User, designation Julia Brahmin, please lead us to them."

Theo was about to speak when a thought occurred to him. "I feel like I could not fight against you, but I have to ask, how do I know you are not here to harm me or to harm Julia?"

"Please take this." The creature said and then waved a thready hand; a small disk of light formed, and a crystal appeared, dropping to Theo's feet.

Theo grabbed the crystal hesitantly and knew that it was a skill. A moment later, Theo knew in that strange way what this was. It was a skill called Identify. Theo was about to speak, but the creature beat him to it. "If you hold the skill crystal to your head and focus on the idea of absorbing it. You will acquire the skill."

The creature paused for a moment and then spoke again. "Also, to assuage any concerns you might have, We swear on Our name and the System that We mean you no harm and have not and will not do anything to harm you. We swear We are here at the behest of the System."

Theo felt a surge of power, unlike anything he got when he used a skill. Intuitively, Theo knew that this was not something just anybody could do and that swearing on the System was not something one did lightly. Theo nodded and then pressed the crystal to his head. A moment later, he felt a new skill was available to him. The creature seemed to know that he had succeeded and spoke. "Please use the skill on Us."

Theo reached out, and the creature reached out as well. A touch was all it took, and the blood drained out of Theo's face at what he learned.

[Julia]
After wiping her face and taking a few breaths, Julia realized that she might have overreacted and that, in all honesty, Theo had been a perfect gentleman to her the entire time. She had not exactly offered up her history or anything else about herself, and Theo had not pressed. She also realized that trying to have any conversation after they had both been exhausted from a day of labor might not be the best move.

She was about to go look for Theo as she didn't think that he had gone far, but when a voice spoke, its strange qualities sent shivers down her spine and carried it farther than it should have. "The System has tasked Us to speak with you, System User Theo Oskar Sorrenson. If you know the location of the other System User, designation Julia Brahmin, please lead Us to them."

Julia froze. She could not hear Theo's side of things. But she could hear this strange creature. The next part that she heard as she began to spam her Ward skill was the voice invoking the System. Then she heard Theo's voice growing closer after a few moments.

[Theo and Julia]
As Theo led the creature back to their camp, he wondered what Julia was doing and if she was still crying. He wondered if he should say something to the creature next to him, who was apparently called a Nar'Och.

When they broke through the tree line into the small clearing where Theo and Julia had been building their cabin, he saw Julia looking panicked and layering more and more Wards around their camp.

"Julia, this is..." Theo looked at the Nar'Och, "I am afraid that I did not catch your name."

"We are called by many names, but in this case, please call Us Oreburn. It is a name that We find rather pleasing. Especially when spoken by creatures with your vocal structures." The Nar'Och said.

Theo nodded, turning back to Julia, "This is Oreburn, he..."

Theo was about to ask about gender when Oreburn beat him to the punch. "Explaining the eccentricities of Our people would take the better part of a century, so please use whatever language you need to describe Us. But just know that We probably have more in common with plants and Fungi native to this world than you."

Theo nodded again, feeling rather foolish. "Oreburn here was sent to speak with us by the System."

Oreburn waved a vine-like appendage, and another skill crystal appeared next to Julia. "We have already gifted User Theo with this skill and will provide it to you as well. Place it on your head and focus on the idea of absorbing it."

Julia picked it up and, after a moment, placed the crystal to her head, and the crystal dissolved into her flesh, just as it had for Theo. After a moment, Oreburn held out an appendage and asked Julia to Identify him.

Julia touched the offered appendage, and then her mouth fell open.

"I... I..." Julia was a little shocked. She could not quite figure out what it was that she should say.

Oreburn spoke, "Now that the three of us are here, We would like to assure you both once again that We mean you no harm. We recognize that Our presence can be considered poorly by some. Though We think you are more shocked at Our level than anything."

Theo and Julia nodded. Oreburn's strange threaded head nodded as well. "It is natural for a planet that only had induction a few days ago. We have been tasked to contact all of the System Users on this planet who have chosen to reside in the potentially dangerous areas that have been designated with A- or higher Mana. Also, any areas that are more than a month's travel from a starting area. Your current location falls into both categories and while you are safe in this area, that can and probably will rapidly change, so We came to you first. Over the next several weeks We have thousands of humans to speak to. After We tell you some critical information, We will provide you with the month of food and water that the System grants every person upon induction. Then due to your location, We will answer three questions from each of you. So while We understand that you probably have many questions please wait and listen, and then think on your questions carefully. Do you understand?"

Theo and Julia nodded with wide eyes. Julia gestured for Oreburn to enter their camp. "Please continue, Oreburn. Come take a seat, and if you would like food, we have some."

Oreburn was about to cross the Wards when he stopped. "We have loved the Ward skill for many decades; it was one of Our first skills as well. Let Us help with your protection for this night at least."

With a wave of an appendage, a circle of glowing cyan rune circles, far more complex than Julia's, appeared encircling the camp. Then Oreburn continued into the camp, taking a seat, and its threads moved in an inspecting manner. "You have already started construction on a habitat. This is good. And the layering of Wards is also fantastic. For a race not born to the System, you are doing well."

Theo took a look in their stash of food and shrugged; he set out an MRE, two granola bars, and one of the System meat sticks. Oreburn made a very snakelike tongue-flicking motion in the air and moved to where Theo stood. Oreburn gestured at the bag of batteries. "May We have a couple of those as well?"

"We do not consider them food," Theo said hesitantly.

"It will not harm Us, and We think they smell exquisite."

Theo shrugged and handed the bag to Oreburn, as the batteries and phones had no use since the System seemed to have shut them down. They all ate quietly as Julia and Theo watched Oreburn eat the MRE and Granola bars without even opening them, then began to slurp down the batteries. When he was done, Oreburn made his equivalent of a smile, "That was quite delicious, and We appreciate your hospitality. Now, onto business..."

Oreburn began to speak, telling them of many things, some of it they had already figured out for themselves. But they did as he had asked and listened. The things that they really took note of were easily summarized.

Firstly, they were actually doing quite well compared to many others, especially those who were trying to hold to the old ways and the old governments. Secondly, they were roughly ten thousand miles from the closest humans. Thirdly, they were in a unique position as to their classes and, specifically, their apparent class compatibility.

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After the first three points, he started telling them of many things having to do with life beyond Earth and The System itself. The fourth point that Oreburn made was to specifically point out that each planet was permitted ten System Recognized family houses. These houses were similar to medieval royal families. Earth would eventually have the opportunity to have ten houses. For his fifth point, he made it clear that Earth was now a very small player on a very large intergalactic stage. He made a point of saying that Theo and Julia's hospitality with him boded well for them, and he highly recommended that Theo and Julia make connections where they could.

Oreburn talked at length about the houses that already existed in the Galaxy, and almost as a non-point, he mentioned that many of the houses would be sending people to Earth to try and harvest resources and get their hands on things that were considered rare. His sixth point was to strongly suggest that Theo and Julia both be open to the idea of forming one of these families together.

This caused some slight blushing on both of their parts. But they continued to pay rapt attention as Oreburn talked.

[Oreburn]
The hivemind that was Oreburn was pleasantly surprised, and its internal discussion reflected this.

"We will achieve the desired information distribution rapidly thanks to their compliance." A mind calling itself I-1 said.

Another mind, I-2, spoke next. "Should We reward them for the hospitality to encourage it in the future?"

"These acids and metals that the male provided will be a great boon to some of Our efforts!" I-3 said.

As He spoke, Oreburn's minds were simultaneously doing many things. Two were handling the conversation with Julia and Theo. One to distribute the information that the System had tasked them to do so, the other to monitor Julia and Theo's body language to ensure that they understood all that They were saying.

One was handling the use of magic to break down the food and materials that had been provided to Them. And as always, all the un-tasked minds were in communion with The System. One mind broke from its communion to process the chatter of the other tasked minds.

This individual mind, calling itself I-4, spoke to itself, just as they all did, to try and prompt feedback from any of the other minds in case it chose poorly.

"We have been tasked to distribute knowledge and basic skills to many individuals." This prompted another mind, calling itself I-5, to break its communion with The System, marking off Julia and Theo from Their System quest log and begin tracking the next person they had to talk to. I-4 continued, "We have a certain amount of discretion available to us as far as what we can provide, and we can always give a gift. We are limited by some things."

Another mind, calling itself I-6, broke from communion, "As per The System, We may not grant any skills above what the individual's lowest ranked skill is, and We may not take any direct actions that would impact the development of these beings in any drastic shape. We are permitted to reciprocate gifts, and of course, We do like hospitality."

Every single mind spoke in union, "We do like Hospitality."

I-6 dropped its name and took up communion once more. I-4 went back to its musings. "We should certainly reward these two. Concurrence?"

Every mind spoke in union once more, "We Concur."

I-4, its task complete, dropped its moniker and resumed communion. One of the oldest minds, one with a permanent name, dropped its communion.

"We shall grant them something from our personal goods, in addition to the System granted supplies we were bid bring." Quartermaster said. "We shall give them...."

Quartermaster took a moment and listed off what it would give to the two humans. Once again, all of the minds spoke in union. "We Concur."

I-2 spoke next. "We believe them to understand what We need them to understand."

I-2 dropped its name and resumed communion. I-1 Spoke out loud. "We believe that you understand everything We need you to. We will now uphold our earlier statement; please ask Us three questions each. We will answer to the best of our abilities."

As I-1 waited for the questions that the humans would ask, Quartermaster completed moving goods from the personal inventory of the collective into a bag to be given to the humans. Quartermaster completed Its task and then resumed its Communion with The System.

[Julia and Theo]
Julia and Theo sat there for quite a while, listening to Oreburn speak on several topics. Luckily, Oreburn seemed to be quite the teacher and was good at conveying what they needed to know. Finally, he said the magic line, "We believe that you understand everything We need you to. We will now uphold our earlier statement; please ask Us three questions each. We will answer to the best of our abilities."

Oreburn waited in silence, Theo looked at him. "Please give us one moment to come up with some questions."

"Of course," Oreburn said.

Theo looked at Julia. "Do we collaborate, or should we each ask our own questions?"

"Theo..." Julia said, unsure of how to express her feelings, still somewhat raw from earlier.

"I know that I might not be who you want to be stuck out here with, but I guess what I am asking is, do you want to continue working together, or should we ask questions centered on you going your own way?" Theo asked. As he looked at the conflicting emotions that were barely contained in Julia's eyes, he wished they had a little more time to discuss what had happened with her earlier outburst.

Julia took a deep breath and nodded to herself. "I am sorry for my earlier outburst, but I still think that we have been put in a unique position; I would like to continue to work together."

Theo was about to respond when Oreburn interjected. "We apologize for interrupting, but We would offer advice to the two of you prior to your questions. This is based on Our noticing of the use of the Bond skill."

Theo and Julia looked at Oreburn, who continued. "The Bond skill is one that is somewhat well documented. But it is also incredibly rare; while it is not uncommon for it to be used between strangers, it is not recommended. If you have bonded..."

He trailed off, and Julia and Theo glanced at each other and then nodded together. Oreburn continued, "Then We would make best efforts to get along because you are in a far more unique position than you know for a variety of reasons, but that is all that We can offer you."

Theo thanked him, then turned to Julia, and they had a quick mumbled conversation. Theo then turned to Oreburn, "Okay, thank you for waiting. My first question is, what are all the ways that our situation is unique, and can we take advantage of them."

Oreburn's head twitched to the side. "That is a question that We could spend hours discussing with you. Instead, We offer you these three points. Firstly, this Mesa on top of an elemental Mesa is incredibly peaceful for an area of A- mana density; normally, you would not have survived in an A- territory for more than an hour at level one, but you could potentially establish areas of mana absorption once planetary travel becomes possible. Secondly, on the northern end of this..."

Oreburn seemed to be searching for a word; Julia interjected, "We have been calling this place the Overlook as that was its name prior to the changes the System made."

"We thank you," Oreburn said with a terrifying smile that seemed to shift across his face. "The northernmost end of this Overlook has a Thronehold. We know you are working to complete a structure here, and you should finish it so that you have shelter, but We would recommend you build a keep of some kind as quickly as possible on the Thronehold. The third and final thing is that you have already met four of the six requirements to establish a Family, as We mentioned earlier. So, you know, having a family is something that will have immense benefits later. And just so you are aware, the requirements that you are missing are a Seat of Power and Legacy."

They let that sink in for a moment, and then Theo nodded. "Thank you, we will alternate asking."

Oreburn nodded and then focused on Julia. Julia thought for a moment. "You mentioned that we are roughly 10,000 miles from the nearest human settlement. To me, that implies that there are closer non-human settlements. Can you please tell us of the three that are closest and if we should try to establish any relations with them?"

Oreburn let that strange smile flash across his face once more. "We are excited you caught that. We greatly enjoy dropping hints on those We interface with. The three closest settlements belong to the Goblins, the Arthintry, and the Dwarves. As to trying to establish a relationship with the goblins, maybe they can be meddlesome, but they are also good laborers. You should do your best to avoid the Arthintry, but if you should come across them, show them respect without showing weakness, and you should do your best to find and interact with the dwarves, though I feel that you will have some difficulty with that."

Oreburn turned to Theo. "What is the biggest danger that we face here, other than our own incompetence, and how should we deal with it?"

Oreburn nodded gravely. "One of the other Mesas has an Arcane affinity; on that Mesa, portals to other realms will naturally form. This is what We would consider your greatest danger. At a later time, it could be an incredible boon, but you are years away from being able to harvest the energies. As to how you should deal with it, build the Keep We mentioned earlier so that should something large enough to bother you come knocking, you have a place to defend yourself."

Julia spoke up quickly. "I know that you offered us advice and wanted us to save a question, but I think it is best to seek clarity. What do you mean when you say we need a seat of power and Legacy to establish a family?"

Oreburn nodded. "The requirements to start a family and reap the rewards such an action brings are six. We call them Members, Bonded, Density, Ownership, Power, and Legacy. You have the minimum number of members, you are bonded in a way that the System recognizes, You both have the required mana density, and you own enough land in a fashion recognized by the System. What you lack is power and Legacy. Power speaks to the seat of power that would grant the Family the ability to exert influence over an area. It can be either a structure, a mystical device, or even a runic formation, but it must be something capable of projecting power over an area, most commonly a castle. As to Legacy, The System grants family titles strictly. It does not wish to have to reform families every generation, so you must have a contractual agreement with the System to either produce an Heir naturally or to adopt an Heir by a certain time. We recognize that for many species this particular requirement is the most difficult, but We would still encourage you two to found a Family."

Julia and Theo both blushed at this and then Theo cleared his throat, "Every time you mention The System, it feels as if you have an almost reverence for it. What is something that you can tell us about the System as it pertains to us?"

Oreburn sat in silence for a moment, then he spoke, sounding as if a thousand additional voices had joined the cacophony that was his voice. "The System is Life, and Knows All. You ask it to regard you, but it knows you already. While many wish to be beloved by the System, few are prepared for what that means. You do not feel as if you wish to be the beloved of the System, and yet it calls to you both. It has seen your lives, and it has seen all that you might be. Honor The System and it shall bless you in ways you never could have imagined. The System is Life, and Knows All."

Theo was frozen, as was Julia; power had rolled off of Oreburn as he spoke, reminding them just how powerful the creature speaking to them was despite its seemingly friendly nature. Theo bowed his head slightly, "thank you for answering that question."

Oreburn spoke, his voice returned to what it was before that question. "You are welcome. We have answered your three questions. One remains, ask it."

Julia was shaken but cleared her head with a small shake and then spoke. "If you were to give us one piece of advice outside of everything that you have already told us, what would it be and why?"

Oreburn clacked its strange threadlike fingers together, then spoke, "You ask a good question, User Julia. We would tell you to seek out opportunities from any and all sources. Conversation is key to success. In place of telling you why and as a reward for a good question, We will give you one follow-up question."

The look on Oreburn's face was one of apprehension. Theo watched in silence as Julia thought. Then she smiled and looked at the strange creature, "I would love it if you would visit again, Oreburn, and if you wanted to bring a friend, I would not be opposed; when would you be able to visit again?"

Oreburn clacked his fingers repeatedly, "You both are indeed in a unique position. We will return when you have completed a keep. We do not promise any companions, but if one happens to be in the area, We will invite them. We have answered your questions. Now, I must leave you with this and be on my way."

With a wave of his hand, Oreburn made a chest appear. He squatted down and was about to leap when Theo spoke and tossed him the bag of batteries and two phones, "Here, they do us no good anymore; if you can eat them and use them, please take them."

Oreburn looked excited at the thought of eating the batteries. His head rotated three hundred and sixty degrees, taking in the campsite. Then he waved his hand again, and two more skill crystals appeared on the chest. Oreburn spoke in his squatted position, His voice emanating power once more. "The System is Life, and Knows All. May it bless you and guide you. Farewell, Users Theo and Julia. We will not forget you. The System is life, and it Knows All."

With a leap, Oreburn vanished into the sky, traveling at a speed that should have caused a sonic boom but was totally silent. Theo and Julia looked at each other and spoke in unison. "What the fuck."