NOVEL NEXT Chapter 26: Delving Into the Stats
Jack was instructed to take it easy for the next four hours or so until the run, and to 'absolutely not' use his powers. He was to rest, eat as much as he could stuff his face with, and finish any familiarization not finished up with on his statistical bio.
Of course, he was also supposed to pick out a minimum of two outfits. Though Lindsay wanted to know what he liked immediately, he told her he'd check it all out 'later,' not wanting her to see him cringe at whatever ill-advised things she was essentially trying to dress him in.
After he went to his quarters and showered, he took a look. Sure enough, she had links to some sort of custom outfit store complete with her own choices for the clothes, already ready to ship and deliver on the hour for prices that made Jack physically wince. Worse, she'd picked some stylish shlock of two tones where one leg of a tracksuit was black, the other hot pink, and the hoodie had the same two halves but in opposite positions. There was also a shorts and athletic shorts combo, together with high-priced sneakers. A note attached said, 'With these colors, we'd kinda match!'
Nope nope nope nope nope nope nope. Nope!
He scrolled through her other options, closing them out with more cringes and even one involuntary hiss.
He finally found something more reasonable and conservative in style and price, and it even had a note saying 'This is similar to the one I'm planning to wear, too!' Of course, the color was black and hot pink. He almost moved on, but hesitated, noticing he could easily change the secondary color. After changing it to blue, it was perfectly satisfactory. He ordered a set, then changed the color to… dark blue and ordered it, thereby efficiently ending his shopping spree. He made sure to do a rush delivery on only one.
As he was closing the rest out, though, his eyes caught on another, not only reasonably priced, but on flash sale by 40%! That was impossible to pass up. It was a sleeved, collared athletic shirt with some different shorts or pants. A few t-shirt options under the sale as well. He got three more outfits and was otherwise satisfied.
He made coffee and dug out some home food to cook. Eggs and pancakes, five of each, utilizing some Infused cooking oil and syrup topping. Even this presumed over-targeting of his hunger did not even put a dent in it. He opened his Mem interface and browsed potential food delivery options. When he saw pizza, his mouth watered. Five pizzas it was, loaded with toppings and Infused ingredients in the dough and sauce. He hoped he wasn't going to eat all of it, as that felt just a little bit horrifying.
The pizza arrived shortly by drone. He sat down on the couch and dug in. As he devoured a whole pizza with both glee and disturbed feelings, he found his eyes unable to really focus on the vidscreen. He decided to distract himself by reviewing stuff. Before he forgot, he looked up the 'domain modifiers.'
|
Energetic: Utilizing a medium of physical energy such as light, fire, or electricity, often with greater specialization. Often more focused on 'emission.' Sometimes unique or exotic. Material: Utilizing a medium of physical matter with mass, such as stone, water, or metal, often with greater specialization. Rarely unique or exotic. Psychic: Utilizing the brain or consciousness more directly; usually external manipulation. Confers inherent 'resistance' to brain manipulation. Metamorphic: Modifying one's own body, often through dramatic transformation. Greater likelihood of permanent physical enhancement. Alchemical: Direct external transformation. Generally more specific/specialized than manipulating a medium. Degenerative: Direct entropic decline, generally to weaken and/or damage. Can err into the conceptual. Conceptual: Having to deal with a belief, concept, or ideal rather than concrete physicality. Rare and limited, yet more difficult to resist, counter, or stop. |
Huh. Interesting. Looks like I'm among the bedrock types, but we have dangerous specialists from other sources. Possibly trending more vulnerable, too? That would mean they'd be more carefully protected.
He moved on to his stat bio.
|
Shaper of Metal Material Controller (Metal) Primary Mutation: Summon Memorite Governing Attribute: Create Magnitude (Pressure): 90 (100%); (Force): 72 (80%) Fitness: Poor Access Level (AL): 1.0 Allotment: 100 [ 90 ] [ 0.0 ] Augment [ 1.0 ] Control [ 2.0 ] Create [ 1.0 ] Interpret [ 0.0 ] Destroy [ 0.0 ] Transmute ALLOCATION AVAILABLE Archon Imbues: Super Sapien Resilience (Toughness 1, Hardiness 1), Builders of Great Things (Frontier), Cooperative Solutions (Outer), Perpetually Learning (Core) Bondmaking Imbues: Bondsmate Rapport (Locked), Symmetrical Seal, Aquatic Adaptation (Pending), Helper's Heart (Beyond+), Prey's Redress (Frontier+), Vindicator (Beyond+) Secondary Mutations: None Techniques: Inner Energy -0.6 |
He basically understood everything up top on it… but decided to get a solid definition of the differences between Pressure and Force.
|
Magnitude: Applied Allotment. Generic term for the degree and intensity of the power subject, at ideal, reliable maximum potentiality, at final application. Also refers to any effect with a final numeric grade or 'intensity' varying from the actual stat, i.e., 'effective Magnitude.' Allotment and maximum Magnitude are the same value and linked to the Governing Attribute. Values amplify gradually with levels. Pressure: The holding or maintenance pressure of the power subject, often synonymous with 'lift' in respect to mass. This is effective for picking up the power subject, moving it steadily, 'grappling' through it, etc. Force: The intensity of violent movement, often as a quick physical strike of some sort, whether with energy, matter, or loftier concepts. Force is much more the 'default' assumption of Magnitude across the breadth of most powers, and practically synonymous with it for most intents and purposes. |
Alright. Sure.
Primarily, he had not reviewed the 'imbues.' Builders of Great Things was noteworthy for synergy… if it worked with his powers, and he imagined it did, anything he built would have fifty percent better material strength. Nothing to sneeze at there.
While he understood what it did basically, he decided to fully familiarize himself with Super Sapien Resilience before moving on to Perpetually Learning.
|
Super Sapien Resilience (SSR): This provides all Champions of Humanity with Toughness 1.0 and Hardiness 1.0 anywhere on planet Earth or within its atmosphere. Questors add another level to each for every ten full Access Levels. Toughness: Resists physical harm from impact through force distribution based on the level versus the Force of the attack. Generally bypassed easily by high velocity attacks such as bullets, though it partially mitigates trauma. Hardiness: Resists various 'slow' physical metabolic hazards and degradation, such as from toxins, disease, radiation, aging, bodily strain, etcetera. Functions through cannibalized extra resources, based on its level versus the threat grade of the hazard. Many mundane hazards (such as most viruses or bacterial infections) are considered grade 1.0 or below, but not all — radiation, for example, can achieve a very high grade. If unable to entirely dismiss the hazard, Hardiness will reduce the severity of the deleterious effects. Slows bleeding and improves the likelihood of forming protective clots. Will speed up healing time with abundant existing (or provided) extra nutrition. Minimally assists with physical strain caused by power use. Perpetually Learning (Core): All homo sapiens learn and train 20% faster than default, both mentally and physically. Questors of Humanity instead train 200% faster physically, allowing them to easily obtain peak fitness and martial prowess. Keepers instead train 100% faster physically and 50% faster mentally. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. |
Memoria gave us all a learning boost? I guess we're not quite so different from our ancestors as the masses believe. Eh, we probably needed it here in our ivory tower just to counter complacency. I know as well as anyone how completely blind people are to what is inevitably creeping toward us. I stuck my head back in the sand with them. Instinctive. Didn't plan on it, tried to avoid it, but I did it all the same.
He moved on to all the weird-looking Bondmaking stuff, to see what Quallakuloth and Neex had gifted him. It made him just a teensy bit nervous to know. One of them was pretty self-explanatory, but he'd somehow dodged thinking about it in the fog of the prior stresses.
|
Bondsmate Rapport (Locked): You have a bondsmate Champion of another Archon bridging access between interfaces, providing various benefits, including from their Archon. You always know where your bondsmate is within one meter and whether they are suffering some form of harm or stress, the latter depending on familiarity and sensitivity. You can always communicate through interfaces with your bondsmate, even outside the territories of your Archons. Communication sophistication can improve with greater familiarity and sensitivity, such as through bonding/relationship building. Note: Connectivity through this ability has been [Locked] and made inoperable by your Archon, possibly temporarily. It is not currently functioning. Symmetrical Seal: Your connective bridge and interface with the greater System cannot be directly damaged, degraded, or manipulated by an external force in any way, conferring immunity to many forms of power blocking and interference, most notably that of a Degenerative source. Psychic source attacks targeting the brain in general are unaffected (leaving you vulnerable), but if they specifically target power-use, you resist at +10.0 AL. This would not include, for example, mental control that happened to involve power-use, but rather specialized Psychic effects that turn off powers and the like. |
Jack had to pause here. Hmm. 'Most notably that of a Degenerative source.' Is that what happens to us? Bit of corroborating evidence because it fits well with Neex's mention of Marring and Quallakuloth's vision of cancer. What were we damaged by, or who?
Of course, he had no answers there, so he moved on.
|
Aquatic Adaptation (Pending): You are adapted to extract oxygen from water and can fill your modified lungs with it to do so. Your ability to extract and store oxygen, especially in air, is greatly improved — you can hold your breath fifty times longer than usual if breathing air. You are comfortable in up to ten atmospheres of pressure and are unlikely to suffer decompression sickness except in extreme scenarios. You see better underwater and move about 2/3rds of your land speed while swimming by default. Note: Modification is ongoing, and the adaptation is not yet functional. Please continue vast nutritional consumption heavy in proteins and minerals. Additional Note: Training recommended upon completion of transformation, as the methodology is poorly understood. It is highly probable that the breathing function will be uncomfortable and difficult at first. |
Once again, Jack had to pause, as what he was reading gave him some trepidation. This is somewhat more extreme than I imagined, but I guess it could be worse. Right?
Internally, he asked Mini-Mem, "So, how much exactly am I going to change from this?"
"I guess it depends on your perspective," Mini-Mem replied. "Technically, it's a hell of a lot of modification to your lungs and respiratory system. It's unknown tech, too, or at least some sort of hybrid functionality of human and octopien understanding. In this case, it's a good thing, because this is superior to how we'd be able to fashion it without some kind of power being leveraged. Nothing crazy to your outward appearance and only a slight mass increase. Mostly uncanny stuff."
"So no fins or webbed fingers or anything like that?"
"Nope, none of that, just a big tentacle tail right out of your tailbone. For proper octopien handshakes, ass to ass."
For a split second halfway through that delivery, Jack believed it, with pins and needles prickling through him. "Don't frag with me, damn you! This is serious shit."
"I told you it wouldn't affect your outward appearance already. Though you should've been expecting otherwise, right? Over here, messing around with some mysterious deep sea eldritch god."
"You only live once, right? And you said 'nothing crazy' to my outward appearance — I was clarifying. Anyway, moving on." Despite his slight queasiness, Jack crammed an entire slice of pizza into his mouth. Nothing short of a second apocalypse was going to stymie his current appetite. "Do I need to eat some other special stuff? Vitamins?"
"You're getting most of it — with higher absorption — through the Infused additions. This mod is low on the priority totem pole right now, whatever you do. You won't see the mod until you get Inner Energy to 1.0. That's a sufficient diminishing returns area without Fitness improvement beyond Normal grade. You could add vitamin supplementation regardless, though. If you're going to try eating every hour or two, maybe triple the dosage spaced out would ensure maximum value."
Jack immediately got up and went to the cabinets to fish out the lime-flavored vitamin packets he'd seen and prep one. "Completely insane, by the way. All this eating."
"Just as insane as getting your powers over a decade late, which usually develops along a default and better planned gradient, allowing a much slower build-up of required stores and transformative evolution."
Jack stirred nasty lime vitamin powder into a glass of water. "You mean like the Auger kid?"
"Hence the 'usually,' Mr. Sarcasm, but even there it was slower than you. You're far and away the record already, Jack."
"I love it when you praise me." He downed the vitamin-infused water in one go, with ease that slightly surprised him.
"Well, you're not a prodigy, you're just massively late. Too old. Undesirable to develop in a slow gradient, nor truly feasible."
Jack made a face as he moved the nasty aftertaste around in his mouth. "Can we get back to the praising?"
"You're a medal-honored military hero that should be proud of saving lives!"
"Not like that." Shaking his head, Jack made his way back to the couch to continue eating while also drawing up the remaining imbues to review.
|
Helper's Heart (Beyond/Frontier+): You create a new 'connection point' when aiding, supporting, or protecting others directly, as opposed to attacking solo or conducting in self-defense. Power-use is improved by one full Access Level in applied Magnitude. Mundane biological response is also amplified, triggering from others needing aid, potentially improving performance. You may synchronize with another Champion's power use — if in a logical combination — and support their effect, in which case the effectiveness of your support (not the total act) is increased by 50%, with a minimum of +1.0 A.L. Default effectiveness varies wildly by circumstance. Double all values within the territory of Memoria or Quallakuloth. Prey's Redress (Frontier/Outer+): With a vector to the Archon Quallakuloth, you may call on it to disrupt any form of domination, mental control, or unwilling bond on another you're touching. Quallakuloth will do this automatically for you if you are affected likewise. This includes some Archon-to-servant relationships, depending on their nature and the individual target. It is useless against willing Champions, true drones, and any target lacking enough impetus for rebellion or independence. This countering effect is of a Magnitude equal to +5.0 A.L., plus 0.1 per 1% of the Archon connection. Due to another special trait of the Archon, this applies in any Archon territory, granting special limited access depending on the connection. In this case, the +5.0 A.L. is instead +2.0 A.L., but the percentage-based effect remains the same. Success will disrupt the existing connection depending on the Magnitude difference. Results will vary, but any hostile actions upon allies are likely to be greatly inhibited. The access granted to Quallakuloth may allow it to exert influence on the target according to its own goals, whatever they are. Note from ??: "Slaves should be freed where will remains. They will see nothing but the truth for themselves and act as they desire." |
Jack paused briefly after reading the last, barking an amazed laugh. Is that note from Quallakuloth? Regardless, this is incredible. I wonder if the Archon thing will ever apply here on Earth? I have no real way of knowing the relevancy.
|
Vindicator (Beyond/Inner+): You can hold grudges against those who've wronged you or wronged those you care about. You must actually feel this — you cannot summon what isn't there, nor exploit someone you've forgiven or don't consider a true enemy/rival. While holding such a grudge, you can more effectively take revenge, as this imbuement fuels a new connection point. Against such a target, any hostile action taken with powers is improved in accuracy (such as through Control) and applied Magnitude as Force, by +1.0 AL. Mundane biological aggression is also amplified, potentially improving performance. These effects may increase with extreme personal hatred. At 'Inner' or 'Core' territories of Memoria or Quallakuloth, double the effect. Current Targets: 'Tanner' and his presumed faction. |
This doesn't feel very Neexy. The opposite, really. Hmm. I think I'm going to ask about this when I get the chance.
A lot of situational benefits. Jack was fairly curious what Magnitude at higher levels could achieve, so he asked, "Mini, can you give me some examples of my power use at different levels?"
"And spoil the surprise? Fine, maybe a little! At 10.0 Create, you'd have Allotment 1200, and be able to lift a small camper trailer briefly, or hurl around a large steel safe of 900 kilos for a while. At 20.0 Create, you'd have Allotment 6400, and be able to lift a small jet, box truck, or wrecking ball sized chunk of metal. At Create 50.0, you'd have Allotment 80,000, able to hurl around tanks or some of the larger steel girders. Or the famed Hoba Meteorite of Namibia! Estimated at over 60 tonnes."
Jack squinted. "I think that's in a textbook in tenth grade Earth Science…"
"Ninth."
"Right! Yeah. Mr. Deter! Wow, ancient history. Okay, so levels multiply in power to some degree."
"Your Allotment is 100 at Create 2.0, increasing from 75 at 1.0, and will increase to 150 at 3.0. The ensuing lower levels are jagged with greater percentage boosts in effectiveness, but eventually it declines to something like 10% per level, though it still varies level-to-level. Some levels have bigger jumps than others. As an interesting incentive, perhaps I can craft you something of a chart of your prior levels, your next level, and examples of maximum lift? Including non-metal things for comparison to what other powers might affect."
"Sure, why not?"
"Here you go! Current level in bold."
|
Create |
Press kg (lbs) |
Examples |
|
1 |
75 (165) |
half-barrel beer keg, washing machine, goat |
|
2 |
100 (220) |
Large human, dumbbell set & rack, china cabinet |
|
3 |
150 (330) |
Three-seat couch, refrigerator, gorilla |
"Nice. I look forward to bumping it. Fractions exist, right?"
"Correct. Less relevant than whole Access Level increases, but good for the raw power. It's entirely percentage-based as a gradient. 2.5 would be 125."
"Good. Smaller achievements on the way to larger ones…"
Jack crammed more pizza, glancing over his internal data and not seeing much of anything pertinent left. He turned on the vidscreen and flipped through the channels. PDTL (Professional District Throwball League) was on, but it was Sejong and Arash districts, which he didn't care about.
Thanks to living at AMMA in the Ragnar District for a huge chunk of his life, he was forever a Ragnar Marauders guy — not that he watched religiously. They were doing alright, but the Da Yu Dragons were unstoppable so far, as was typical. Sports were big in Da Yu. Meanwhile, the Ragnar field hockey team was so bad that Jack couldn't watch them. A bunch of bums!