“You are correct. Currently, there are 85 nodes that would benefit from the funnel’s area of effect.”
Drew shook his head, 85 nodes with more mana? That would undoubtedly make the DC area completely inhospitable to human life. BGA would be great if he could leverage it so that they could feed everyone. There were still a lot of questions that needed to be answered though. “Aevis, what are my responsibilities as a node owner?”
“As the node owner, you will be responsible for the protection of the node. You are also responsible for keeping the node in good working condition. However, due to current lack of database and the earliness of your occupation. I, as a representative of the system, will maintain responsibility of the good working condition of the node until after the first oversight review has been completed.”
“I see, and when will that review happen?” Drew asked Aevis.
“The first scheduled review will occur in 91 years, 11 months, 18 days and 6 hours by the local calendar. However, as part of my emergency update request, an emergency oversight review will be scheduled within the next local decade, pending review authority availability.”
“Right, so not something I’m going to worry about soon. Okay, so let’s go back to it being my responsibility to protect the node. What resources do I have available to do that?”
“The node currently has 6,143 mana stored. You are able to purchase any upgrade available to you for the mana cost contained in the database records,” Aevis said.
“The database records that you don’t currently have?” Drew said with a frown.
“That is correct. You have demonstrated a flaw in the system. Please wait while I attempt to determine the proper workaround.” Aevis became as still as a statue. Drew waited, but after a minute he got bored, so he began watching the screens around the room. There was a seat near the center of the room, and he took it, not sure how long it would take Aevis to determine the proper course of action. He watched as his people went about the business of getting ready to leave the tunnels.
Searching for the people that he knew, he saw that Sarah was hip deep in the middle of managing a dozen people, and there was a hive of activity around her. Drew smiled; she had really come into her own these last few days. The major was similarly occupied, while Robbi and Trista were doing weapons drills. Daryl had found a small room off to the tunnel towards the pit and was in the process of burying his wife. Drew looked away, not wanting to intrude without the other man knowing. The last person he found was the captain, who was sitting in a dark corner and crying. Drew wondered what the man was like before the advent, wondered just how terrified he must have been over the last few weeks stuck in the pit digging while people disappeared or died around him.
Drew sighed. The stupid system was making him feel empathy for that asshole. He turned as Aevis began talking again.
Chapter Forty-Five — One
“It has been determined that through improper planning and through no fault of your own you have been placed in circumstances where the completion of your duties has been deemed irresponsibly difficult,” Aevis said, with her typical emotionless voice. “As such, you have been allocated a mana stipend to contact a superior officer. As there is only one superior officer within range, we have contacted them, and they have agreed to speak with you. Would you like me to connect you now?”
Drew blinked, “Sure. I guess.”
Instantly one of the main windows before him shifted from displaying a section of the building to view a throne-like conference room like the one he had seen Ares using. Sitting at the command chair was a man wearing a long, well-worn, leather trench coat. His hair was short, and he had a full-length beard. He was looking back at Drew with a predatory glare that spoke of many battles. What was most surprising was that under the scars and glare were familiar facial features.
“Go tsao de, you must be Three,” Drew’s own voice spoke from the other man. He remembered the curse he spoke from back when he was really into a TV series called Firefly that cursed in Chinese.
“Three?” Drew asked, confused.
“Yeah, Drew Michalik-3, the third iteration. You move fast, Two just barely got online last year.” The other man, who Drew decided to call One, used some sort of interface to pull up some information. “Shiong mao niao, you conquered a Primary Nexus sub node? How old is your slice? We haven’t been able to get past the Appalachians yet.”
“It’s only been two weeks or so. I was sliced in a bunker in DC and have sort of just been trying to survive since then.” It was surreal talking to himself. The other man had similar mannerisms, however, there was something about him that seemed just enough off that it broke the uncanny valley.
One whistled softly, glancing down at the info screen he was looking at, “Well, sounds like you’re in for a rough ride. What took you to DC?”
“I joined the coast guard four years ago. Was stationed here after school,” Drew said.
“Oh yeah? Two said he was in the process of trying to join up when the slice happened. We both started up here in the intermountain region. I’m set up in Colorado Springs, and Two is down in Vegas. He’s gonna get a kick out of this. But anyway, mana is burning, what’s this garbage about an emergency protocol enactment?” One said flipping from social back to business like abruptly.
“Well, I took over this node, but apparently they hadn’t downloaded the database yet. They assumed it would take longer, so I guess it wasn’t a priority. So now I have the facility, but no way to know what everything costs. They figured that was a breach of my responsibilities to protect the node and put me on with a superior officer.”
“Ahh, yeah, the system is a little backed up around here, although the speed got kicked up a notch a week or so ago. I’m assuming that’s your doing actually now that I know your situation.” One paused considering the situation, “Alright so, you’ve got like a couple thousand mana to work with and you’re trying to build a defense?”
“That’s about the size of it, yeah,” Drew said, wondering what his other self was considering.
“Well, a couple things. One, you’re probably the only person on the planet that can even try to take control of the node. An awakened race must have officer rank to enter the command structure. There are only sixteen of us officers on Earth-1, and last I heard, Earth-2 only had a handful. So, the odds of someone being able to ninja it from you are slim. And you’ll have a little bit of time before the WBs start showing up. Two and I compared notes, and they didn’t start spawning until midway through the first year.”
“Sorry, what is a WB?” Drew knew the term from gaming but was really hoping it wasn’t the same context as he understood it.
“World bosses, big monsters that take over territory. That’s what’s keeping us out of DC and, well, most of the major cities. They claim nodes which gives them more strength, and once they get entrenched, it’s a long hard slog to dislodge them. As far as we know, that’s the only thing that can claim a node other than another officer.” One said looking down, considering things, “Look, right now you have a DTC that no one else is going to claim. It is going to take more mana than you have to reconfigure it into anything. I would suggest you set it up with some sort of beast you feel okay eating. Giant chickens or pigs. Plant a few people there and use it to get your people experience and xatherite.
“You’re going to be in a world of hurt once the WB spawns, and you’re gonna need a massive cadre of people who can fight. You’re probably better off running southwest if you can get to another population center out there. Charlotte probably would be best. You can set up there and have a chance at creating a power base that will survive the WB spawns. But hey, if you can hold onto the primary nexus…” One trailed off thinking, “Earth-3 would be…well, it would be a good thing.”