Chapter 10

<Ordinator has reached Level 3>

Strength: 5

Toughness: 4

Agility: 6

Intelligence: 10

Perception: 5

Will: 6

Companionship: 1

Skill Points Available: 3. Feat points available: 2.

<>

I wasn’t happy. Only three skill points for leveling, a pretty big decrease from the previous level up. My previous allocation was spent mainly as a much needed reality check. However, if I’d known the two points of Strength I’d increased to test physical changes was two thirds of what I’d get for a normal level, I would never have considered it. I’d made an error, assuming five skill points per level would be the norm.

And as I learned recently, errors could be fatal. I needed to be more careful with my points.

My first inclination was to just dump everything into Intelligence. Yes, I know. The same instinct from the very start. It was both the area I had the most confidence in and the primary stat for my class. However, I also thought about the recent encounter with Daphne and the rest of the Users. Thinking back, the biggest factor was probably Agility. First, I missed my shot on Wife-beater guy. I was aiming for his knee and barely hit his leg. Second, that damn black Escalade almost smeared me against the wall before I could jump through Kinsley’s door. And when I did go through, insteading of cushioning my fall like a normal person, I smashed my face into the floor instead. If Kinsley had been hostile, that would have been the end.

I had already decided I needed to be mobile with my armor and stay out of fights whenever possible. The dagger also depended on speed and precision, not brute strength. But intelligence and perception were also critical. Without noticing the AC Unit as quickly as I did and coming up with a plan to use it, I would have also been screwed. And intelligence was a key class skill. Decision made, I split three points between Agility, Intelligence, and Perception.

Next, I considered the feat list. It was really far too long and difficult to manage when I didn’t know what I was building towards. <Assassin I> was more tempting after the clusterfuck I’d just witnessed. But it was only a 15% increase in my probably lacking damage against other Users. And more importantly, I doubted the dungeon was stocked with Users.

I scrolled until I found something useful in both short and long term.

<Ordinator’s Guile I: Increases the effectiveness of Probability Spiral and other Ordinator abilities. Decreases stamina cost of Ordinator abilities by a moderate amount.>

Far too good to pass up. When I used the ability on the car chasing behind me, it felt like the air was sucked straight out of my lungs. That could have ended badly. Right now it was borderline dangerous to use the ability in perilous situations, exactly when I needed it most. Plus, it would work for me in the dungeon.

I set my alarm, assuming the pain of the leveling process would likely knock me out in my current state of exhaustion. Then I pressed confirm. A dull wave of electricity washed over my entire body, as muscle mass rearranged and expanded. The feeling traveled to my temple, my eyes. Excruciating, but decidedly less painful this time.

My body went limp, and I saw only black.

/////

I awoke to a banging on my door. Hating the cruel spears of sunlight stabbing through my windows, I opened it, finding Ellison standing there. My brother looked more irritated than usual. “I thought you were broke.”

“Morning.”

“If you’d just lent me some, Iris wouldn’t have needed to help.”

“Jesus Christ—Ellison, I just woke up. And I am broke.” I glared at my brother.

Ellison gave me a sure look. “Tell that to the Willy Wonka moment Iris and Mom are having in the kitchen.”

Oh.

I rubbed nascent sleep out of my eye and stumbled my way to the kitchen. Iris was three spoonfuls deep into a pint of Rocky Road, far too awake for this early in the morning. She grinned at me, chocolate smeared on her face and fingers as she signed. “You got my favorite.”

“Of course he did.” My mother placed a hefty serving of bacon on a faux china plate at the center of the table. “He’s your brother.” She had an apron tied around her waist. Grease sizzled as she swirled eggs in a scratched up teflon skillet.

The fancy plating told me more than anything else. Mom was trying again. She’d reached the so-called Moment of Clarity. Either something I’d said last night, or some personal revelation. Light green on the Mom scale.

Iris and Ellison waited months for moments with this version of her.

Personally, I dreaded them. Yellow was the baseline. Red was inevitable. Green was the hardest to deal with. Because green gave hope. Green made you wonder, if maybe, this time would be different. Maybe it would stick. Maybe things wouldn’t go back to exactly the way they were. And they always did.

Ellison picked up the package, staring at the branding. “What is this weird, colon-parenthesis-smiley face brand? At first I thought it was Wal-mart.”

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“Gift horses, Ellison,” Mom said. “Let’s just enjoy breakfast as a family for once.”

A sliver of irritation went through me at the way she said it. Like us all being too busy was a matter of personal choice. It killed my appetite. “Can’t. Have to use the computer for a bit and then I have to go. Dunkin’s.” I wanted to do some reading on the blockades, and if anyone knew how long they’d last.

“Laptop’s not working.” Ellison communicated through a mouthful of bacon.

“It broke?” I stared at him in horror.

“No. Sorry.” Ellison swallowed, then spoke again. “Internet’s down. Called Comcast and got an automated message about an outage in our area.”

“Great.” I rolled my eyes. “Add stopping by the library to the list of things I have to do today.”

/////

Dunkin’s was anarchy.

A paper sign on the front door read SYSTEM TROUBLE, CASH ONLY. Similar messages were scrawled on doors across the beige bricked carbon-copy storefronts that sandwiched our spot in the strip mall. I found this comforting at first. Usually, our systems being down meant an easy shift. Less foot traffic. I could just relax and arrange the front facing display so it looked pleasant, maybe do a little cleaning.

Ray, the General Manager, had his feet up on his desk and was slurping coffee in the janitorial-closet-turned office while reading a rather scandalously covered novel when I got in. “Mornin’.”