Chapter Sixteen – Life Finds a Way

Chapter Sixteen – Life Finds a Way

“On average, you can expect to find that 70-80% of all people near ground zero of an incursion will survive past the first 24 hours. Given clear lanes of escape and basic medical aid, as well as timely intervention by military forces and local Samurai, that number stays roughly the same in the next 24 to 72 hours.*

All this and more is, of course, what we offer.”

*All stats verified by Adamstatistics!

–AdamsCorp sales pitch to every major metropolitan city in North America.

***

I left the worm alone.

Given a few minutes I might have been able to figure out some way to toss it out the window or something, but Myalis was right, I didn’t have the time. Maybe, maybe soon, I would be one of those Samurai able to wipe out anything in my path, but that wasn’t the case yet, so I just had to suck up and deal with it.

Returning to the corridor I’d passed earlier, I slid through the doorway and walked down yet another drab grey passageway. The few doors opened along its sides revealed little break rooms and janitorial closets where sweeper bots were hanging to charge.

No aliens, no signs that anything really bad had happened other than some things tossed to the floor and abandoned there. I stepped over a discarded purse and fought past the temptation to riffle through it.

Then I found the door leading to the stairwell, red light glowing above it and all.

A peek through the safety glass showed me a whole lot of nothing.

“So,” I asked the empty air. “Uh, that Samurai, the one we kinda saw deeper in the city. They were flying.”

That seemed like a Class III Gravitic Negation System coupled with a Class II Ion Thruster System. I’m afraid that both are far outside your current means.

“But I could get that, right?” I asked.

Of course. Though I should explain how the class and tier system works at some point.

“No time like the present,” I said as I pushed the door open and looked around.

As you wish. Most early class–that is, Class I–catalogues offer simple items. Most of these are well within humanities capability of producing, given sufficient incentive and time. Class II materials and equipment are beyond humanity’s capability to produce, and will remain that way for some time. Class III and above would require such large time and research investments to achieve that they are nearly impossible to achieve by humanity for some millenia.

“You have them though,” I pointed out.

When humanity was still striking rocks together to start their first fires the Protectors had nominal control over a full two percent of the galaxy’s star systems. We had made contact with dozens of species and formed an interplanetary compact that has lasted until now.

That was… a lot? Maybe? I was never good with numbers like that. “Keep bragging, why don’t ya,” I said.

I could, for a very long time even, but my current task is educating you on how I can provide you with equipment. Class IV and beyond will be difficult for you to obtain for a long time, I think it’s safe to ignore those for now. Most second tier classes are merely evolutions of a primary tier. Your Class I Medical Utilities could become a Class II with a single payment of five hundred points.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

“Five hundred?” I whispered.

Class III tiers require that certain previous tiers be purchased in order to unlock them. For example, if you wish to obtain Class III Electromagnetic Rail Anti-Ship Weaponry then you would need at least three Class II tiers in relevant subjects unlocked.