I’m awoken just as the first light of day creeps in over the horizon, bringing color to a damp spring morning. My body aches from the crudeness of the ground, and I feel groggy to all hell. I’m also freezing, as the coals of the fire had withered to white dust hours before, and neither Sako nor I was awake to rekindle it.
When I sit up, Sako is already up and about, collecting sticks of varying sizes, rocks, and leaves, placing them in piles all around me.
“Oh, you’re finally awake,” Sako says.
“Well, yeah, I mean the sun only just rose,” I say.
“Yeah, I’ve been fumbling around in the dark for a few hours now,” Sako says. “I couldn’t sleep, so I started early.”
“Shouldn’t we find a place to settle before you start setting up camp?” I ask.
“It’s fine; there’s a nearby creek with running water,” Sako says. “That’s the best we’ll find in a place like this.”
“Should I go look for food or something, then?” I ask.
“Don’t tell me you don’t remember your job,” Sako says. “Leave all the survival stuff to me. You’ve got to get stronger so that you can protect me. We’ve got enough rations to keep us going for a few days. By then, I should be able to gather us food.”
“Still, are you sure you don’t want me to gather some mushrooms or something?” I ask.
“Can you really forage mushrooms without getting us killed?” Sako asks. “Red mushrooms aren’t the only bad ones, you know.”
I don’t say anything because I know the answer is no. I don’t know the first thing about foraging and would probably bring back something that’d kill us within minutes.
“Thought so,” Sako says, patting my head as if I’m a dog. “Now get up. You’ve got work to do!”
Angel leads me to a clearing in the not-so-far distance so Sako can work without worrying about me destroying her progress. I see the creek that she mentioned before and take a drink from the murky water. It’s cooler than I thought it’d be, but it also tastes a bit too much like dirt for my liking.
The sun has risen a bit higher, and now the birds are singing their morning songs. It’s almost peaceful, but the fact that the world is being decimated by extraterrestrial creatures elsewhere sits at the back of my mind, haunting me.
“Before we go on, let’s quickly review what we know,” Angel says. “Open up the interface and go to active skills.”
First, I pull up the screen.
[Skills]
[Stats]
[Enemy Reader]
[Database]
[A.N.G.E.L.]
I choose skills and the active and passive skills screen.
[Active Skills]
[Passive Skills]
Finally, I choose active skills.
[Fireball lv. 3]
[Power: 13]
[Cost: 5 EL]
[EP to next level: 450]
“Alright, now what?” I ask.
“I’ll give you a more in-depth explanation on your ability functions,” Angel says. “Your fireball ability requires EP, energy points, to increase its level. Stat increases and EP requirements are contingent on quadratic equations which I won’t bother explaining considering your grades in mathematics before all this were… subpar.”
“Fair enough,” I say. Of all the subjects in school, I hated math the most, followed closely by P.E.
“All you really need to know is that the more EP you put into it, the more it levels up, and the stronger it gets,” Angel says. “Whenever you wish to create a new skill, you can summon me through the A.N.G.E.L. function on the menu if I’m not already present, and consult me about it.”
“Just like an RPG,” I say. “That’s all you really had to say.”
“Right, you were quite the outcast before, so you would be familiar with this sort of thing,” Angel says. “It’s sad, really. Before Sako, you were a pessimistic bitch full of hate with no friends. You’re still a pessimistic bitch, but at least you’ve got a friend now.”
This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author's work.
“Angel, create a new skill that electrocutes you every time you piss me off,” I say.
“Seeing as how I’m fundamentally just strings of binary code, I don’t believe that would be very effective,” Angel says. “But I will say this: conversing with me and asking me to create skills can be done completely mentally. If you’re ever in a circumstance like before, this might help you out of a pinch.”
“That’s good to know,” I say.
So, if it really came down to it, I would have been able to create the skill I was bluffing about back then? I’m glad I didn’t, but who knows how it would have turned out if they called me out on my bluff.
“I implore you to start thinking of an ability that suits you,” Angel says. “You can always create more abilities, but the more you start over, the more time you waste. I recommend you focus on a single skillset and sprinkle in some other weaker skills to complement them.”
“What would you recommend?” I ask.
“That’s entirely up to you,” Angel says. “But you should certainly start thinking about it. Also, keep in mind that people have different intrinsic strengths and weaknesses. The AE virus can compensate for this, but sometimes it’s better to play alongside your strengths, meaning that someone like you probably isn’t suited for an ability that increases your physical capabilities.”
“I see,” I say. “Wait, so how much EP do I have left?”
“1000 EP,” Angel says. “Meaning you have just enough to create an ability and level it up to level 4. Or, you could create 3 level 3 abilities, but they would all be as weak as your fireball ability. You could also upgrade your fireball ability and create another level 2 ability.”
“Uh, okay,” I say. “So basically, I can create another strong ability or several weaker ones. Got it.”
“We’ll continue your physical training so that you may gain more as well,” Angel says. “For now, go to your passive skills.”
I go back to the active/passive ability options and choose passive. I thought it would be blank, and I am surprised when text appears on the screen:
[Innate ability: Pessimistic Perspective]
With Pessimistic Perspective, the user’s jaded view of the world converts to composure during otherwise perilous circumstances, allowing for clear thought and unclouded judgment.
“What’s this?” I ask.
“Everyone in the system starts with at least one passive ability based on their personality,” Angel says. “This is yours.”
“That’s kind of… underwhelming,” I say.
“I disagree!” Angel says. “While your ability isn’t flashy and doesn’t help you in any tangible way, the ability to think under immense pressure is a treasured skill few would even consider taking up. As a matter of fact, it’s what allowed you to deduce the best course of action to save you and Sako’s life last night!”
“Does Sako have one?” I ask.
“Indeed she does,” Angel says. “You can ask her all about it later on. For now, navigate back to the main menu of your interface and go to your stats feature.”
I’m curious about what kind of passive someone like Sako has, but I know Angel won’t tell me. It’s that, or he doesn’t know. Regardless, I do what he says and flip through screens until I get to the “stat” function. I choose it, and several new strings of text appear before my eyes.
Lily Lv.2
[Strength: 4]
[Speed: 5]
[Agility: 5]
[Perception: 6]
[EL: 102]
[AP: 6]
[EP until next level: 200]
[Current EP: 1000]
This is certainly some stat-nerd’s wet dream right now. Personally, it makes me want to vomit.
“Jarvis, what am I looking at right now?” I ask.
“Your stats,” Angel says.
“Jarvis, kill yourself,” I say.
“Right, well, most of them are quite obvious,” Angel says. “Your strength is your overall body strength, your speed is your running speed, agility is your dexterity and reflexes, and your perception is your ability to process sensory information around you. As you can see, I’ve already leveled you up to level 2 using excess EP. You’ll have to do this manually in the future, though.”
“I see,” I say. “And I’m guessing these stats are subpar.”
“You would be correct, sadly,” Angel says. “Your strength and speed started much lower on average than most women, and considering these stats increased inversely to your base stats, you’ll always be lacking in these departments.”
“Oh, so that’s why you said certain people have certain affinities,” I say. “Meaning that I shouldn’t go all in on strength-based skills, as I’d have to work many times harder than someone else who was already super strong.”
“That is correct,” Angel says. “Due to biological factors, women in general will stray away from strictly strength-based abilities, as they will often be at a disadvantage. Seeing as how you’re a weakling among your own sex group… yeah.”
Honestly, it kind of hurts to hear that. Not just the fact that I’m a weakling, but the idea that there are biological inhibitors even with something as grand as Project AIGODS. That means scumbags like the ones back in the bunker will always be stronger than me.
“That said,” Angel continues. “Your gender doesn’t define your overall potential, as this battlefield isn’t defined by physical strength; it’s about wit, creativity, and willpower. When you realize how AIGODS operates at its core, you’ll realize everyone has an equal opportunity to prevail against this terrible foe.”
That’s right. With the incident in the bunker, I almost forgot who our true enemies was: the HET. Even so, I’m glad I learned that we'll probably be fighting other humans too this early on. Otherwise, we’d almost certainly be caught off guard when it happens again.
“There are three more stats you must be concerned with,” Angel says, interrupting my thoughts. “As we’ve discussed before, your energy levels, or your EL, are essentially your mana. This will determine how many times you can use an ability based on its cost. Like all your stats, it increases based on level.”
“So that’s another reason I’ve got to balance leveling up myself and my abilities,” I say.
“Precisely,” Angel says. “As such, your ability power, or your AP, is an additive boost to ALL your abilities. Boosting your individual skills’ levels will always be a greater boost in power than level-ups, but level-ups are a nice way to boost power for cheap.”
“Got it… I think,” I say.
“Similar to how individual skills require EP to level up, so does your overall level,” Angel says. “Distributing your EP wisely is important to balance your capabilities, so I will, of course, help you out when I can.”
“Jeez, I think my brain is overloading,” I say. “I hate all this complex stat crap, for sure.”
“Hmm, yes, my scanners do indicate a sensory overload in your feeble brain, so we’ll stop the lesson for today,” Angel says.
“So we can go back?” I ask.
“Of course not!” Angel says. “Now, it’s time to start building up more EP. You know what that means.”
I do know what that means, unfortunately. More running, push-ups, and a whole lot of getting disgustingly sweaty. I only hope that Sako’s begun building a shelter; else I probably won’t have a chance to wash my clothes or clean myself.