Chapter 1 - Royal Mutt

  "Recent scholars of the Second Century have 'uncovered' the brilliant notion that perhaps The First Emperor was not the savior everyone believed, and that he existed in more of a morally grey area. It is a luxury they afford themselves in universities, unburdened by the threat of humanity's extinction."

  -Excerpt from "The Blood Price of Integration," by Archon Misyslov, Year 126 PI

  A young man with deep circles underneath his eyes sat atop an uncomfortable, padless metal chair. Handcuffs restrained his wrists against the table, and he had to hunch forward to sip from the cheap Styrofoam cup laid before him. The meager water disappeared in an instant, and a small, bitter smile spread across the youth's face. There was no changing what came next, not that it was too bad.

  He had snuck his sister into the safezone, but had failed to do so himself, and now there was no time to find somewhere safe.

  The timer ticked down.

  Forty-seven seconds.

  Forty-six.

  He tore his eyes away, shifting and testing the cuffs again, to the same result as the last several times. The young man let a sigh escape, and he fought the nervousness crawling up his throat.

  'If I survive this, I owe you big time, Lyla,' he thought.

  Before Solis could dwell any longer, the only door to the room opened with a whine. The metal blast door shut harder than it had opened as the middle-aged soldier sat across from the youth, his malice barely suppressed by an unpleasant smile.

  "Solis, as you know, I'm Officer Greenly. I'll be conducting your exit interview today."

  Solis stared with all the distaste he could muster, coming just short of spitting on the man. He didn't try to hide his feelings towards the officer. "Course it's you."

  The air turned sharp, and he could taste the mana on his tongue like a copper coin.

  "A little respect would go a long way." The officer rumbled.

  "Why?” Solis choked back a laugh. “What’s there to respect? You can't even do anything. Lyla would never forgive you."

  Greenly sneered, and Solis instantly knew his words were a mistake - surely - but one he couldn't help but make. Lyla's father had always eyed Solis with that same expression. The one that stamped him as a flea-ridden mutt his daughter had dragged in.

  In a flash, Officer Greenly's chair shot backwards, and a bronze-coated fist slammed into the table. The impact crashed like a bell directly in Solis's ears, and when the officer pulled his hand away, it revealed a large gash in the metal.

  Solis flinched before he could stop himself.

  "If you were anyone else,” Greenly said quietly, "you would've been executed for trespass and treason. Don't push it."

  Solis gulped, but a part of his mind still tried to be petty.

  A reply mentioning Lyla in some way began to rise, but he was no longer sure how far he could push the man, and he didn't feel like finding out.

  He swallowed his response and took a second to steady his nerves before meeting Charles Greenly’s gaze. There were greater monsters than a bureaucrat with powers and a petty grudge. He breathed out and planned his response, layered with enough heat to keep himself from combusting entirely.

  "You held me here for three days. Now you're throwing me out of the only safe zone in the state. So, congrats’, you might as well have killed me. Forgive me if I'm not exactly feeling patriotic. Sir."

  The buzzing noise was the only sound in the room for a long moment, but when the silence settled, Greenly must have decided to move on.

  "I'll be conducting your exit interview."

  Solis broke eye contact.

  "Alright."

  "What's your level?"

  "Seven."

  "EXP source? Did you come across any lairs or palimpsests?"

  Solis gave Greenly a blank stare, and they came to an understanding as the officer moved on.

  "Might as well skip skills, too."

  "Safe bet."

  Papers were flipped, questions considered and discarded, before Greenly sat back, eyeing Solis.

  "What are you willing to tell us? While it is the position of the U.S. government to limit safe zone occupation for now, the more information we have, the faster we can expand and help more people."

  Solis thought of the shanty town that had been set up outside the impromptu military base, and how it had been dispersed and cleared out. So many of those people had been offered asylum in return for their System question just to be used and then discarded. Safe to say, Solis didn't believe a word the man said, but that didn't stop the officer from continuing.

  "You've seen firsthand what people can do. We're not the bad guys. We make hard decisions now for peace and prosperity later."

  Solis drummed his fingers against the table, his jaw clenched tight in reluctance.

  "What would you give me?" Solis asked.

  "I'd consider it a personal favor."

  Solis sighed. "The good that'll do me. Dead in two hours and all."

  Greenly studied the young man for a long moment, sizing him up.

  "It won't be that bad. Internal projections have less than five percent of the population dying in the first week."

  It was Solis's turn to study the officer. It was bullshit. He knew it. Greenly knew it, too.

  "Let's say I'm one of the five percent."

  "Let's say I slip something into your bag to help your chances."

  It was good enough for Solis. He was petty, but not to the point he'd pass up a better chance at survival. Plus, there really wasn't much to hide. They would figure out most on their own anyway, so he brought up his character sheet and showed it to Greenly.

  The conversation became rapid-fire after that, both people tired and apprehensive about the last moments of the world as they knew it.

  "No class?" Greenly asked.

  "Waiting for level ten. Heard there’s better options."

  "Is that what you used your designated system question on?"

  "No. I spent it finding a safe zone."

  It wasn't true, but he wanted the moral high ground.

  That got a reaction other than anger out of Greenly. It was only there for a flash, but there was shame buried underneath the facial hair and permanent scowl.

  "If you want to survive, you should put more stats into [Body]."

  "I'll take that under advisement."

  Solis wasn’t actually going to. He had already decided on his build.

  Greenly wrote down the results, muttering to himself before speaking in a clearer voice.

  "Believe it or not, this is helpful. We had some people making different builds non-stop. Gives us a better idea of what the stats do. You're the first pure [Resonance] we've found since most put at least some in other subcategories. We tried a few times, but it's hard to force people to choose options. Your stats line up with projections."

  "I won't question your math," he shrugged.

  "The skills are known to us. Simulate in particular. I'll include a bestiary in your pack, it’ll help with the sims."

  Solis paused. He blinked, went to rub his eyes, found his hands were still bound, and just stared at Greenly. For once, words didn't jump to his tongue. Was– was Greenly being nice to him?

  Greenly wouldn't meet the young man's gaze. After a moment, the man continued.

  "Lyla told me about what you did."

  The words hung in the air. Solis knew what spot on his sheet the soldier meant. The kill count. He clenched his fist at the memory, at how fast the world had gone mad. Memories of smoke and fire filled his mind, almost causing him to miss the rest of Greenly's speech.

  "Before you head out, I wanted to say thank you, for looking out for my daughter, and to let you know you did what you had to. No matter what anyone says, this is a war, son, and when the going gets tough you do what you have to."

  Solis didn't know whether he should tell the man to fuck off or thank him. "Not gonna let me stay, though. Right? Even as a soldier?" He hated that his voice came out pleading.

  Greenly dashed his hopes a moment later.

  "No. Not up to me."

  "And if it were?"

  Greenly just sighed. "If you think I'd stick my neck out to keep you here, near Lyla, you're delusional. I'm grateful, not stupid. Let's get you out of here. Get you a head start on the road."

  Solis stared down at the military base from atop a tall hill, its presence lit up against the cloudy sky. He thought of Lyla and wondered how she was doing.

  He thought about his sister and the worry that came along with it. She'd have to hide and stay safe until he could come back—stronger, with a place that would welcome her and actually keep her safe in full.

  Most of all, he thought of the past month. A month of running from temporary shelter to temporary shelter. A month of barely sleeping. Of his friend's blood on the concrete. Of Fami's unheeded warning. Of the perfectly avoidable man-made monsters. About how he didn't think the him from last month would recognize the 'him' of now.

  For a brief moment, Solis was back in calculus. His best friend, Ricky, nudged his arm mid-exam as the world-ending message appeared in the empty space.

  The memories came pouring in, and he shook them from his head before they could whisk him away.

  He stared at the military compound, hoping and praying that his loved ones would all be safe.

  The timer hit zero, and the world shattered.