Chapter 5

Chapter 5

As I stared at the reward, I knew the system had me. If it was anything other than cold, hard cash, I might have ignored it. But that didnt change the fact there were several things to be concerned about.



Rogue bounty at 1403 Vinewood Drive, due north.

Threat Level: Low

Time Limit: Until a condition is met.

Conditions: Neutralize or Terminate.

Reward: EXP (S), $10,000



The first obvious issue: I had no idea what the target was or how to identify them. The low threat level was reassuring, but what was that relative to? The SWAT officer could have easily killed me in the hospital garage, and my first quest didn't even have a threat level.

Also, the local user notification didnt necessarily imply I was the only one who received the message. In fact, it inferred almost the opposite. Enough users that the system limited the alert to those of us in a small radius, either to make sure we didnt pile into one section of the city, or because it didnt want us to all kill each other. Moreover, this was only the second quest Id received after waking up and escaping the hospital. I had to account for the possibility that there were other users who had been grinding for the last two days. Users who actually knew what a bounty was.

Of course, there was the whole issue of how to complete the quest. If I took it seriously, I was hunting a person and might have to hurt them. I stuffed that away to deal with later. It was just easier to treat all this as theoretical. A game I was playing in my head to distract myself from the unpleasant truths that had recently come to the surface. And the cash reward was the perfect carrot.

I had other reservations. It wasnt a stretch to conclude I had to be one of the weakest early on. No direct attacks, weak Strength and Toughness. I was a glass cannon without the cannon. There were potentially feats I could take to counter this, but that would have to wait for the next level. I didnt regret the decision to take Double-Blind, that still tracked.

I told myself that this was a one-time thing. Id go, try to take a look at the bounty from a safe distance. Maybe use the opportunity to level up Probability Spiral a few times. And if it was easy, and there was no direct competitor, Id try to snake the bounty. But only if. Afterwards, Id reevaluate and decide if I was losing my damn mind or if there was something to this.

But first, I had stats to distribute.



Strength: 3

Toughness: 4

Agility: 5

Intelligence: 8

Perception: 5

Will: 6

Companionship: 1

<>

I knew from what little information I could find that the Ordinators main governing stat was Intelligence. That made it a safe investment. There was an argument to be made that I should wait until I understood the system better to level, but there was a better argument to be made that a fool often dies laden with resources.

So, screw it. I raised Intelligence to thirteen.

Then I immediately lowered it back down to 10 with a sigh. Again, the glass cannon-less cannon dilemma. I wasnt sure what Will did. But Strength would serve as an excellent litmus test for the delusion. Id maintained the same level of strengthread: not muchsince my early teens. If there was a sudden increase, I would notice it.

Whats up? I signed to her.

Growth spurt? She responded, her fingers moving tentatively, as if she couldnt quite believe what she was seeing.

Well, at least the Strength gain isnt a delusion.

I sighed. Iris was the most perceptive member of our family by far. But a few early missteps due to that perception meant shed learned the value of keeping a secret.

Yes and no. We can talk about it later. Do you need anything?

Ellis is acting weird. He asked me to let him have the room for a bit, and hes been in there by himself since you took your nap. I dont mind, but Iris looked towards our mothers room, and I understood her concern instantly.

Mom always locks herself in when shes in the middle of a bender.

I looked towards the end of the hallway. Iriss framed paintings lined the walls, accompanied by the occasional family photo. The room that she and Ellison shared was indeed closed.

But my brother was twelve. He was getting to the age where hed need a little extra privacy. I sighed. Ellison really, really needed his own room.

Tell you what, I said aloud, so she could see the confidence in my face. If hes still in there when we get back, Ill talk to him. But its not like it is with mom. Sometimes boys just need to be on their own.

Like you, earlier? Iris asked.

Exactly. I smiled at her. Now, I need to run, but Ill be back in a couple of hours.

She nodded, but I felt her watch me go, eyes boring through my hoodie and into my back.

/////

The first spike of adrenaline hit as I navigated my bikea gray roadmaster with a rusted chain perpetually stuck in a middle gearout of the apartment complex and immediately crossed the street in front of a police car parked outside the complex. Doing everything you shouldnt do, I gawked at it, only belatedly realizing there was no one in the drivers seat and exactly how stupid that had been. That boost to my Intelligence did something, but it wasnt going to solve my problems for me.

I watched enough of the news back in the caf to know there was a citywide curfew, and I was five minutes shy of violating it. I had to be more careful. Not to mention, it seemed to be strictly enforcedthere was a sense of disquiet as I navigated past a stoplight that was always backed up a hundred feet with traffic, now empty and desolate.

The sense of disquiet grew into something that would have normally been panicI suspected interference from Born Nihilist. But the doubts that accompanied the panic persisted. What exactly was I planning to do? Some unknown entity had dangled money in front of my face, and Id just leapt after it.

No. I told myself. The plan was solid. I needed further confirmation of what was happening to me, and others like me. I needed an idea of what these other users were capable of. Of what the system wanted from us.

I needed context. As I double-checked the system prompt and ensured that I was close, I reached back up and pulled my hood over my head. Between the curfew and closeness to the system announced location, my plausible deniability was fading fast.

The purple notification light pinged again in the corner of my vision. Interesting, now that I thought about it, something similar happened at the hospital. Could it detect when I was in motion or under duress?

I focused on the notification and it pulled up in a smaller, profile aligned window on the right-hand side. The information for the bounty hadnt changed, but it had gone up a thousand dollars, and the location had shifted several blocks to the east.

Mentally recalculating, I adjusted my route.

As I rode, I detected a surge of emotion. A mingling of unfamiliar feelings that welled in my chest. Curiosity and excitement, mixed with something else. Anticipation, maybe even hope?

My legs pumped the pedals, and I picked up speed. It was so easy. I wasnt winded, wasnt even sweating. The tiny spark of hope kindled into something more. Id spent my entire life fighting impossible battles. Losing coin flips. Coming up on the raw side of every scenario. But, as my mother repeated incessantly, there was no such thing as bad luck. The numbers always came up in your favor eventually. Maybe this was the start of better days. Nothing about it was ideal, but for the first time Id been given an advantage. An edge.

Maybe whatever had happened to me could be the first door to a better life.

Id barely formulated the thought when I reached a crossroad. A dark shape blurred, flying through the air, obliterating my front tire and sending me crashing to the asphalt.