“Veep, I keep getting UMC. I’m assuming that’s some kind of currency. Where do I spend it?”

“You are correct, depending on what being you ask it stands for Universal Mana Credits or Crystals. You spend it at a UMC shop. UMC Shops are only available in safe areas. Higher tier cities give access to higher tier shops. Eventually UMC will replace all of your world's currencies as you gain access to traders and crafters from across the Universe.” She paused then added “you may also gain a settlement core from the camp, dungeon or both.”

“Ok, so another reason to get a settlement going. 50 miles is too far to travel right now for supplies. I probably have enough ammo to tackle these next few quests. After that I’ll be scrounging.” I finished repacking the magazines I used and stepped out into the living room again seeing that not only had gotten bored with regular news and had availed herself of my computer and was browsing cat videos in one window and monster attacks in another. Weird kid.

“Veep, you got an idea where this goblin camp and kobold dungeon are?”

“Yes, I can mark it in your vision, it’s to the south near something called ‘The Little Colorado River’. “

Alyssa looked up at me quizzically “Got a bathing suit? Looks like we’re headed to the creek.” I smirked at her.

“Nooo…..”

“That was a joke” Looking at what she had on I decided she might need to change at least her shoes and pants, Cons and skinny pants weren’t particularly good things to fight in. “Actually, I wanna try something out. Grab those hiking shoes and a pair of my cargo pants and try them on.”

She looked at me dubiously and picked up the shoes then looked at me again like I was bat shit crazy. “I don’t think these will fit. And you’re like, 3 times my size.”

“Veep says that the ambient mana will resize the clothes and armor for us. So humor me.”

She went to the back room and grabbed a pair of cargo pants I had laying on the floor then closed the door behind her. I heard her gasp in surprise and she quickly stepped out with an excited look on her face. “THIS IS INSANE! YOU KNOW HOW HARD IT IS TO FIND THE RIGHT SIZE BRA!?!?! I JUST DON’T NORMALLY WEAR ONE!”

My eyes rolled and I silently appraised the pants as she spun around. They definitely sized down to her yet remained loose enough she should be able to move freely. She slipped on the shoes and they automatically shrunk around her smaller feet forming a snug supportive cocoon.

“Good, It’s almost noon, I got the general location of those quests so I’m going to see if I can talk Johnny and Dick into joining us.”

“OK… I’m gonna keep checking the news… and… maybe clean this place up a bit more.” She gave me a pointed look, flipped her hair back and turned to find the broom.

When I stepped out into the parking lot more of the apartment residents were gathered around the growing bonfire of the dead. No one was facing my direction and didn’t see me until I was walking around them. I found Old Johnny standing behind Dick as they watched the fire. He had a high enough Perception to hear me coming and turned to smile.

I was shocked to see he appeared to have all his teeth. His skin looked healthy and less wrinkled than I remembered. His back was straight and he had a fair amount of wiry muscle mass. His hair was jet black where it stuck out from his ball cap and he wasn’t wearing his glasses anymore.

Dick turned to me and I got a good look at him now. He also wasn’t wearing his glasses anymore, and though he wasn’t nearly as old as myself or Johnny he looked healthier and stronger than I remember him before the system hit several hours ago. He still looked pained at the death of his friend which I suppose was to be expected.

The group of assembled residents looked us over as I greeted Johnny and Dick but didn’t seem to want to say anything to me directly. Seems casually murdering two people in the field behind their building put the fear of… me… into them.

“So what’s going on?”

Dick spoke first “We’ve gathered all the bodies, or… parts of and I set them on fire as you suggested, you get the Quest notifications too?”

“I did, was coming down to see if you two would join me and Alyssa in tackling them. Veep suggested clearing either the Goblin Camp or Kobold Dungeon would get us a settlement core.”

“A settlement core?” Dick asked.

“Yeah, it’ll create a safe zone. Also give us a place to spend this UMC we’ve been getting, sell the monster parts, etc. Nearest one is in Flagstaff, the highway is a wreck and I ain’t walking across 50 miles of monster filled desert. Eventually I am going to need more bullets. Your AI should have the info.”

A native woman stepped from the group and got my attention. If she didn’t still have the typical Navajo Planters Peanut mascot body, like an oddly shaped peanut with stick legs and arms, she would have been mildly attractive. Might have to revisit this one when the system finishes its work. Also need to check myself out in a mirror when I get a chance. “Are you talking about leaving?”

“Sort of, going to go and tackle the local quests. You got the notifications right?”

She nodded once then spoke again “What about us, who’s going to protect us?”

“Uh…. you are.” I finally took the time to analyze the status of the people gathered in front of me. Not a single one had chosen a class. What the fuck are these people thinking? Take some responsibility for your own damned lives!

She looked like she wanted to argue further, though apparently, the look on my face reflected my thoughts. “Look, you just saw giant mountain lions rampage through our complex. You should all have your own AI urging you to take a class. Some of you standing here are in your 30’s, if you’ve done ANYTHING in your life you should get some decent attribute bonuses.”

“You got a fucking arsenal, we got kitchen knives!” The woman pleaded.

I turned and pointeda knifehand at Dick who involuntarily flinched, “And he’s got mother fucking fireballs! Pick a gods damned class and take responsibility for your own lives!” I hissed at the annoying woman.

“Says a cold blooded murderer” A chubby young man called out from the back. The group began to jeer and plead at that comment. I’m done with this shit. I spun on the man and grabbed him by his hoodie and slammed him into the wall where Dave had earlier died. His eyes were wide as saucers, fear and anger alternately flashed at me and he weakly struggled against my grip.

“How old are you?” I glowered at him.

“Wha.. WHAT!?” he sputtered and I didn’t respond. I didn’t fucking stutter. “I’m tw.. twenty six.”

“You see, I’m not a good man. Not even going to pretend to be.” I turned my head slightly over my shoulder so the gathered residents could hear me clearly. “However, if you had taken a class before now you would have possibly had enough system enhanced Perception to hear that the asshole with the tattoos and his bitch meth addict girlfriend were planning to come over here and take everything we had.”

Alyssa at some point had come out and was leaning against my car with her arms across her chest. “It’s true, they forced me to scout you guys out, if Karl hadn’t been out there Reggie’s group would have come here and taken your shit by force.”

Chubs snarled at me and her “Bullshit, she’s lying! You’re a murderer and she’s your slut!”

Rage simmered in my chest. I was about to snap this chubby fucker's neck and be done with him when I felt a gentle but firm hand on my shoulder. “He speaks truly. The man and woman he killed wished to do great harm on us. He stopped it.”

I dropped Chubs from the wall and turned back to the fire. Alyssa walked up near me and said nothing. Old Johnny apparently wasn’t done. “The spirits have spoken to me. I will be going with this man on his walk. The spirits tell me we should prepare for a great change.”

With that the largely Native American crowd began to calm themselves down. If it’s one thing the Natives respected, it was the words of their elders, and Johnny was pushing 70 at least.

Dick walked up to me and quietly said “I’m going to stay here. Hold down the fort.” He took a deep breath and stared at the now smoldering fire pit that had reduced what remained of his friend and the others to ash.

“Alright, get your head together, see you when we get back.” He turned and headed back to his apartment. Alyssa handed me a backpack with a hydration bladder and I noticed she wore my smaller one I used for bicycling.

I slung the pack on my back and felt the weight of water and ammo in it. Maybe she’ll be worth keeping around. “Good thinking. You got everything you need?”

“Yeah, thanks.” She avoided looking directly at me and stared at the remains of the fire. Then heaved a deep sigh and finally looked at me. “I’m ready.”

“Johnny?”

“Ah, one moment.” He headed into his apartment and returned with a small pack over his shoulder and an old gnarled walking stick.

We turned and headed down the drive towards the main street. I eyed the vacant looking EMT garage. “My AI has marked a spot near the creek as our first stop. We’ll have to cross 3rd and 2nd Streets and then head over the railroad tracks and then it’s about a 3 mile hike through the desert. Let’s hit the garage for medical supplies and then head out from there.”

“Sounds good.” Johnny nodded. And so we crossed the street and walked quickly up to the wide open garage door. The lights were still on inside with the typical amber glow on concrete of most windowless garages I had seen. Alyssa took up a position on my left and Johnny between and behind us by a few feet. I brought my rifle to a high ready position and leaned my head into the garage for a quick peak and saw pretty much what I expected. Nothing and no one.

I looked at the others and we silently entered the garage. A tool rack lined one wall with several machines you’d find in a typical self service style garage. On another wall were various medical devices and gurneys with bright orange padded immobilizing devices and straps. Further in we found what we were looking for, a medical supply cabinet took up a long portion of the wall. We started raiding the cabinets and looked for anything that might be remotely useful for this excursion.

I found several small red surgical kits and picked one out of the cabinet and stuffed it in my bag. Then I found several packets of hemostatic blood clotting agents to stop severe bleeds, tourniquets, and gauze and tape. I grabbed a few of each and added them to my collection. When I was done I turned to my group.

“We all find something useful?”

They nodded and I went to the door controls and found the button to open the door on the other side of the garage and pressed it. As the door rolled up, light began spilling in from the opposite side. I crouched low and peered right and left and paused at what I saw in the distance.

About a quarter mile away I saw the distinct shape of five very large gray coyotes strolling down the three lane road like they owned the place. On their backs were little green creatures, mostly naked except for loin cloths and other leather accoutrements. Primitive short swords the size of a large dagger hung from their hips and two of the riders had horn bows on their backs and quivers strapped loosely to the sides of their mounts. The last rider wore some kind of feathered headdress and a staff that looked oddly similar to Johnny’s walking stick, though on the end was some random animal skull with multi-colored beads and feathers dangling from it.

As I was deciding whether or not we could avoid the patrol a message popped into my sight:

OPTIONAL QUEST AVAILABLE: DEFEAT THE GOBLIN COYOTE RIDER PATROL OR AVOID IT WITHOUT DETECTION.

DEFEAT REWARD: 1000 EXP, 500 UMC, 1 ITEM DROP FOR EACH MEMBER OF PARTY.

AVOID REWARD: 2500 EXP, 1000 UMC