Then

“Welcome to the Multiversal Access Point.”

The same disembodied voice as before spoke from nowhere and everywhere as soon as Cal found himself back inside the spire’s unearthly space.

“Right, um…” Cal visualized his Universal Points. He was gratified to see and hear the impressive number, 14788. “How much was my class tutorial again?”

“15000 Universal Points.”

“Shit,” Cal frowned. It wasn’t that far off and he had a sense that his powers were the most important thing to keep him and his loved ones safe in this new reality. To save his points for later or not. Killing monsters and mutated animals basically got him peanuts. The quests were the ones that really gave out the points, but he hadn’t been able to trigger another one since the fight with the racists and the Encounter Challenge. He was fairly certain that they’d get some good points if they tried the challenge again, but everyone, him included, wasn’t quite ready to face that nightmare again. “How much is the basic tutorial?”

“500 Universal Points.”

“I’ll purchase one.”

Cal saw and heard the amount deducted from his total.

“The Basic Tutorial will be available through visualization at any time.”

It was just like Remy and Eron described.

“Next I want to uh… unlock my personal account page. How much will that cost?”

“2382 Universal Points.”

Cal was expecting as much based on Remy’s and Eron’s, but his eyes still widened. “Fine, I’d like to unlock that.”

“The Personal Account Page is only accessible inside the Multiversal Access Point.”

“Yes, yes, I know,” Cal waved away the voice as he visualized the sum totality of his being distilled into something previously only found in games. He took a notebook out of his pocket and started furiously copying everything down.

Cal exited the spire as soon as he finished copying and memorizing the contents of his page. He had tried to see if he could make any item or gear purchases, but the voice had said that access to the function was still restricted.

Nila stepped out a few minutes after him and blinked wildly for a few seconds. “Well that sucked.”

“What happened?” Cal looked at her with worry.

“Nothing, just that practically everything in there,” Nila waved at the immense spire, “is still off limits. I was hoping we could buy stuff.”

“Like weapons?”

“Nope, I was thinking of your magical or super science-y devices. Think of an independent power source or those Star Wars machines that makes whatever food you want.” Nila took in the incredulous look on Cal’s face. “What? I’m tired of eating canned stuff.”

“First of all I think you mean a Star Trek replicators and secondly we get fresh fruit and veggies from the grocery, you just refuse to eat them.”

“Are they really fresh if they magically appear on the shelves every few days?”

“Okay, but the cans do the same and you eat that fine.”

“It’s different.” Nila narrowed her eyes at Cal daring him to contradict her. “We need to start growing our own produce.”

“Eventually we’ll have to,” Cal agreed. “We can’t be sure that the grocery store magic will last forever.”

“I’m glad you see it my way,” Nila said as she stalked off. “C’mon let’s head back and compare notes.”

Cal rolled his eyes behind her back as he followed.

“So, how did it go?” Eron greeted them as soon as they entered the house.

“About the same as your trip went,” Cal said.

“What’d you end up getting?”

“I’ll tell you once I get lunch ready, I’m starving.”

“Oh, what’s on the menu,” Nila said brightly.

“Pot of chili and I even went to the store and grabbed some cheese, sour cream, and chives,” Eron said.

Cal dumped his go bag and his weapons inside the closet next to the front door before filling two bowls of chili, one for him and one for Nila. The pair sat at the kitchen table and ate mostly in silence. Eron was there as well, but he had the faraway stare in his eyes that meant he was busy going through the tutorial.

“So, I think I figured out why we can’t purchase any items or gear from the spire,” Eron said. “The basic tutorial is well… pretty basic, but I think the restriction thing is supposed to be for a year from when this all started. Plus from the way it sounds the marketplace will be user driven.”

“What do you mean?” Nila said in between mouthfuls of chili.

“Basically, someone has to craft the stuff then put it up for sale. The spire isn’t just going to magically make things available.”

“I did see tutorials on crafting,” Cal said.

Eron nodded. “I guess this means we shouldn’t expect to find magic swords or laser guns. Unless someone manages to craft one first.” He sighed. “I was hoping to get a lightsaber.”

“Those things wouldn’t work anyways,” Cal said.

Eron tsked. “Maybe with real world physics they won’t, but since superpowers and magic are a thing now, I don’t see why a lightsaber can’t be a thing.”

“Okay, but you’d be liable to cut off your own arms.”

“Guys, focus,” Nila said.

“Yeah, so on the bad news front. The tutorial mentions a sort of protected period of time, about ten years from the start in which access to our world is restricted.”

“Shit, that doesn’t sound good,” Cal said.

“Wait,” Nila said. “If access is restricted why are we getting all those monsters?”

“The wording wasn’t exactly clear, but from my impression it was referring to people like us. As in other worlds similar to our own and the inhabitants of said world, who also gained powers,” Eron said. “Look, you read over it and tell me if you see the same thing I did.”

“Alright,” Cal said. “I’ll look it over as soon as I’m done eating. I didn’t get anything besides the basic tutorial anyways.”

“Did you unlock your personal account page?”

“Yeah, pretty useless though,” Cal said. “Either it confirmed what I was already guessing or it gave me information that I can’t use without the context.

“Maybe we can compare our stat numbers with our real world metrics, make a chart or something. If we ever get a way to see monster stats then we’ll be able to develop a proper threat assessment system,” Eron said. “So, I was wondering about our human hybrid race…”

“Whatever we’re supposedly hybridized with was still censored, but I did unlock a number next to it. Mine was 0.9734,” Cal said.

“Mine said 0.1768,” Nila said.

“0.9812,” Eron said. “Remy’s was 0.9694”

“It’s like a percentage or an amount of whatever the other part of us,” Cal said.

“That’s what I was thinking,” Eron said.

“This is so unbelievable, I just can’t accept that humanity is actually not just… well, human,” Nila said. “And how come my number is so much lower than yours?”

“No offense, Nila, but it kind of makes sense,” Eron said. “You’re basically like 616 Captain America, so-called peak human, while I’m like Superman. The difference in power level fits with the numbers we got. I unlocked my class description. It said Paragon: Solar-Type.”

“Please explain in normal English,” Nila said flatly.

“Basically, my body now stores solar radiation, which powers all the super strong and super tough stuff that I can do,” Eron said. “I didn’t have enough Universal Points to get the class tutorial, so I don’t have more than those basics.”

“Same here, too expensive,” Cal said.

“Cal, was the font of your class different?”

“Yeah, it was in script and a glowing golden color.”

“I figured as much,” Eron said. “Same with Remy and me.”

“I’m starting to feel insecure here,” Nila said. “Mine was in plain old printed white. What does that mean?”

“I don’t know,” Eron shrugged. “But if I had to guess based on how much better our powers are than yours and those kids with the simple magic spells then the golden script means we might’ve gotten really lucky. Three top tier level powers in the same family.”

“I wonder if mom, dad, and Rayna are the same,” Cal said.

“It’d be good if there were more people out there with powers that we could compare to. Outside of that douche Jaden, we haven’t run into anyone with straight super powers. Just people like those kids, all weak ass magic spells, like level 1 magic users.”

In the weeks since they defeated the racist cops many of the people they had rescued asked for help in getting to the spire on the middle of the college campus. Eron and Cal helped when they could, but the majority came out with mundane classes tied to their old jobs, some obtained a single magic spell. A few came out with similar physical enhancements to their bodies like Nila. There was talk in the makeshift city council about organizing training, but they wanted Cal or Eron to run things, neither was willing to be saddled with that responsibility.

“Maybe not,” Nila said. “Power tends to bring out the worst in people, look at what that Jaden did? I’d say it’s pretty lucky that it was your family that got it.”

“I’m not sure that we did just get it,” Cal said. “What if it was already there inside of us and all the spire did was unlock it?”

“The hybrid thing sort of points in that direction,” Eron agreed. “It’d be weirder if the spire turned us into hybrids just like that.” He shook his head and frowned.

“What?”

“This whole thing is ridiculous. Our world got turned into a fantasy kitchen sink! These spires are just being lazy, no?”

“Who knows, maybe it’s all based on humanity’s collective unconscious. Magic and superpowers have been a part of our mythology across pretty much every culture in history.”

“That’s the first thing that sort of makes sense about any of this,” Nila said. “Well maybe if you squint.”

“I don’t know…” Eron started.

“Gilgamesh, the gods, Hercules, Merlin, so on and so forth. Superpowers and magic,” Nila said. “They permeate our dreams and nightmares.”

“Okay, I’m buying it,” Eron said.

Cal stood up and took his empty bowl to the sink, Nila placed hers in as well. He turned on the faucet and luckily the water was still working. They had no idea how long the water system was going to keep working. Remy had floated the idea of going to all the different utility plants and checking up on them, maybe find some people who were willing and able to keep them running. The problem was that they were all a good distance away, hours by bike and there was a strong suspicion that such locations had a good chance of being Encounter Challenges. They weren’t yet confident enough in their abilities to tackle that possibililty.

“I’m going to look over the basic tutorial,” Nila said.

“Once I’m done with the dishes, I’ll do the same.”

“You guys got the kids?” Eron stood. “Going to check out the high school. Starting to get worried about those gremlin sightings.”

“Where are Remy and Megan?”

“City council meeting, she insisted,” Eron rolled his eyes.

“Don’t worry, we’ll take care of them,” Nila said.

“Be careful and don’t enter the school,” Cal said.

“Look, man I think we’re going to have to, but I’ll stay out for now.”

Then

“I’m putting the kids to bed,” Megan said.

“C’mon mom, I want to listen,” Tessa said.

“No, it’s grown up stuff.”

Veronica yawned.

“Go upstairs and brush your teeth, I’ll be right up for your story.”

“I don’t need bedtime stories,” Tessa grumbled as she stomped her way up the stairs.

Megan let out a tired sigh.

“I still want a story, mommy,” Veronica said as she hurried up after her sister.

“Remy, try to keep it down, I don’t want the kids overhearing what you’re talking about. It’ll scare them and they won’t be able to sleep,” Megan said.

“Yeah, we’ll keep it down.”

Cal, Nila, and Eron tried not to pay attention to the tension, nor to the way that Megan seemed to be purposefully ignoring their presence. They waited in silence for Megan to disappear.

“If us being here is a problem, we’ll leave,” Cal said after he used his telepathy to make certain that Megan wasn’t listening.

“Yeah, four months is kind of a long time to couch surf,” Eron added.

Remy looked conflicted. “No, that’s not right, I can’t just kick out guys out. You’ve done a lot for us and you’re keeping my kids safe.”

“Well, you’re getting stronger, better with your powers, I’m confident that you can handle what’s out there,” Cal said.

“We can set up next door, since your poor neighbor doesn’t need the place,” Eron said.

“I’m not squatting in someone else’s home,” Nila said. “It’s bad karma. That poor woman died violently and her spirit is probably still there. Without a way to ease her suffering… it’s just wrong.”

Eron was about to say something, but Cal silenced him with the standard older brother warning look.

“I’ve got some ideas on where we can set up a base of sorts. I’ve been thinking about it for awhile. We need a place to exercise both our bodies and our powers,” Cal said.

“I don’t know…”

“It’s fine, Remy. We’ll check in with you every day,” Cal said. “Now, why don’t he get this family meeting started. Who wants to go first.”

Eron’s hand shot up.

“Okay, what do you want to talk about?”

Eron cleared his throat as the others readied their notepads and pens.

“So, we were wondering if gaining levels is a thing now. I propose that we don’t, at least not exactly. Based on what our personal account page said and the basic tutorial, I’m going with the theory that the system the spires use isn’t a rigid one. Generally speaking it doesn’t impose hard limits on us or our abilities. I’m not saying that there aren’t any limits, but rather that the rate at which we approach them are entirely up to us. The more we practice and exercise them the stronger they get. Basically Universal Points are probably not analogous to experience points.

“Causation is not correlation,” Remy said. “Killing mutant squirrels nets a small amount of points, while completing those quests and fighting in the Encounter Challenge nets considerably more. However the gain in our power levels, for lack of a better word, is attached to the difficulty in the quests and opponents, how far we had to push ourselves, how close to death we came.”

“The Universal Points are like money we get paid for the task, but getting stronger comes down to the experience and what we put into it to succeed,” Eron said.

“Sounds as good an explanation as any until we get enough points to unlock some more in-depth tutorials,” Cal said.

“I have an idea,” Nila raised her hand. “I suspect our attribute numbers fall along those same lines. The numbers aren’t spire-imposed, but rather they are assigned based on what we are capable of.”

“Easy enough to test. We try to get stronger and faster. Then see how the numbers change when we go back to the spire,” Eron said.

Remy raised his hand. “What about this ten year protected period?”

“The tutorial referred to restricted access to our world, which implies that there are other worlds out there that can get to us,” Nila said.

“It’s going to be the weird space magic version of the colonial period,” Cal said. “Everything about this seems to encourage conflict. Resources, food, shelter, the powers and abilities to fight for them as individuals.”

“Might makes right,” Nila made a face.

“Or the strong takes from the weak. Yeah, why not, we saw it here firsthand. Not a month in and you had a super powered Nazi wannabe building his own concentration camp,” Eron said. “Statistically speaking there are going to be a lot of assholes just like him. Get some power and act out on all those power fantasies.”

“Yes, but is it our responsibility to fight against those people?”

“I don’t know what you’re thinking, Rem, but I’m starting to think that we might the only ones who can or will,” Eron said.

Remy lowered his eyes to the table. “I just want to keep my family safe.”

“I get that,” Cal said, “but I kind of agree with Eron on this.” He glanced over at Nila, who was studiously writing down something in her notepad. “I know you’re not going to want to hear this, but you have to seriously consider that the best way to keep Megan, Tessa, and Veronica safe is to get them the power to do it themselves.”

Eron nodded. “The kids would probably get pretty good powers! If you go by what we have.”

Remy frowned. “C’mon, man. Tessa’s ten, Veronica’s just four.”

“Yeah, yeah. It’s not like I’m cool with them having to kill one of those mutant squirrels,” Eron said.

“Me neither, but you have to consider that starting them this early might mean they’ll have that much more time to get ready for when this protected period is up,” Cal said.

“Or it might stunt their growth,” Nila said.

“Can we table this for now,” Remy said. “I need more information before I make a decision one way or another. Plus it might make it easier to convince Megan.”

“She still not—”

“Eron,” Cal warned. “Okay,” he turned back to Remy. “What’s next?”

“The city council has some updated patrol routes they’d like for us to handle,” Remy said.

“I bet it includes their homes,” Eron scoffed.

“No,” Cal said. “No one here is required to obey them.”

“They’re just asking,” Remy said.

“Then the answer is no, however if you or Eron want to take up the routes, then it’s up to you,” Cal said.

Nila frowned as she looked up from her notes. “What about me?”

“I thought you don’t want to patrol alone and since I’m not changing the areas I cover…”

“That is true,” Nila conceded.

“Anything else?”

“Uh, they’re also concerned about those gremlin sightings, the ones like in the high school,” Remy said.

Eron frowned. “I thought the council was putting together a neighborhood watch thing. Why can’t they handle these things?”

“Maybe they would be able to if one of you agreed to help them train and went along to start,” Remy said.

“I’m not getting suckered into their authority,” Eron said. “Cal won’t do it either. Why don’t you?”

“Megan doesn’t want me away from her and the kids.”

“Huh? You two go out hunting a couple of times a week, while one of us watches the kids,” Erron said.

“Yes, but she hates it.”

“Fine, I’ll advise this neighborhood watch, but on my own terms,” Cal said.

“Seriously?”

“Yes, Eron. The sooner they get off the ground the sooner they stop bothering us and maybe they can take up the patrol slack, so that we’ll have more time to practice and exercise instead of biking around and killing weak things for fractions of a Universal Point,” Cal sighed. “It will also give us more time to investigate what’s going on with the high school. It changed from an Encounter Challenge to a Spawn Point. I don’t know what that means, but it’s been bugging me.”

“It probably has something to do with the big gremlin sightings,” Nila shrugged at the looks the Cruces brothers gave her. “I think we’re trying to read too much into these things. The words Spawn Point suggest a place from which monsters are spawned, created, birthed, whatever. So, what happens once they run out of space?”

Cal’s eyes widened. “Shit! Eron!”

“Yeah!” Eron was already up and out of his chair and heading for the front door.

“What’d I say?”

“Nila, Remy, I want you to stay here,” Cal said.

Remy nodded, recognition in his eyes.

“What’s going on Cal? That look is scaring me.”

“I think you’re right. I should’ve seen it sooner,” Cal shook his head. “It’s been six weeks. The sightings started about two weeks after we freed the people at the high school.” And I let over twenty men get killed by monsters, Cal thought.

“And turned it into a Spawn Point,” Nila added in a soft voice.

Cal nodded. “Sightings have been increasing and spreading.”

“Be careful,” Nila kissed him.

“I will,” Cal smiled. “We’re just scouting, not looking for a fight.”