Chapter 24: Exposition and Dinnertime

Settled into the couch I kept reading the information from the notebook that Bluebird had provided. As I absorbed the words, it painted a dark picture.

People had done pretty well, a reasonably high level of culture as far as humans had decided culture worked, some major bad things like the frequent wars, ethnic cleansing, and social media; but some decent stuff like the occasional bouts with representative governments, religious freedom, and universal health care. Of course, being able to experience these optimistic opportunities depended on where you lived and who you allowed to govern you.

Come 2050 or so (212 years ago by my math) some clever folks decided the best way to gain power was to generate power, as in a new source of energy. Now the people that still controlled the old resources were happy to keep raising the price, and the people seeking new sources had gotten more and more desperate. Sure, the established group were happy to buy out any advancements that might ensure an additional 0.1% of the time they could hold their power base, but their commitment to finding inexpensive energy, or sources they could not directly control, was similar to multiplying by zero.

“12:04:06 GMT September 22nd 2050 AD International governing bodies and independent researchers recorded worldwide seismic reactions and bright flashes detectable from satellites. The quantities and locations of the flashes did not match noted ground installations but were registered by orbital surveillance. The epicenters of the seismic reactions were not associated with any known geothermal hotspots.” This was one of the last broadcasts before things went completely… strange.

Apparently those clever folks had found a way to tie Earth into an energy that was not native to Earth.

Great! Free energy, right?

Well, there was a new source of energy, but it was like having solar, wind or tidal power potential, with no infrastructure to harness that energy. Immediately it was called Mana, as an homage to something from an old religion, a gift from heaven when people were in need.

But apparently things started breaking apart. Communication networks failed. Vast numbers of people and things vanished. Some materials disappeared which caused catastrophic damage as they were critical for various functions, something called plastic was just gone.

Records from that time show, that while normal communications suffered greatly, information was still being distributed before the curtains were raised. Worldwide populations had dropped by 90% and threats unimagined were on the rise over the course of a few years. International reports of Kaiju and Dragons, local agencies reporting assaults by sea creatures and trees, whispers of hauntings by angels, demons, gods, and aliens.

Many of the reports were confirmed as true. The new energy, and Mana did stick as the name for reasons, was reactive to thought and could manifest results beyond expectation or control. Unfortunately, the destruction that raged over the planet was severe, and with each passing day, order and human security were reduced.

Though Bluebird’s description depicted a horrible experience, many things were glossed over, represented as statistics rather than events. At least it seemed that way to me. It was estimated that within 3 months of Mana's introduction, the world population dropped by over 50%.

At the start of the next year the System went online. Though older Artificial Intelligence systems had almost universally been lost during the first stages of the Cataclysm, there were enough people with technological savvy and capability of working with the new energy to cobble the System together.

Fed with data day after day, the System AI was encouraged to help find a response to the new energy. Either a way to end it, or prevent it from continuing the chaos that crushed more and more of the dwindling numbers of people. Smashing into the humans who remained were dangers once felt to be the domain of fiction and dreams.

Unfortunately for homo sapiens, as with climate change and war, they were their own worst enemy. Experiments confirmed that with the world flooded with Mana, their minds were triggering events leading to the very chaos they wanted the System to help stop.

Eventually an Initiate tied themselves to the System to try and help control their Mana reaction. It worked. Within months there were thousands of Initiates with various skills and plans for how to integrate humans into safe coexistence with the new energy.

The first step that the System AI, System Initiates and System Administrators implemented was the raising of the Curtain. Unable to turn off the connection to the new energy, they worked to focus it, so there would be areas that were of a lower Mana density.

Almost a year and a half after the System came online, the Curtains were raised. While it greatly lessened the daily chaos, the Cataclysm had already taken a massive toll. At that time the latest world wide System information reported under 900 million humans were alive on Earth. The surface of the planet was then divided by intense Curtains of Mana. How many sections exactly is unknown as data transmission has been significantly curtailed once the curtains rose.

These Curtains were packed with such high Mana density that simply approaching them with unprotected minds could unleash massive manifestations. Even purely physical objects larger than a grain of sand were noted to be distorted or destroyed. Pre Hammering animals with migratory instincts were forced to adapt or die.

Cecal’s area inside the Curtain is big, over 180,000 square kilometers and extending into the ocean a goodly way. Though all of the threats and changes did not pass at once, some stability returned and people were once again able to attempt to influence the world to stabilize their situation, rather than just struggle for survival.

With the Curtains raised, and ambient Mana reduced, vast numbers became System Initiates and worked to master this new energy and incorporate it into their lives. Time passed and between the remaining Mana and the System, there were changes to the people that remained. Discussions of hastened evolution or alternative genetic expressions for adaptation were discussed. It was all lacking in confirmation, but certainly discussed.

For a hundred years, System Users were on the rise, monsters fought each other and humans. While the population grew again, it was kept in check by the threats from the environment. Settlements were generally secure, but might be devastated if a threat was too large.

As that first century came to an end, there was a series of breakthroughs in non-System mana adaptation. Bloodlines had begun to be noted among System Initiates for decades, but now they were breeding true for even those without any connection to the System. In addition more people were advancing Mana skills in ways both unique and magical.

The Second Century AC saw a slow but steady drop in System Initiates and an equally steady increase in various unassisted Mana users. Combined with the establishment of enclaves devoted to particular bloodlines or Mana abilities, these differences drove some conflict in Cecal beyond battles with monsters.

A new horror also erupted at the end of the first century and only grew to greater concern, feral goblins. Once human, these creatures were born from Mana and overly many attunement or bloodline traits clashing in a single being. Horribly, they could also breed true. While a person might unintentionally become a goblin, sometimes things didn't go well for their mind and Mana balance. Thus came a threat that could rise within an existing community, or run loose and gain power in the wilds. Non-human monsters were bad enough, formerly human monsters shook people. Shook their spirits, morale, and made them question if other ‘monsters’ were also just people.

“Hey Monday, Dinner has been serving for quite a while. We’ve an open small table right now if you want to eat there.” Ann’s whisper cut through the reading I’d been focused on, the words on the page tossed aside by my nerves tingling. “Or a spot at a communal, depending on what you want.”

I looked up and into Ann’s silvery eyes. I didn’t feel hungry, but that fish stew had been a long time ago. “Thank you, Ann. I'd like to try what you, Billie and Bernie have been cooking.” I tried smiling back the same way she had smiled at me that afternoon.

She giggled.

That made my toes curl.

Hoping she didn’t notice, I wondered again what grey skin looked like when blushing.

“Come this way, unless you want to put your bag in your room?” She waited for a moment as I put the booklet into my pack, and the shiny pack on my back. Seeing that the communal table had backless benches I indicated sitting there would be fine.

There was a group of four already at the table, two with scruffy beards, one with a trimmed mustache and the fourth with feathers decorating long blond hair and a distinctly female form. I simply nodded in greeting as I sat and waited for my food.

Not that I was interested in listening in on their conversation, but it was rather hard to miss it when feather hair spoke to their companions. “Look, I’ve no issue with working with Syssies in town, generally fine folks. But my Ma warned me about traveling with ‘em and never to dungeon dive with one in the party.”