Chapter 23: The 100 Negotiation is a Tricky Thing
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'Great it should be way easier to learn meditation now, especially with the reduced pressure of all those memories. Although the memories of Susan Fletcher are weird, what's up with the coding in that dimension?'

[Each storyline has different rules and limitations in it, in the case of Digital Fortress the rules of programming were extremely simplified to make the story easier to understand. User shouldn't be worried though the skills enhanced from this character will still work properly in this universe.]

'Now that actually has me worried, will any character's experiences interfere with me in future universes?'

[Yes and no, with too many characters in user's Memory Palace user will lose clarity, focus, and sense of self, causing possible failures in user's actions. While, as long as the user has space and control, the experiences should be useful for many storylines, although some skills will prove useless for some storylines, for example the hacking skill won't be useful in a storyline with no computers.]

'Definitely need to get to organizing myself then.'

-On Earth the Camp-

  It was the next day since Lincoln had taken Clarke and Octavia to the negotiations and Bellamy was starting to annoy everyone with how worried he was for his sister. Charlotte was doing her best to calm him down by telling him stories that Octavia had been telling her at bedtime. Bellamy temporarily calmed down and even began to grin at the second hand stories he'd told Octavia back when they were children. He interrupted Charlotte's version of Alice in the Looking Glass, saying, "Thank you Charlotte, I'm calm again, let's check on how Raven is doing on repairing the dud bullets." Having succeeded in calming him once more she smiled, nodded, hugged Bellamy and led him to Raven's lab tent where as Jasper put it all the "Magic Happens," as far as Charlotte was concerned, his joke was true.

  Bellamy walked into the lab tent and saw Raven loading bullets with the homebrew gunpowder that Jasper had made. Seeing her hard at work he waited as patiently as he could while she delicately poured a small amount of the powder into the brass case and capped it off with the bullet and securing the connection, once she reached a stopping point, Bellamy asked, "How are we doing on ammunition and do we have enough ready yet for when trouble occurs?" Raven calmly did a once over on the finished bullet before adding it to the finished pile before turning to him and replying, "We have enough ready between the still good and refurbished bullets to fully fill three clips for each of the automatic guns we have available, since some of the guns we found aren't in working order, they may have been packaged well, but time damaged some of them and I don't currently have the right tools to repair them. So while those specific guns will have to remain out of commission we can only arm a quarter of the camp for a short skirmish."

  Bellamy sighed and replied, "It's better than nothing as far as guns are concerned, do you have any other good news?" Raven arched an eyebrow and replied, "Haven't you been listening to the radio at all? Clarke had reached a tentative agreement with the leader and she'll be here sometime today to give the details with Octavia and Lincoln." Bellamy in shock checked his radio to see that he had accidentally left it off when he went to bed last night. On seeing that Raven let out a guffaw and said, "Wow, now I'm really glad that we sent someone else to negotiate because that's not a good mistake to commit. Jacapo my mentor always tells me that when it comes to communications, unless you're in a sneaking scenario, you must always keep your lines of communication open and check in repeatedly."

  As Bellamy digested the news and admonishment from Raven, she continued, "When I finish these bullets, I'll make some some pipe bombs with the remaining gunpowder and then move on to making crossbows for those who don't have the strength to wield a bow, if that's okay with you, oh fearless leader." With a sheepish grin Bellamy replied, "Point taken Raven, thank you, I'll work on my tendency to lose track of things when I fly off the handle." Charlotte hugged him and said quietly, "That's what we're here for to hold your handles." Murphy who had walked in at the time let out a guffaw alongside Raven on hearing that part. Seeing her confusion, Bellamy decided he shouldn't clarify what she had accidentally implied, because it was super embarrassing.

  After they finished laughing, Murphy then said, "They're here and Clarke wants to let us know the terms they agreed on. Also Octavia wants to let her dear brother know that not answering the radio counts as sulking and she has the right to tease him for the next week." Everyone chuckles at Bellamy's expense, Charlotte then attempted to console Bellamy by saying, "Next time I'll remember to check your radio if you don't have it on." Groaning Bellamy replied, "Thank you, let's go see Clarke and hope she got us a good deal." As Raven and Murphy laugh some more, they make their way over to the dropship.

  Once the camp leaders were assembled and Chancellor Jaha was on screen in the dropship, Clarke explained that she was able to get a temporary agreement setup for a designated landing site for the dropships and they that the Trikru will send some of their warriors to assist those who land with learning survival skills, how to gather resources, and help with preparations for the coming winter. In exchange they want them to use their advanced medicine to heal those they bring, teach their healers some of their advanced methods, share some of their technology, and provide some assistance in their war against the Mountain Men. When the rest of the population of the Ark comes down then they will renegotiate the agreement between the Chancellor and the Commander.

  There was a long pause as everyone digested the agreement that Clarke had committed the group to. Murphy broke the silence first, in a voice filled with sarcasm, said, "Oh, I'm sure they're sending the warriors to train us in survival techniques out of the goodness of their hearts. In fact, Lincoln you never did tell us about the Mountain Men and Reavers." Lincoln who had been standing to the side of the group listening stoically, while Octavia held his hand tightly, hearing his name, replied, "You're leader hasn't agreed to the terms that Clarke has negotiated, until otherwise what I know isn't to be shared with outsiders." Before Murphy could reply with anymore sarcasm Wells interrupted, "I thought Clarke was our representative and her agreement was binding?" Lincoln looked at the rest of the members and asked, "Would the Ark truly honor anything that was agreed upon through someone they considered a criminal?" In the ensuing silence all of the young adults turned to face the Chancellor on the monitor.

  Chancellor Jaha took a breath at all the attention and replied, "The Council and I have wiped all of the 100's criminal records, meaning you all have full citizenship rights and are free of suspicion until proven otherwise. I meant what I said when I assigned Clarke to represent the Ark at the negotiations. As long as I'm Chancellor we'll respect the agreement that was done."

  Lincoln steps forward with a small frown and said, "While I choose to believe your words, it falls to those who come down on the other skypods to prove your words true or false. I will tell you what is known of the Mountain Men, while not much is known of them amongst my people. We do know that they take people from every tribe, and most are never seen again except as Reavers, who were our tribesmen that were turned into cannibalistic monsters who kidnap more of our fellow tribe members for the Mountain Men. We think they control the acid fog and have evidence that they have wiped out any group that has touched guns, that's why it is forbidden for us to wield guns."

  Hearing this news caused everyone there to pause in apprehension, in the ensuing silence Charlotte in a pleading voice asked, "They can't get us here can they?" Lincoln looked at her and showing some sadness shook his head and said, "While this is Trikru's territory it is well within the range of the Reavers, as long as your camp is here you're in danger." Hearing this Charlotte let out a squeak in fear and leaped into Bellamy's arms, after comforting her a bit he asked, "What do we need to do to be safe from them?"

  Lincoln said, "Increase patrols, add more traps, move you're camp to the new area once it's ready. You may have a temporary agreement setup, but Trikru isn't obligated to protect this camp from danger." On hearing this Wells asked, "What do you mean, I thought we came to an agreement?" Before Lincoln could reply Clarke spoke up, "Lincoln is actually pointing out a flaw in the agreement I set up, it is for the new location, not this camp. I admit it was a mistake on my part, I thought our agreement would get this location protection as well, but I guess I was mistaken, for that I'm sorry."

  Finn spoke up and said, "It's not your fault, it's not like we expected a boogeyman group to live in the area we originally were going to land, it's actually great that we landed here." As everyone looked at him blankly Finn continued, "I mean based on what Lincoln said, we'd probably have all died and those who survived would be these Reavers now. So in the long run we lucked out all we need to do is be prepared for ambush and get some distance from Mount Weather as soon as possible. Now the big question is where are the dropships landing and when can we move there?"

  Clarke cleared her voice and said, "Anya described the location as 22km S/SW of here and is a days walk from Tondc, I plan on checking it out so I can send the exact coordinates to the Ark." On hearing this Chancellor Jaha said in concern, "How long do you think that will take? As you well know the Ark's air supply is shrinking so a time-frame would be much appreciated. With this new information I will have to change the list of who will be sent down to include more Ark guards." Clarke replied, "With a guide I'll get there in a couple of days and it will take another day to compare the map to the terrain, and the same time frame to come back." Raven stepped in with a grin and said, "I have salvaged the rangefinder from my escape pod so we can get some really good coordinates for Jacapo to use."

  Bellamy turned to Lincoln and asked, "Will you be helping Clarke reach the location?" As Lincoln nodded in confirmation, Octavia said, "I'm coming too." Wells said, "That makes Clarke, Raven, Lincoln, and Octavia, we just need one more person to go while the rest of us need to work on setting up further defenses and supplies for the coming winter. I for one would love to be the one to go." After everyone made their nominations and a bit of heated debate, Murphy was chosen as the person who would be going as well.

-On the Ark-

  Thelonius Jaha turned off the connection with the 100 and began to massage his temples in frustration turning to Marcus Kane and asked, "What do you think?" Marcus Kane filled two cups with some tea, after handing one to Thelonius, he breathed in the fragrance, sighed and said, "We are woefully unprepared for other people, since we thought there were few survivors. From the sounds of it there's a whole simple, yet complex society filled with cultural intricacies that could lead to so many misunderstandings. This means that we are in a terrible position and will need to plan accordingly."

  Abby Griffin decided it was time for her input and said, "It's obvious that this Trikru group doesn't trust us, but they are the better option to work with. We need to spend what time we have preparing for conflict, the agreement my daughter has tied us to may not be the best, but we'll have to do the best we can. I for one am delighted that they only want our medicinal abilities, it shows that they aren't savages." Marcus replied with a slight grin, "It wasn't savagery that caused the apocalypse it was civilization, we're going to need to be prepared for rougher negotiations once this first agreement wears out."

  As the two looked to be gearing up for a debate, Thelonius interrupted, "While you two are making good points for future planning, we need to figure out what to do now, so lets get to it." They then spend some time going through various scenarios and change the list of whose going down in some of the dropships to make room for increased security detail. One good thing is that they hadn't released a finalized list for the five dropships available to them. The sixth dropship had been wholly handed to Diana Sydney's discretion and there had been some discontent when she'd reduced the amount of people going with her by ten in favor of supplies, her argument being that it was a precaution in case the supplies that were being sent separately in the makeshift containers that Jacapo had constructed didn't make it to the surface.

  With the new list and some basic planning done, Thelonius called Jacapo away from his work to get an update and relay the new requirements on the material drops. Jacapo came in and after the exchange of pleasantries, Thelonius got to the point and said, "We have a finalized list of who is going down, can you assign the people appropriately for maximum efficiency? Also we need a load of weaponry to go down as well, can you create a drop load-out for that? Finally, how much time do we have before drastic measures need to be taken? Just to let you know we have four days before we get the exact coordinates for sending the dropships."

  Jacapo took the list and after quickly scanning it looked up and replied, "To answer your last question first, with all the extra manpower and not having to sneak around with the repairs, I've been able to temporarily stabilize our burdened system, so currently we have a month and some days before we start feeling the pinch, I'm less than confident that I can extend that time-frame during that time. I already have a food drop box setup and can start on a weapon drop box as soon as I have a list of the weaponry going down. For the people placement I will need their most current weight for that. I recommend that we have a medical exam for everyone so I can make the appropriate assignments." With a nod they acknowledged Jacapo's words and after dismissing him, continued planning their future actions.

[Ding indirectly prevented 30+ deaths from the bridge not being blown up by Jasper because they came to an agreement and didn't end up at war +1 to all stats rewarding the knowledge, skills, and 1 perk from Thomas Dennis Fitzgerald from The Great Brain; increase skills in Acting, Investigation, Taming, Teaching, and Tracking, gain skills Fisticuffs I, Subterfuge H, and Wrestling I, gain Perk The Great Brain; increase user's stats and Intuition by 5% when enough Data is available to solve a crime or commit a swindle, and a 5% increase in reading speed and comprehension, +30 Karma, For indirectly preventing Trikru from using a blood virus that kills 3 Delinquents and temporarily weakened most of the 100 camp site +2 to Constitution, +10 Karma. For indirectly preventing Murphy murdering Connor since he was never persecuted by the 100 +1 Charisma, +10 Karma. Monty isn't kidnapped by the Mountain Men at this time +1 Luck, +5 Karma. Two grounders aren't shot by Jasper because of no conflict +1 Dexterity, +7 Karma. No death of Anya's second Tris because of no conflict +1 Constitution, +5 Karma. Caliban isn't killed by Clarke because the conflict doesn't happen decreasing the likelihood of Clarke choosing the genocide options in the possible future conflicts, +1 Dexterity, +10 Karma]

[Subterfuge H absorbs Lockpick I+ and Hacking I. Subterfuge H>F+]

[CQC C absorbs Fisticuffs I and Wrestling I. CQC C+]

[User increased Dexterity stat above 99H gain two perks since it covers Agility and Reflexes; Dodger; 10% increase chance to dodge an attack. The other perk is Boyscout (Rank Scout) 5% stat increase in survival situations and 5% increase in learning outdoor skills. There are 7 ranks to this Perk, Scout, Tenderfoot, Second Class, First Class, Star, Life and Eagle, once user meets requirements perk will advance to the next level, the % increase is multiplied by the rank reached.]

[User's skills meets all requirements for Boyscout Perk ranks, advance to the highest rank, Perk is now Eagle Scout; 35% stat increase in survival situations and 35% increase in learning survival skills, Learn the skill Basic Survival I]

[Basic Survival I absorbs Camping H+, Cooking E+, Dive B, Enhanced Swimming A, and Tracking H+. Basic Survival I>SSS+ advance to Survival I]

'Wow, that's a lot of gains from so many small incidents, Status'

User 01010111

Age 46 Level 47 (exp 39904/47000)

Condition: Normal

Stats

Strength 69H>70H

Dexterity 98H>101G

Constitution 121G>125G

Intelligence 115G>120G

Wisdom 112G>117G

Charisma 84H>86H

Luck 56H>58H

Skills

Acting D+>C, Astronaut H, Basic Blades I, Basic Explosives H, Basic Languages A+, Basic Science D+, Bedroom Arts I, Body Language A,, Car Mechanics F+, Cleaning E+, Cold Resistance D, CQC C+, Disease Resistance H+, Driving E+, Enhanced Hearing C+, Enhanced Smell B+, Enhanced Taste H, Enhanced Touch E+, Enhanced Vision D+, Fatigue Resistance H, Fire Resistance H+, Heat Resistance F+, Investigation H+, Night Vision G+, Maintenance D+, Mathematics C, Medicine C+, Mining F+, Parallel Thinking E+, Poison Resistance G, Rad Resistance H, Sailing G, Shooting D, Stealth D, Surgery E+, Taming H+>G, Teaching G+, Teamwork I+, Telepathy Resistance I, Volleyball F+, Woodcraft G, Writing G+, New Skills (Subterfuge F+, Survival I)

Perks

Ambidextrous, Awareness, Bodyguard, Chief Engineer, Contortionist, Dodger, Eagle Scout, Entomorph: (Fall Armyworm), Explorer's Map, Fashion Sense, Iron Will, Lachrymose Leech, Leadership, Medusoid Mycelium, Memory Palace++, Mentor, Plantamorph: (Birch, Elm, Evergreen, Maple), Pupa, Secret Smasher, Snow Gnat, Stoic, The Great Brain, Toughness, Uncommon Physical Growth, Zoomorph: (For content details say perk name), World Compass

Sealed(Nightblood, Flame Implant)

Corpse Absorption Progress

Ant (.08932), Aphid (.01257), Bedbug (.00174), Bee (.00605), Centipede (.00115), Cockroach (.01725), Dandelion (.00127), Earwigs (.00186), Flea (.00146), Fly (.11812), Ivy (.169), Jellyfish (.00122), Lice (.00155), Mosquito (.08904), Moth (.00669), Pill Bug (.00689), Slug (.01504), Spider (.00259), Wasp (.01411), Worm (.00265)

Abilities:Tutorial Pocket(100 Karma Coupon)

Limited(Minor Identify F)

Sealed (Flight G+, Ink Squirt, Mild Poison Bite, Rally, Photosynthesis)

Achievements: A Sailors Life For Me, Family Man, For The Family!, Fungicide, Globetrotter, Guardian Angel, Happily Ever After, No Stone Unturned, Survivor

Karma: 707 Total Positive

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