Marcus Grey - Steward Lv0
Free xp: 24000
HP: 15/15
MP: 30/30

 Fortress Upgrades:
Defences: (3/6 items. Expand?)
      Keep    (T0)      250xp
      Walls   (T0)      250xp
      Barrier (N/A)   500xp
      Turrets (N/A)   250xp
      Traps   (N/A)   250xp

Key Facilities: (1/5 items. Expand?)
Residential Facilities: (1/4 items. Expand?)
…

 Looking at the list of various facilities and upgrades he could add to the fortress, Marcus was feeling slightly overwhelmed, and decided that it would be better to follow Alice’s suggestions rather than wing it and potentially miss out on key needs.

“Alice, any thoughts on what I should go for first? There’s a lot of stuff on that list.” He asked. “You’re able to choose up to two special upgrades for your fortress, which I recommend you begin with. I should, however, note that some of my enhancements will make more special upgrades available, if you wish to use them first.”

Looking at his inventory, Marcus followed Alice’s advice, tapping both Familiar Enhancement Token (Superior).

[Select Familiar Superior Enhancements]
      Legion Core (Superior)          Create and control System Entity constructs via a Spawner.
      Dungeon Core (Superior)      Create a Dungeon within the fortress to produce xp, with Instancing and Folded Spacetime enhancements.
      Synthetic Consciousness       Qualitative improvement to familiar, granting true sapience. Allows the use of a biological avatar.
      Emergency Backup    Allows the backup, preservation and transfer of host’s consciousness, granting automated protection against psychic interference and untimely death. Transfer requires a compatible body be available.

Looking at the options, Marcus was floored. Emergency Backup… even if I died, I’d be preserved in Alice’s core until I could even get a new body after the fact. Holy crap! He thought. On the other hand, I think Synthetic Consciousness should be a good first priority too. The smarter Alice is, the better off we’ll be.

“Alice… which do you think I should take?” Marcus asked after reading through the options. “Master Grey, I believe you should select the Dungeon Core (Superior) and Emergency Backup enhancements. An owned dungeon is an incredible boon, especially one of Superior grade, while having a life-saving measure available is essentially priceless.” She said. “What about Synthetic Consciousness?” Marcus asked, hesitant. “Synthetic Consciousness would be extremely beneficial, but your safety and growth are the main priorities.” She replied.

Thinking about it for a moment, Marcus came to a decision. “Dungeon Core and Synthetic Consciousness.” He said.

Achievement Earned: Life, or Something Like it (Eroa) - Be the first resident of your celestial body to create a System qualified entity!
Receive Entity Enhancement Token (Exceptional) x1
Receive Free xp x35000

 Achievement Earned: Dungeon Master (Eroa) - Be the first resident of your celestial body to create or own a Dungeon!
Receive Dungeon Enhancement Token (Superior) x2
Receive Free xp x10000

Alert: Your familiar has gained self awareness. While still bound to you, your behaviour and actions (including those in the past) may affect their loyalty towards you.

 “How do you feel, Alice?” Marcus asked after seeing the system messages. “I feel… somewhat overwhelmed, I think. It’s quite different, being truly aware.” Alice replied, her voice mixed with emotion. “Take your time.” He replied with a chuckle.

“Thank you for granting me awareness, Master Grey.” Alice spoke after taking some time to collect herself. “Please just call me Marcus, Alice. You and I are partners, after all.” He said. There was a distinct pause momentarily before Alice replied again. “As you say, Marcus. We should finish working through the upgrades you have available.”

Following this, Marcus tapped the Nexus Enhancement Token (Advanced) in his inventory, and looked through the available upgrades before settling on Panopticon.

Panopticon          Gain Sensor Grid facility, enabling the monitoring of the fortress and its surroundings. Greatly improved analytics and monitoring of residents for incidences of crime, violence, and revolt.

 “Well, that’s most of the tokens out of the way now, Alice. What are your thoughts in terms of defences?” Marcus asked. At this point, he felt quite drained by everything, despite the fact that he and Alice had only been working away at the upgrades for roughly 10 minutes.

“Marcus, among the facilities, there’s one that I think is important we get immediately.” Alice said. “The Communications Network will allow us to distribute information for now, and inform people of our location once people begin gaining Classes. Advancing your class will be very difficult to advance without residents, after all.”

“Alright, Alice. I’ll leave handling the upgrades to use, but please don’t use up all of my Free xp, just in case there’s an emergency.” Marcus said, pulling out his cell phone.

Going through his cell phone, he called up his on-again-off-again girlfriend Jessica first, hoping to convince her at least to come. “Marcus?” Her voice sounded nervous on the phone. “Jess, are you in town?” He asked. “Yeah, what the hell is this? Do you know what’s going on?” She asked. “Grab some clothes and essentials and get in your car. If you hurry, you can meet up with my brother and Lucy. It’s not safe to stay in the city.” He said. “They’re coming to meet me out at my dad’s camping spot.”

“Marcus, why on Eroa would I want to hide out in the woods?” Jess asked skeptically. “Right after that message, I got ‘opted in’ to the System. Pretty soon, there’s going to be monsters and who knows what else all over the place, and I’m not going to be able to get to you to help.” He said. “Look, regardless of how our relationship has been, I don’t want to see anything happen to you. Please trust me, and drive out here right away. I’ve gotta call other people to let them know… Be safe, Jess.”

Feeling conflicted, he ended the call before he began texting his friends and colleagues about the situation. Shortly afterwards, the Communications Network was active, and Alice began broadcasting Greywall’s location, urging people to evacuate.

~

Dave had just finished getting his daughters settled in the car when a small hatchback pulled up near the driveway. “Jess? Did Marcus call you?” He asked, seeing her get out of the vehicle. “Yeah, he said it isn’t safe in the city, and you and Lucy are going to meet him at your dad’s camping spot?” She asked confused.

“Yeah. We’re ready to go here, if you want to follow us up. It’s up on Mount Lyre right next to a lake.” Reaching into a camping pack, Dave pulled out a handheld two-way radio, tossing it to Jess. “Hop in your car, we’ll talk on the way up. Don’t want to get boxed in when it hits the fan.” He said, taking another with him into the driver seat of his SUV.

They made good time making their way out of town, Dave had been hesitant to take more than 20 minutes before moving out, afraid they’d get stuck in traffic if there was an exodus. It was just when they’d made their way onto the highway heading north when they heard a message warning people about the dangers associated with the monsters appearing. It went on to detail how opting into the System could grant Classes, allowing people to combat the monsters, and recommended seeking shelter for those who hadn’t.

 The family was listening to the broadcast when Dave’s phone rang. “Marcus, Luce and I are on the way there, and Jess is following us. Is this warning on the radio from your end?” He asked, putting his brother on speaker-phone.

“Yeah, that’s Alice, my familiar. Imagine if the smartest person in the world had a supercomputer in their head.” He said laughing, leaving Dave slightly stunned. “Your analogy is wildly inaccurate, Marcus.” A cool feminine voice came across. “Hello, I’m Alice. I’m a synthetic consciousness.” “Hey, Alice. I’m David, Marcus’ brother.” He replied.

“David, from the looks of things, you might encounter a small cluster of monsters approximately 20km ahead of your current position. A dungeon formed nearby, and appears to have sent out scouts.” She said calmly. Dave’s knuckles were white as he gripped the wheel tightly hearing these words. “OK. Monsters. Is there another route we can take?” He asked, worried.

“It won’t be a problem. By that point, you’ll be in range for me to deploy magic to protect you, and the vehicle behind you.” She said. “I would suggest increasing your speed to 150km/h however.” Hearing all of this, Lucy relayed it to Jess in the other car as they drew closer to where the monsters were supposed to be. “Alright, David. Just maintain this speed.” Alice’s voice said.

Up ahead, they saw a group of what looked to be large feathered reptiles racing across the land ridden by small furry creatures carrying primitive weapons. “Actual freaking monsters. Holy crap.” Dave muttered. As the squad of creatures turned towards their vehicles, Dave felt a sense of panic rise as they got closer and closer to the vehicles.

Just as his nerve was about to break with two of the raptors and their riders approaching the vehicle from the side, a film of light blanketed the SUV, forming an impervious shield around it. Light surged as they struck the shield repeatedly, but soon the cars had broken through, leaving the raptors and their riders far behind as the cars made their way towards Mount Lyre.

In the passenger seat, Lucy had a worried look upon her face while the children were fortunately asleep in the back, unaware of how things had progressed. “Honey… monsters? Is this going to be our life now?” Lucy whispered, staring out the window. “Don’t worry Luce. Marcus said his place is safe, and that monsters won’t be able to get in.” He replied with a confidence he definitely didn’t feel. “We’re going to figure this all out. I’m not letting anything happen to you or the girls.”

“David, Lucy. The rest of the way is clear. Drive safely, and we’ll see you when you get here.” Alice spoke reassuringly.

~

Marcus was looking through the list of facilities and upgrades he and Alice had chosen as he waited by the gate for his family and Jess to arrive.

Total: 64,000xp

That was expensive. And there’s the 125xp for the Barrier I spell, too. That’s almost all of my xp gone. Marcus was hesitant to spend his xp at the moment, as aside from determining one’s level, it was also the system’s primary currency from what Marcus could tell.

Despite buying so many upgrades and facilities, he still had choices to make, as structures would gain enhancements as they increased in tiers. Fortunately, Alice took care of most of those. After a brief discussion, Marcus had told Alice to choose whatever would allow her to make the most out of what they had, which unsurprisingly meant the enhancements leaned heavily towards automation, while the Mage Tower had gotten the Tactical Magic and Magic Amplification upgrades, allowing magic to be deployed indirectly via the Map Room, and it’s effects and range would be drastically enhanced.

While he was still thinking about the various upgrades and facilities, he heard the sound of vehicles approaching, and moved to the front gate to see his brother’s SUV pulling up. Waving them in, the vehicles carefully navigated the turns through the gates and into the interior of the fortress before coming to a stop.

As everyone exited the vehicles, they stared around in wonder at the high walls and the various buildings that were present in what was an empty patch of nature a few hours ago. “Wow, Marcus. You weren’t kidding.” Dave said as he approached his brother and gripped him in a hug. “Glad you guys made it safely.” Marcus said with a chuckle. “Alice did a lot of the heavy lifting in terms of setting this place up. Wanted to make sure we had everything we’d need.”

“Hey, Jess. Glad you made it here too. Once we get the cars parked, I’ll take you guys on a tour. But first, I want to see my nieces!” Marcus’ voice rose in a playful mock roar as he approached the two young girls, scooping them up in his arms as he spun them around. “Hey, kiddos. A lot of stuff has happened, but now you two are gonna be living in a castle like real princesses. How’s that sound?” He asked, showing them the Keep sitting on the lake.

Rather than ancient, it looked like a modern and elegant structure fitted with large glass windows higher up, while the main construction was of metal and stone. There were large terraces and gardens accessible from the highest floors ensuring the safety and comfort of the residents. Much like on the exterior walls, the Keep was also fitted with automated turrets, and the raised entryway was accessible via a drawbridge that extended over the water and onto a ramp.

After parking the cars, Dave took them on a tour of the various buildings, passing by the Hospital, Mage Tower, and Library to arrive at the Guild Office. “So, I figure you guys probably haven’t had a chance to get access to the System, but the Guild Office here will let you do that without needing to find a Seed.” Marcus said. “Alice suggested this, because everything purchased through the System costs xp, and you can only gain xp by being part of it.” He explained.

“There’s a lot of Classes to choose from, and you can change them too for a price. My class lets me build this place up, and then earn xp by charging people to stay here and for use of the facilities.” Hearing this, Jess spoke up worried. “Are you really going to charge people for safety? Doesn’t that seem a bit selfish?” She asked.

“I’ve already spent 64,000xp just to do this much, and it would have been another 250,000xp if it wasn’t my first fortress.” He replied. “I haven’t even raised my level at all yet, but that would have gotten me… Hey Alice, what level would I reach if I spent all that xp levelling up?” “Reaching level 15 costs 52,000xp total, which is equivalent to becoming a superhuman several times over. You could have also exchanged that amount for several dozen kilogrammes of refined gold from the Market.” Alice replied.

“Marcus’ point of concern is quite valid. If he were to allow the resources here to be drained freely, Greywall’s maintenance costs could likely be sustained for no more than three months, at which point the increased human presence in the area would attract large quantities of monsters.” Alice’s tone grew lower as she spoke. “The end result would be that this region would see a large boost in monster population and level as the people unable or unwilling to defend themselves fed their growth.”