Scion of Humanity

While Jordan shook his hand to relieve the pain, Blake received a notification.

You have gained 10m nano for completing a directive.

He glanced over at the faction hall, and saw that it had finally completed. The building was no longer transparent, and there was a pile of dirt where the materials once stood.

Huh, I wonder if I’ll get half the nano back for every building I complete?

Blake dismissed the message and checked his interface to see his new directive.

Assign a non-combat class to a faction member.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Jordan’s eyes glaze as he waved his hand back and forth before his eyes.

“Hey dad, can you walk Jordan through how to use the interface while I give mom her class?”

“Sure.”

“Thanks,” he nodded to his father before he turned to his mother with a smile. “Let’s go inside the hall and make you a Chancellor.”

As they walked into the building together, his mother asked, “What’s being assembled over there?” she gestured toward the foot high walls to their north.

“Oh, that’s the warehouse. I talked to Metal and that’s the building he suggested I take as my reward. He said it’ll save us the most time.”

“You seem to be trusting that... creature a lot.”

“We came to an agreement.”

There was no door on the building, nor glass in the two windows. Instead, he saw that they could be closed by a crude mechanism which allowed wooden slats to slide down. In the center of the hut was a wooden table and a single chair.

Atop the table stood a large white sphere, almost a foot in diameter. It rested atop a stand and seemed to glow from within as its cloudy surface swirled.

“I thought we were going to talk about the reward and decide what we’ll choose together?” she admonished him.

Blake shrugged apologetically. “Sorry. I made a deal with Metal, and he’s giving me good advice now. Evidently, he knows what he’s talking about with building a faction town and gave me all kinds of good information. When I told him I wanted to speed up building the town, he suggested the warehouse.”

“Blake, I know this is your faction, but I’d still like to be in the loop with these things.”

“Okay. Sorry, running a faction is kind of new to me.” Then, he smiled. “That’s why I have you.”

“So, is that crystal ball supposed to give me a class?” she asked.

“Not a clue, let me touch it and find out.”

He placed his hands on the sphere, and a menu appeared before him. The first option on the list was ‘Status’. After he selected it, the main menu was replaced with a submenu that contained the words, ‘Town’, ‘Faction Members’, and ‘Treasury’.

Blake first chose the ‘Treasury’ option, and saw that it was completely empty. At the bottom of the status was an option to deposit nano.

Might as well.

Blake moved all twenty-three million nano in his reserves to the town. Then, he selected ‘Faction Members’. It listed all four of his family members, but not Jordan.

I can fix that real quick.

He sent Jordan an invitation to the faction and a quick message through the interface that explained what it meant. A few moments later, Jordan joined the faction member list.

When that was complete, he mentally clicked on ‘Town’. It stated they were a level 1 town with a single completed building with a warehouse under construction. The faction hall showed as unassigned, despite them both currently occupying it.

I suppose I’ll have to assign Mom to the building.

He backed out to the main menu, and then selected ‘Assign non-combat classification’. A very long list of options was presented to him. He scrolled through the list until he found ‘Chancellor’. After he selected it, the interface asked for the intended faction member to touch the ‘Management Sphere’,

Ah, that’s what it’s called.

“Hey Mom, can you put your hands on the Management Sphere, too?”

She nodded and hesitantly placed her fingers on the crystal. He confirmed his selection, and watched as his mother’s eyes glazed. She nodded absently to herself as she read through the prompt. Finally, she agreed and he received a notification.

You have gained 1m nano for completing a directive.

Blake immediately transferred the nano to the faction and then checked his new directive. The Architect wanted him to upgrade the faction hall to level two.

I can do that.

He shared the new directive with his mother and then backed out to the Management Sphere’s main menu and selected ‘Build’. Suddenly, a bird’s eye view of his town appeared before him. He saw that Metal was correct, the town boundary extended past the faction hall for a little over five hundred feet.

To his right was a list of structures he could choose from. Unfortunately, most were grayed out and stated that the prerequisites were not met. That included the upgraded faction hall. He zoomed in on their current location, and watched his father animatedly talk to Jordan in real time, just outside the faction hall.

Cool.

He was interrupted from his exploration when his mother said, “I have a new directive.”

He looked up at her and asked, “What’s that?”

“It wants me to appoint a ‘Constructor’.”

“Go ahead,” he encouraged.

His mother turned and yelled, “Hey Jordan, can you come here for a moment?” A few seconds later, he entered the hut, and she added, “Can you touch the crystal?”

He frowned, but slowly reached out toward the sphere.

Once his fingers brushed against the object, she smiled and said, “Done”

“Uh… don’t you have to touch the Management Sphere for that, too?”

She shook her head. “No, my class lets me manage the town remotely.”

“That’s handy. I wish I…” His statement was interrupted by a groan from Jordan. Suddenly, his hands shot to his head, and he collapsed to the ground in pain.

“Do we need an ambulance?” Peter asked, after he raced to the prone form.

“No,” Blake answered. “He’s fine.”

He had seen the sight many times over the years. Every time someone learned a skill that required them to absorb a large amount of information, they became temporarily catatonic. The nanomachines downloaded the data directly to their brain, which subsequently overloaded it.

When his father looked up from the inert body, Blake added, “He’s just learning his new class skills. He’ll wake back up in a moment.”

A few moments later, Blake’s words came true.

Jordan moaned and rubbed his head. “That hit me like a ton of bricks.”

“Sorry I didn't warn you. That’s what happens when the Architect downloads a lot of information directly to your brain,” Blake explained.

“Why didn’t that happen to me?” his mother asked, behind him.

He shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess your class didn’t need a data download. What’s your next directive?”

His mother frowned. “It says we need to build a ‘Metal Workshop’.”

“Now THAT’s strange.” Jordan blurted. When everyone stared at him, he explained, “The moment you mentioned that building, everything needed to build it suddenly popped in my head. It’s like I’d done the job hundreds of times.”

“Good,” Blake smiled. “At least one of us knows what we’re doing. How much will it cost us?”

Before Jordan could answer, Donna said, “It has a long list of materials needed. Wood, stone, iron, wool, and a few others, but the total nano cost is one hundred million.”

Damn. That’s a lot.

“Uh, I only have a quarter of that right now. It’ll be another day at least before I can come up with the nano.”

Donna tilted her head to the side as she read her interface. “It says a Constructor can reduce the nano required.”

“By how much?” he asked.

She shrugged. “It just says, ‘Variable’.”

“I can answer that,” Jordan spoke up after he regained his feet. “If I assemble the structure myself, I’ll reduce the nano requirement by fifty percent. I can bring it down even more if the materials are refined.”

“How do we refine the materials?” he asked.

“We don’t. Not without the right classes and buildings, at least.” Then he smiled. “But, we can get pretty close if you’re willing to spend the cash.”

Suddenly, Blake’s eyes lit up. “Why didn’t I think of that!” His parents looked confused, so he explained. “We have two big hardware stores with everything we need, just five miles from here.”

“You mean, we can buy lumber and it’ll count?” Peter asked.

“Sure will,” Jordan nodded. “We can buy everything else we need as well.”

“How much will that reduce the nano cost?” Blake asked.

“Don’t rightly know,” Jordan admitted in his southern drawl. “I suppose we’ll have to try it and see.”

“Looks like we need to make a trip to Builder Depot.” Donna said. “Are you going to need any tools or machine rentals?”

Jordan frowned. “I don’t think a rental would be a good idea. I think it interferes with the nanos or some such.” Then he smiled. “I already have some tools in the back of my truck, but I can always use a few more.”

“Whatever you need,” Donna agreed. “If you drive us there, we can pay for everything, rent a flat-bed trailer, and help you load it up. After that, you can drop us off near our car. I’m sure the cop is wondering where we’re at.”

Peter grinned. “What’s it been, seven hours now? I don’t think we brought enough water for that long of a hike.”

Donna laughed. “Well, before we go, let me place the building, so I don’t have to come back.”

“Metal said not to place anything near the warehouse or faction hall. They’ll need room to expand.” Blake interjected.

She nodded as she walked outside the crowded room and then concentrated. Just as the others caught up to her, she said, “Done.”

The moment she finished, Jordan jumped. “Now that’s a strange sight.” After he recovered, he walked forward and waved his hand through the air.

“Uh… what’s going on?” Peter asked.

“I see a 3D hologram that shows me what it’ll look like when it's completed.” Donna explained. “It looks like Jordan sees it too.” His mother turned to Blake. “What about you?”

He shook his head. “Nope. I guess I can only see it when I place it.”

Jordan turned toward them and said, “I wish I had this when I was doin’ my contracts. It’d sure make things easier.”

“How long will it take to build the Metal Workshop?” he asked.

“It says here it will take twelve hours,” his mother answered.

Jordan shook his head. “That’s how long those nanos will take. It’ll be much longer for me.”

“How much longer?” Blake asked.

Jordan shrugged. “Don’t rightly know. But, if I had to guess, at least twenty hours. If you add in the time at Builder Depot, meals, sleep, and the unknown, I figure three days.”

“Three days!” Blake complained. “I can make the hundred million by tomorrow and have the nanos build it by then.”

“Well, it’s your faction. If you decide to go that route, I won’t be offended. But, I’ll point out that you’d only save a day that way.”

He’s right, and I need the nano for my class. I can’t keep eating this much food.

“Sorry, you’re right.” Blake shook his head. “I guess I was just surprised. I want the town built as soon as possible.”

Blake’s stomach rumbled.

“And it’s time for me to eat again,” he announced.

“Are you okay?” Peter asked. “You just ate.”

Blake nodded. “Yeah, but the sooner I can choose my class, the sooner I can stop eating ten thousand calories a day.”

“Now that’s impressive.” Jordan said, and looked at his rail-thin body. “Where does it all go?”

“To the nanomachines,” he answered wryly.

Blake turned to his mother. “You should be able to invite people to the faction now. If you need more nano, you have access to the faction treasury. I put twenty-five million in it.”

Donna sighed. “The nanos not the problem. Where am I going to find someone that work metal?”

“You don’t have to,” Blake answered. “You just need to find someone trustworthy that’s willing to work. The Architect will provide all the information they need.”

“If hard workers are all you need, I know a few boys that are outta work,” Jordan offered.

Donna glanced at Blake.

“Don’t look at me, you’re the Chancellor. “ He smiled. “That’s your headache, not mine. I’m going to go make some more nano while you guys figure everything out.”