While she waited she sipped on some coffee and reviewed what was going on around the base and in London. The nanites were spreading in both cities and repairing things as they went along. She made sure that they only tried to repair infrastructure within the Safe Zone. Outside of that area, outside of the Safe Zone, but within the 25-mile nanite radius, the nanites were breaking everything down and preparing the land for farming.
Pandora opened her notifications and pulled up her possible class choices. Tier 2 consisted of Advanced and Master Class choices. One of the basic differences between an Advanced Class and a Master Class was that Advanced Classes only received 16 attributes per level while Master Classes received 20. It also looked like Master Classes received more combined Hit Points, Stamina, Mana, and Psychic Energy though how much each category received was class-specific. Advanced Classes seemed to receive 30 points while Master Classes received 40 points per level. Fighter and Rogue-type classes put a lot of points in Stamina, Mage-types received Mana, and the few Psychic Classes she saw put a lot of their points into Psychic Energy.
One of the classes she’d qualified for had been something called a Psionic Stalker. It had been a Master Class choice. Stamina would have received 5 points per level, Mana 10, and Psychic Energy 25. The Starting Class Skill had been Dominate which would have allowed her to suppress and control those of with weaker minds. While she could see the usefulness of such a skill, subjecting others to her will forcefully was not something she wanted to do. Her memories from her mother and father showed her that if they found out she acted like that, they would be less than pleased with her. Well, Mom would probably understand, but she had changed since she met her father. She could pick up the skill eventually and only use it against people who crossed her, Father would understand that wouldn’t he? Better not to have to find out.
So, Pandora sipped her coffee and looked over the Advanced Class choices she had so she could get a feel for what was available to her while she waited for Caspa and Thor to return. With nanites spreading throughout Scarborough and London Pandora also checked on Callum, and the rest of the party as well. Cedrik was being his common smart-ass self, while Asling, Callum, and Pythias worked hard to help anyone who needed help. Robert was working with some individuals who had picked up magic classes. He was busy helping them learn how to use their skills and spells to their utmost.
With nanites replenishing supplies as needed the food shortages had been taken care of and almost everyone who was left in London was doing well. As she’d discovered earlier, there were a lot more women than men and they were stepping forward to help out as much as possible. Of course, Pythias and Robert were drawing a lot of attention as two members of another exotic species that the women they were working around found interesting. Pythias remained stoic while Robert became flustered. Cedrik, a halfling, was also garnering a lot of attention from the ladies. A lot more attention than Pandora was comfortable keeping an eye on, so she’d sent a message to Thor to keep an eye on him and react if he needed help. How the hell had three 6-foot-tall women gone to…you know what, she was going to stop thinking about his promiscuous behavior right now.
Closer to home, or at least where she called home, Mistress Carpenter and Dr. Broyles were working hard to help everyone displaced by the disaster that had happened. For them, it had been a simple redefinition as they went from helping subjugated women and girls to helping everyone who had been displaced or traumatized by the integration of the SYSTEM. There was a completely secure part of the underground base about a mile down that Thor had helped Abi create. From Dad’s memories, she realized that it looked a lot like the Genesis Cave that was created in the Asteroid in the second Star Trek movie. Complete with artificial sunlight, day-night cycles, and even farmland. It was one of the few places that Pandora was completely infatuated with because it was so artificial but looked and felt like she was outside when she’d visited it. There was even animal life that had been transplanted and since it was in a Safe Zone, it was completely safe from monsters.
Mistress Carpenter and Dr. Broyles brought the most traumatized individuals to what was being called Sanctuary to help them decompress and ease their way into this new world. Pandora sincerely hoped that part of the SYSTEM’s function was to help people adapt or stabilize their brain chemistry after trauma. Her father’s memories contained fictional examples of a SYSTEM-like entity doing that. She wasn’t sure if that was true here, but she hoped so.
As for herself, she didn’t have a problem with all of the changes because her life had been nothing but chaos from immediately after her birth. There were lulls but they were short. Besides she had Caspa, and now Thor to help her. She knew that some people would never leave Sanctuary but they could acclimate into this new world and help others.
Pandora was pulled from her thoughts as two portals opened and Caspa and Thor stepped through. Caspa sat down opposite Pandora while Thor pulled up a chair and sat at the end of the table.
“It looks like both of you were having a bit of fun while I was napping,” Pandora said.
“Yep, just checking out the rest of the planet,” Caspa said.
“I was running around and seeing what effect our destruction of the giant creatures had,” Thor said
“And?” Pandora said.
“And it looks like the release of mana back into the environment has accelerated monster spawning and plant growth all over the planet. Everything is growing and spawning at an accelerated rate.”
“How accelerated?” Pandora asked.
“Well, you know how they replant forests over in Oregon and Washington back where Adam is from. They do that here too. A crop of trees that were only planted two years ago is the same size as the Red Wood forest. The locals say it wasn’t like that 6 months ago,” Thor said.
“So, killing the monsters released all of the mana back into the environment. That will be good for leveling at least,” Pandora said.
“True, unless the monster’s level a lot faster than people. Besides, we should be able to handle it if it gets out of hand,” Pandora said.
“That’s the thing about system imbalances Pandora, Once they go out of whack it’s hard to bring that back. Look at you, or us as an example. Is there anyone of an equal level to you that would even have a chance against you? Unless they had benefits similar to yours of course?” Thor asked.
“I see your point,” Pandora said in agreement, “But that’s not why I asked you two to come back. I need to choose my Tier 2 class and I wanted everyone present. Also, I wanted to get your opinions before I choose.
“What kind of choices do you have?” Caspa asked.
“Well, we have a lot of Advanced classes to choose from but I think they’re all a bust. Most follow the physical warrior line of thinking, though there are a few Artificers and mage classes as well. Still, nothing that screams that it’s perfect for our circumstances,” Pandora said
“And the Master classes that are available?” Caspa asked.
Pandora opened a Status Screen and pulled up the Master classes with a brief description of each. Next, she made the window visible to the other two.
Psionic Stalker - Just No! I will not have a class with the word Stalker in it!
Umbral Dragon – You have embraced your Racial Heritage. Umbral Dragons are incredibly rare and hail from the Planes of Shadow and Twilight. You have accepted your heritage.
SYSTEM Administrator – Information for this Class is only available if chosen.
Big Game Hunter – You relish in the challenge of taking on bigger and better challenges. In addition to access to rare skills that allow you to take on those creatures of a higher level, XP and Treasure rewards are increased. Creatures of equal or lower level offer half as much XP and Treasure.
Orb Master – An Orb Master receives significant bonuses when utilizing Wizard Orbs and similar magic items. In addition to unique skills and spells the ability to artifice and enchant replacement Wizard Orbs may be earned. Members of this Class may kill their targets without lifting a finger to do so.
Replicator – As a Creature of Chaos you may replicate yourself and send those replicants out into the world. The level and power of those replicants is directly proportional to the amount of Mana or Chaos invested in their construction.
Thor and Caspa both looked over the list for a moment. Caspa giggled, and Thor cleared his throat in obvious reaction to her comment about the Stalker class. Then they looked at each other and said simultaneously, “Replicator?”
“That or System Administrator?” Pandora asked.
“If I’m looking at this right and also remembering what Titles and Perks you have, it looks like your Master Class choices all pulled from those, even the class you’re disregarding,” Thor said.
“How so?” Pandora asked.
“Well, Umbral Dragon is from your Racial Perk. System Administrator is probably because of your SYSTEM Node Access perk. Big Game Hunter is for your Exterminator Title and Orb Master is obviously because of the way the Wizard Orbs were absorbed by you. Finally, Replicator is probably because of your Triumvirate and Creature of Chaos perk and ability respectively.”
“Okay, why does that matter?” Pandora asked.
“Well, if that’s true then you will most likely see some of these choices, at least the Epic version of those choices, become available when you're choosing your Tier 3, Epic Class,” Thor said.
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
“Yeah that makes sense,” Pandora agreed, “Though if that’s the case, my question becomes, if I take this class and I make replicants, does all that XP get pooled? Does each earn its own XP after that? How does it all work?”
“No way to know unless you pick it, but if you can make replicants and get more of yourself, ourselves, out there helping everyone, does it matter?” Caspa asked.
“Probably not,” Pandora said.
Pandora pulled up the Class and shared it with Thor and Caspa so they could review it together
Class: Replicator
The Replicator allows the individuals holding this class to learn how to replicate anything. Class skills granted by this class will unlock various categories that can be replicated up to and including Magical Artifacts.
Rarity: Master
Attributes Per Level: 20
Bonus Attributes every 5 levels including level 1: +3 to Intelligence, +3 to Willpower +3 Endurance, +2 Constitution
Hit Points per Level: 10
Stamina per Level: 10
Mana per level: 20
Psychic Energy: 0
Starting Class Skill
Replicate Compounds: Cost to Cast: Variable / Range: (10 + Intelligence Attribute Modifier) Feet.
Replicate Compounds can be utilized to create 1 cubic foot per skill level of a common compound. (A common compound consisting of 5 or less elements) for 100 mana or 50 chaos points.
Note: As skill level increases Mana cost is decreased by 1. Also, for each skill level, an additional cubic foot of the compound can be created. For instance, at Skill Level 3, three cubic feet of water could be created for 291 mana.
Skills Points per level: 4
Spell Points per level 1:
Psionic Skill Points per level: 0
Advantages:
- Chaos may be utilized to power Replicator class skills at ? cost rounded up.
- Chaos may be absorbed from a source of Chaos directly with no ill effect. (Not this Advantage does not convey immunity to Chaos. If the holder of this class is not immune to chaos all normal hazards of exposure to chaos apply.)
Disadvantages:
- The holder of this class may work with order-based Abilities, Skills, and Spells but at double the listed cost.
“Pandora?” Thor asked hesitantly.”
“Yes, Thor.”
“You need to choose this class,” he said.
“Why?” Pandora asked.
“If I’m reading this right, and I’m sure that I am, once you unlock the ability to create Replicants of yourself you’ll be able to spend Chaos to create duplicates of yourself and send them out,” Thor said.
“Why is that important?” Caspa asked.
“Pandora can spend Chaos to create those Replicants,” Thor said.
“So,” Caspa said.
“So, We have a lot of Chaos,” Thor said.
“Oh,” Capsa said.
“Oh!” Pandora said with a little more enthusiasm. “Even if it costs a lot to make a Replicant I can spend the chaos I have on them and make a lot of them.”
Pandora paused for a moment as she considered what that would mean. Without seeing the Class Skill that would let her duplicate herself it was hard to tell if choosing this class would be worth it but having a Class that improved her Mold Chaos skill would be extremely useful.
Pandora accepted Replicator as her Tier 2, Master Class. Six new Notifications appeared; one class skill for every 10 levels in the Master Class.
You have unlocked the Class Skill, Replicate Complex Compounds
You have unlocked the Class Skill, Replicate Simple Life
You have unlocked the Class Skill, Replicate Plant Life
You have unlocked the Class skill, Replicate Animal Life
You have unlocked the Class Skill, Replicate Higher Life Form
You have unlocked the Class Skill, Replicant.
Pandora skimmed the titles until she reached Replicate Higher Life-Form
Replicate Higher Life Form
This is a Channeled Class Skill and will allow you to create a new vessel for the target and transfer their soul into it. The replicated body can be set to any age you desire but retains all previous abilities, perks, titles, skills, and spells. Additionally, the replicant’s base attributes can be adjusted by 1% per class skill level either to improve or worsen the target. Simply put, you may create a new body for the target, make changes to that body, and then transfer their consciousness and soul to that body.
Mana cost = 100 mana multiplied by the sum of Strength, Agility, Dexterity, Endurance, Constitution, Perception, Intelligence, Wisdom, Willpower, Charisma, and body weight of the creature being replicated before any adjustments
Well, damn, if she had a giant mana pool and was a basic wizard type she could sell the ability to reset someone’s age and even improve their attributes a bit. Of course, if she was normal, doing so for anyone of sufficiently high level would take a long time.
As it was, if she tried to create a duplicate of herself with mana it would take 48 hours if she only used her mana regeneration rate. If she used Chaos she could pay the cost immediately. Still, eventually, she might run out so she calculated how long it would take utilizing Chaos Conversion to create Chaos from her other resource pools using their regeneration rates and came up with 3 hours. That conversion factor of 1 to 3 was nice.
As she thought about the Class Skill she realized that it must be incredibly rare because none of Thor’s memories contained it.
“Caspa, have you ever seen anything like this before?”
“As a reminder, I am intent made manifest during your first trip through Primal Chaos. I do not have memories as you think of them. What I can say is that the skill seems familiar to me and makes sense for those creatures comprised of chaos,” Caspa said.
“How so?” Pandora asked.
“Chaos does not die. Those creatures of chaos that evolve sentience or gain intelligence would want a way to repair themselves. This seems like the perfect way to repair a failing body and continue existing if you think about it,” Caspa explained.
“That does make sense,” Thor agreed, “If a creature of chaos was severely injured they could find one of their brethren with this skill and be in a new body almost immediately.”
“Let’s see what Replicant does,” Pandora said as she opened the notification for the Class Skill she’d unlocked at Level 60.
Replicant
This is a Channeled Class Skill and will allow you to create duplicates of yourself. The replicant is a full clone and copy of yourself. Replicants contain all previous abilities, perks, titles, skills, and spells. Bodies may not be adjusted, they are copies of yourself.
Mana cost = 100 mana multiplied by the sum of Strength, Agility, Dexterity, Endurance, Constitution, Perception, Intelligence, Wisdom, Willpower, Charisma, and body weight.
All Replicants are connected to your soul. As such all increases in abilities and levels are mimicked by the Replicant. Additionally, Replicants may kill and earn XP at a reduced rate. Any XP earned by a replicant is reduced by half before it is added to your total XP. Replicants do NOT track individual XP. Skill use, however, is not affected. Skill experience is earned at its normal rate as skill use is linked through all replicants and the Original.
Additionally, All Replicants have access to a single Replicant Storage area which can hold 5 cubic feet of material. Treasure in the form of Credits is added to your normal credits. Physical treasure is added to Replicant Storage which and be accessed and cleared out by you at any time. Replicant Storage will level as all other skills do.
Pandora read over the skill greedily. She could do a lot with this skill. A lot. “Let’s join back up, I want to try this out,” Pandora said.
Caspa and Thor held out a hand to Pandora. Once they touched the three became one as Pandora remained seated. Next, she activated her skill Triumvirate which merged Caspa, Thor, and Pandora. With Thor’s primary processing power now merged with Caspa and Pandora a few possibilities came to mind about how to use her new Class.
Intuitively she reached her hand toward the seat across from herself and willed a replicant of herself into existence.
Would you like to create a Replicant for 110,304,300 Mana, Yes or No?
Pandora read the prompt. The Class skill was using her base attributes and not her attributes after the Efficiency bonuses. That was a lot of Mana and she didn’t want to wait 48 days so she modified her skill settings to initially ask to pay the cost to make a replicant with Chaos instead of Mana which also reduced the cost by half. Once that was done she chose “Yes” and created a replicant of herself for 55,152,150 Chaos.
Chaos flowed from her fingertips and swirled into a nude Clone of herself sitting in the seat across from her. The Replicant’s body shimmered and was covered with identical clothing to her own. Pandora watched as her twin looked around the room, “How do you feel?” Pandora asked.
“So, I’m the Replicant,” Pandora’s clone said in a voice identical to her own, “ I don’t feel any different. All of my attributes look right and I can feel the Triumvirate, Wait, oh okay, I only have 560 Chaos which is the amount I receive from both Classes for the levels we have. None of the extra Chaos you have was transferred. Hold on for a second. Yep, Chaos Conversion works and I’m filling my pool of chaos. Nowhere near as much as you have but I can create Chaos with Chaos Conversion very quickly with our attributes.,” The Replicant said.
Pandora reached over and touched her Replicant’s shoulder as she will 1 million Chaos into her, “There’s one million, now try to will some of it back into me, no more than 1,000. I just want to test something,” Pandora said as she withdrew her hand.
The replicant reached over, touched her shoulder, and sure enough 1,000 chaos was transferred to her,” It worked, oh that is so broken,” The Replicant said.
“My thoughts exactly,” Pandora said.
“Yeah, if you make 10 replicants we can refill our pools at a rate of 536,700 chaos every 10 seconds. Make that 20 of us and that’s over a million per turn,” The replicant said.
“Now that you have over a million chaos, could you check and see if you can split into 3 clones? Is there a Caspa and Thor with you as well?” Pandora asked.
The replicant stood and shimmered as she separated into 3 copies of herself. The one in the middle said, “Yep, all three of us are here. Though our attributes all took that hit you take when you do the same thing. Also, we can talk mentally but we can’t hear or send thoughts to you.”
“Staying connected, we can worry about later. I’m sure you can create a nanite interface and connect to us with Nanite Communication. We can work those kinks out technologically. How about the wizard orbs, can you make wizard orbs? Can you make a set for each clone?” Pandora asked.
Three sets of wizard orbs appeared with one set of 21 orbs around each body. The middle clone smiled, “Yep, we all have access to all of your abilities, perks, skills, and spells,” The middle replicant said.
“I guess it’s time to get to work then, London?” Pandora asked.
“London,” The clone agreed as the clones absorbed the wizard orbs and then the three clones merged back into the original replicant. A Portal opened and the replicant was gone.
Pandora sent a quick message explaining what was going on and not to be concerned when multiple requests from herself started hitting the portals. Next, Pandora sent off a command to the portal network. A portal opened and she stepped into her bedroom which had been converted into three small bedrooms for when Caspa and Thor separated from her.
Pandora moved a chair beside the bed and sat down. She’d come back to her room because If every replicant she created appeared nude she should probably do this somewhere private. Also, no reason to give away all her secrets, though anyone who had been in the mess hall closest to the City Node would have had to be someone somewhat trustworthy. Still better safe than sorry.
Pandora sat down on her bed and started making Replicants.