Two Weeks Ago

USAF Weather Monitoring Station

250 miles north of Anchorage, Alaska

“You all finished?” Samaira asked.

“I think so,” Anya said with a sigh as she studied her menu with Felix.

The two women were alone in something called a quonset hut. It was like a cylinder had been bisected lengthwise and laid on the flat edge: a straight building with curved walls and a roof made out of cheap metal and with little in the way on insulation. It was mid-March, but it still felt like deep winter far up north. It was only four in the afternoon but it was pitch black outside and the wind howled and sent thick flurries of snow past the hut’s windows. If Anya looked at them long enough, it was easy to imagine the hut as some kind of crude starship, flying through the void of space past countless white and distant stars.

The quonset hut could have held a dozen people or more, but it was empty save for the two of them. There each had their own bed, dresser, and wardrobe. They’d managed to cheer the place up a little with some old rugs, but it was mostly barren. It didn’t bother Anya too much since they only had to stay here for a little bit.

Gary said his factory would be finished in a matter of days and then they could stay there, but for now, the scrambler bands he’d made would keep them safe enough. Until then, the US government was putting all hosts as far outside of populated areas as possible. Renn had messaged them after the attack on New Delhi, advising all hosts to avoid gathering in groups of more than four or five for longer than a few hours. It apparently made their signals stronger or easier to track, even with Gary’s scrambler bands.

The President and other government officials liked the idea of scattering their hosts around anyway, so they’d all been sent to remote areas. Anya and Samaira had been “stationed” at an out-of-the-way government weather station that was mostly abandoned save for a skeleton crew of miserable airmen and civilian meteorologists. Immonen was officially on-loan from Finland, but he was doing work in Asia somewhere. Pan hated the cold, and was somewhere in Texas with a new host who had joined up after the attack on New Delhi. The new host was a woman, and psychic, but Anya didn’t know much else. Whenever she messaged Pan, he mostly talked about how nice the dirt in Texas was and that the ants seemed bigger.

Gary visited Pan in-person sometimes, but mostly stayed outside Chicago and monitored his factory. Director MacDougal wasn’t happy he was so close to a major city, but he assured her and the President that he, and the city, would be fine.

In the meantime, Anya and Samaira had decided to remake themselves as best they could.

“Do you wanna show at the same time or take turns?” Samaira asked as she looked over the top of her menu. She was wrapped up in an over-sized, fluffy blue robe. Chandrali was at her full tiger-size and curled up between her and Anya. Anya had heated up the air inside the quonset hut just a little, but without her magical sailor suit on, Samaira was still susceptible to the cold.

“Take turns,” Anya said. “You first.”

“Ahhhh, okay,” Samaira said. She flicked her finger against the side of her menu and it spun around. From the back, the menu was just a translucent gray square. As soon as Samaira flipped it, Anya saw the list of glowing blue text outlining her skills.

SAMAIRA UPADHYAY LEVEL 50

CLASS 1: (Aetheric Archer)

CLASS 2:

ADVANCED CLASS: [Artificer Magus]+10 Stat Points +50 Skill Points (Any category)

NOTE: Advanced classes come with unique bonuses. Inquire with menu AI or access Advanced Class sub-menu

STATISTICS

Brawn: 6

Intelligence: 50

Awareness: 30

Dexterity: 40

Fortitude: 30

Charm: 6

Speed: 25

Fortune: 5

PHYSICAL SKILLS

Demaelliz: 30

Aether Sight: 30

Enhanced Flexibility: 20

Oella Mandai: 40

MENTAL SKILLS

Aetheric Theory: 40

Arcana Expertise: 20

Focus Construction: 20

Runic Enchantment: 15

OTHER SKILLS

Aetheric Manipulation: 45

Aetheric Channeling: 45

Water Dominion: 40

ADVANCED CLASS BONUSES: (These can only be upgraded by taking this class again at level 75+)

Discerning Craftswoman- Raw materials purchased from the RAC store will cost 30% less and be of greater purity/quality.

Aether Font- +5 to all skills if fighting near a leyline. +15 to all skills if fighting near a leyline nexus.

Wrath of the Sage- +5 to any attack skills enhanced by or comprised of aetheric or elemental energy.

“I think most of that matches up with the skills you had before,” Anya said as she reviewed the list. “Which is good. I don’t think you needed to change much. What’s up with those weird words in your physical skills? Oh-ella Man-dye? Dem-ale-leez?”

“Non-Earth forms of archery and dance, respectively. I got the idea when you told me about that alien fighting style you have. I originally had acrobatics and a European style of archery. But this Oella Mandai archery style is based around a lot of movement and short-to-mid range fights, which is what seems to keep happening. Demaelliz is a combination of dance and acrobatics that evolved from some kind of old martial art. Kind of like if a ballerina was a gymnast and also had a few karate lessons? The menu classifies it as a fighting style too, but I’m mostly planning on using it to avoid stuff.

“The mental skills are all about how to properly move the aether around once you have the ability to make contact with it. Runic Enchantment and Focus construction will help me make my own charms and armor and such. And anybody else’s too!”

“Very nice. And this?” Anya pointed at her list of “Other” skills.

“I replaced Aetheric Projection with Channeling. Projection just means you can push more of it out at once, but it has some overlap with manipulation. And without the ability to channel much aether, projection was kind of useless. I got rid of my old ‘Beast Kin,’ skill since I can communicate with Chandrali well-enough on my own and don’t really need to contact any other animals.

“And then Water Dominion…well, I saw you and Pan having so much fun and didn’t want to get left behind. Besides, there’s a lot of similarities between water and the aether: it can change shape and states of matter, it’s frequently a source of life, and having the Ichor of the Ocean is going to help me channel more aether. It’s not quite a focus but it is a sort of energy transference. It’ll let me channel more aether. I tested that much already.”

Anya nodded. When they had hit level 45 shortly after the Manhattan Tornado, it became obvious that they would be able to get to 50 with some tedious grinding of their numerous and esoteric side-objectives. Anya had, until that point, been buffing her existing skills up. But from 45-50, she and Samaira had experimented: one point each in five new skills, just to test them out. One of Samaira’s five had been Water Dominion, and she’d thoroughly enjoyed what little she had been able to do.

“Are you gonna lose Chandrali when you respec?” Anya asked and Samaira shook her head as she petted her tiger’s side.

“No, I already checked with Boo. She said any purchases I’d like to make after the respec that correspond with anything I bought before would be saved. I’d just have to let her know, which I did. Chandrali isn’t going anywhere. Are you girl?” Samaira cooed at the big cat. Chandrali flicked her tail but managed to purr. It was more of a growl, but Anya had gotten used to the big cat’s various noises over the last few weeks.

“Your turn!” Samaira said. “Show me what you got.”

“I dunno, I’m still not sure,” Anya said and Samaira sighed.

“I’m not gonna judge you unless you took something like how to belch the alphabet.”

“I already knew how to do that,” Anya said, then laughed as Samaira squinted at her. She spun her menu around so she could see the planned build she had laid out after several long talks with Felix.

ANYA NOWICKI LEVEL 50

CLASS 1: (Phoenix Knight)

CLASS 2:

ADVANCED CLASS: [Cosmic Warden]+10 Stat Points +50 Skill Points (Any category)

NOTE: Advanced classes come with unique bonuses. Inquire with menu AI or access Advanced Class sub-menu

STATISTICS

Brawn: 45

Intelligence: 10

Awareness: 25

Dexterity: 25

Fortitude: 45

Charm: 6

Speed: 15

Fortune: 10

PHYSICAL SKILLS

Xhama Thul: 37

Heavy Plate Armor (Enchanted): 25

Xhama Rahn: 37

Combat Conditioning: 20

MENTAL SKILLS

Combat Analysis: 20

Battlefield Strategy: 10

Cognition Acceleration: 10

Dominion Discipline: 40

OTHER SKILLS -- 4 points remain!

Flame Dominion: 45

Gravity Dominion: 30

Light Dominion: 35

Regeneration: 35

Kinetic Absorption: 20

Battle Aura: 1

ADVANCED CLASS BONUSES: (These can only be upgraded by taking this class again at level 75+)

Defender’s Boon- Any defensive equipment or items purchased from the store will be 25% less and receive +2 upgrade levels. +5 to all defensive skills.

Jurisdiction of the Cosmos- Temporary +5 to all skills and +3 to all stats when fighting off-world/in outer space. Enhanced survivability when operating in a vacuum.

Fist of the Divine- +5 to all holy/light-related and unarmed combat skills.

“I recognize most of these,” Samaira said. “Except those new Xhama one, Cognitive Acceleration, Dominion Discipline, and Battle Aura.”

“Xhama Thul was that alien grappling martial art I already took. Xhama Rahn is a kind of blade-fighting technique using short, wide-bladed weapons on your forearms. Felix told me the aliens that did this stuff were pretty aggressive, liked to get in close and tear somebody up.”

“Charming,” Samaira said. “You didn’t wanna stick with polearms?”

Anya shrugged. “I only got polearms the first time as a back-up, but I wanted to keep my distance. But the more fights I got into, I always seemed to close distance, and the polearm just got in the way.”

“Makes sense. And the others?”

“Cognitive Acceleration just helps me think faster, and spot enemy weaknesses with Combat Analysis or advantages with Battlefield Strategy. Kind of like speed reading, but for general purposes. Dominion Disciple is some kind of study skill that’ll help me naturally learn the Dominion skills more quickly.

“And Battle Aura…well, I guess it’s kind of a panic button. It’ll burn through any energy reserves I have at an incredible rate but it’ll essentially turn me into a mini-supernova. Strength, speed, the output of my dominions, all of it goes through the roof.”

“And when it burns through your energy?” Samaira asked.

“Felix says I’ll pass out for a little while. I’m only gonna put two points into it as a test and see how it goes. If it works, great, I have a weapon of last resort. If not, no big loss.”

“You didn’t pick this one when we were testing stuff out, did you?” Samaira asked and Anya shook her head.

“I’d already taken five other skills. Normally I’d wait until I get to 51, but we’ve burned through all the feasible side-objectives. It’ll take me another big alien fight to get to 51 or higher. So just one point for now, test the waters.”

“Can I ask why you picked Gravity Dominion?”

“Goes back to that whole ‘fighting up close,’ thing I mentioned. And also not wanting fire to be my only supernatural weapon. Gravity Dominion will give me Singularity’s Grasp, just like Flame Dominion gave me my Sun’s Heart. I can pull enemies close to me and grapple them, heat the air around me and them, stab them, whatever. Or if I’m in a jam I can push enemies away, redirect projectiles, or essentially fly away. And with my Kinetic Absorption and my heavy armor, I can turn myself into a flaming comet and just smash into stuff.”

“What about that Light Dominion one? Seems like you’d have light covered if you can make fire,” Samaira said.

“It’s a little more complicated than that. It’s kind of like a buffing skill, among other things,” Anya said.

“Buffing?” Samaira asked.

“It makes the user stronger in a variety of ways. So, Flame Dominion is mostly about offense, Pan’s Earth Dominion is heavy on defense, Wind is more about evasion, Water is…what is Water Dominion good at?”

“According to Boo its biggest strength is matching the needs of the wielder, kind of like the aether. It’s sort of why I chose it. Y’know, the whole fluidity thing. Pour water in the cup, it becomes the cup, and so on. Ice walls, high pressure water blasts, mist to hide in, healing skills, that sort of thing,” Samaira said.

“Gotcha. Anyway, light and shadow: buffs and debuffs. Light Dominion can be used as a straight up attack, but according to Felix, it’s better as a kind of booster shot for pretty much everything else. If I combine fire and light, I’ll get some kind of super beefed up holy fire or something.”

“Holy fire? Is it a religious thing?”

“Not like that. Just that it’s more than just making the fire hot. There’s an additional element giving it more…weight? Substance? Ooomf?” Anya shrugged. “It’ll do the same for all of my other skills too, and my body as a whole.”

“And keeping Flame Dominion, huh?” Samaira asked.

Anya paused as she looked at the skill.

She liked the skill. She liked the feeling of the Sun’s Heart keeping time with her own, how she always felt toasty, and how it felt to have the fire flowing through her when she used it. Unlike the aether Samaira used, Anya felt like the Sun’s Heart was really hers.

The way Samaira described it, she was just tapping into some external force, borrowing it and using herself as a kind of transference point. It required spells, focus crystals, charms, tools, and study. All of that could be mitigated with the menu, but Anya still saw Samaira in her little corner of the quonset hut late into the night bent over books and scribbling notes. If Anya had learned anything about Samaira during their time at the secluded weather station, it was that she liked studying. It was part of the reason she’d been working towards a doctorate before the invasion.

But Anya didn’t like the idea of a power that relied on some external force. Her Regeneration skill wasn’t a spell or a potion, it was just her body. Same with Flame Dominion and everything else. It was hers: her Sun’s Heart, independent of anything else, commanded only by her will.

While she knew she needed to diversify her offense output somewhat, it wasn’t the reason she had initially hesitated when respeccing herself.

Every fight she had been in, when she had really got going, the Sun’s Heart had surged inside of her, made her feel amazing, but also a bit manic. There was an urge to burn, to consume, to ignite herself until she became living flame.

Felix had told her that was likely a result of her relatively low levels. He only had information available for the next ten levels above her current one for any given skill, but he informed her that going up would increase her control as well as her power.

Flame Dominion put her on the higher end of offensive ability from what she had seen of other hosts. It acted as a battery for her regeneration if needed, and made her better than invulnerable to any heat-based attack. She’d been looking at synergy with her other skills, and Gravity Dominion, even at low levels, would allow her to propel herself through the air at high speeds: high enough to create friction and build up heat. That coupled with her kinetic absorption on impacting with anything could potentially create enough thermal and kinetic energy to give her a boost, maybe even recharge her after popping her Battle Aura. That last one was just a theory at this point, but one both she and Felix were eager to test. The menu was irritatingly vague about the details of what a “crash” from Battle Aura entailed.

“Yeah, I’m gonna stick with it,” Anya said to Samaira. ”It’s powerful, it’s fun, I’ve gotten used to it.”

Samaira nodded at all this and smiled. She took a deep breath and studied her own menu.

“There’s all the bonuses to go through too. Those tokens, new things to buy in the RAC store. The skills are just the start. I’m definitely setting aside 150k in RAC in case I want to respec again. I don’t think I made any huge errors, but…” she shrugged.

“Same. I thought about just copying Gary’s list of skills, but he told me it was a bad idea,” Anya said.

“I thought about it too, or maybe trying to find out what other people had, but I don’t think I’d outright copy anybody wholesale. The aliens can shapeshift their bodies and their abilities in a single day, apparently without any cost. If we all did the same thing, they’d counter us easy.”

Anya sighed as she looked at her menu. After doing all those side-objectives and killing the aliens in Manhattan, she had plenty of RAC. She could always change it again. She’d set 150k RAC aside and have Felix stop her from spending it except in emergencies in case change was necessary. But for now, she felt pretty good about her choices. As good as she was going to feel, anyway.

“I really hate this part,” Samaira said as her finger hovered over the “CONFIRM,” option.

“I’ve never respecced before. It’s going to hurt like crazy,” Anya said. “Going over 50 levels all at once? Oof. Hey Felix. Is this gonna kill us?”

“Absolutely not! It will probably be incredibly painful though!” Felix said with an inappropriate level of enthusiasm.

“You’re 100% sure this won’t kill us? Cause when I picked my class the first time, I thought I was gonna die,” Anya said.

“Me too,” Samaira added.

“The menu is incapable of killing you directly. If you picked a skill from it and then blew yourself up or something, that’d be your fault. But no, standard menu operations such as leveling up and using a respecification token will never kill you,” Felix said. “Might as well rip that bandage off!”

“Oh man,” Samaira said and shut her eyes.

Anya glared at her own orange “CONFIRM,” button and said, “Fuck it.”

She pressed the button.

After she woke up the next day, the airmen said they’d heard both women screaming over the storm.