There was a lot going on with the system store. Joe searched, and it didn't look like you could get anything physical out of it. That was a bummer as he had no actual equipment for fighting and would have felt a whole hell of a lot better with some extra food and water. There was no use crying over it, though, and he quickly moved on to peruse what was available.

It turns out there was a lot available if you had the means to pay for it. He didn't know the exchange rate on silver and gold coins for copper and iron, but he knew he couldn't afford any skills or function unlocks for his system. Even if the coins didn't work on the base ten systems that humans loved, four silver coins might as well be ten million dollars.

That left information and even that would clear him out pretty quickly. Joe felt like slapping himself as he stared at the costs and willed the desire for some help.

The good news was that the Hegemon used a base five system. Every coin took five to equal the next one up the chain. There were seven common currencies, starting at copper and working up to mithril. Joe was pleased to see that his four iron coins and nine copper coins put him just over the mark of one silver. It was necessary as the cheapest information sat at the one silver mark.

Basic New Planet Info

Basic Mana Info

Basic Skill Info

Basic Attribute Info

Basic Class Info

Joe stared between the options for long enough for his eyes to dry out. He knew that he had terrible magic attributes, but he wanted it anyway. The basic tag was annoying as Joe suspected this information was either free or at least readily available for the higher caste citizens of his new reality. There were five to choose from, which pained him, but the mana info was the least useful without any magic-based skills.

He looked over brief descriptions, and the new planet covered everything from the Hegemon and rifts to the very basics of the system, classes, and skills. It was a no-brainer to pick that one. Joe wished he had any idea what he was getting into with the calibration. A group could have possibly afforded several of these and had some change to spare. Not that Joe knew more than a handful of people, and he kept most of those at arm's length.

With an audible sigh, he selected the New Planet Info. Joe's pockets became noticeably lighter, and he waited expectantly.

Purchased information will become available when you exit the calibration.

"Damn it!" Joe yelled at the words in his vision. He never used to swear, but today seemed to call for it at every turn. He was hoping to have more information now. There was no way the local council wasn't set up on the outside of wherever this thing went. The entrance demolished their headquarters, and even if it hadn't, they would have rushed to take control of the whole setup if it was in their territory.

A spark off to the right caught Joe's attention. It started as a pale green light the size of a golf ball that expanded to a ring hanging in the air. Joe couldn't see anything through it, but he had no doubt that it led outside even before the message.

Use the rift exit to return to your planet.

The council would want information at best. They most likely would claim any coins or equipment he had as part of a civic disaster tax. Joe didn't have any use for the coins at the moment, but he was very sure that if these continued to flow out of rifts, they would become the new de facto currency. Society mainly was a barter system now after the dollar, and almost every other fiat currency fell apart. People were itching to have something to go back to, and this was already established.

Joe had never liked the council. Many people didn't and either left or were sentenced to a work camp on trumped-up charges. Joe had just kept his head down and his mouth shut. He had been focused on keeping the family home there when his family returned.

Despite feeling a numbing amount of bone-deep grief that he couldn't process over the thought of his family, Joe was surprised to find another emotion he didn't expect. He felt relief that he was no longer tied to the house. If he left, no one would be upset by it. A sharp pang of guilt at the thought joined the confusing mix at that realization. Joe could leave.

At that moment, Joe made up his mind, and he took a second to face the rift. He was tired of Dublin and all of the local politics. It hadn't escaped most people's notice that not many politicians hadn't been taken in the 1 percent. He was tired of these people living off of others like parasites and having to keep quiet about it.

Joe looked over his gear and made some hard choices. The blacksmith apron came off and piled itself on the floor. It was shredded in several places, making it far less helpful. He took his knife and cut some leather strips off of it. Joe used the strips to tie the knife sheath to his left arm before pocketing the rest. It was awkward to draw it at that angle, but it wouldn't bang around on his hip.

The brass knuckles stayed on his left hand. This new reality he found himself in would be even less forgiving than the hunger and potential robberies of before. If monsters were found in basic system calibrations, he was going to assume they would be found out in the world at some point. Joe regretfully let the staff fall to the ground as well. It had been a good weapon, but there was no way to secure it and run without taking up his hands. He had thought about strapping it to his back but couldn't make it work in a way that wasn't awkward.

Joe made sure that everything on him was secured tightly one last time. He went down into a sprinter's stance facing the rift and took a minute of slow breathing to make sure he was ready. Joe took off at a dead sprint and fought to keep his eyes open as he hit the rift.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Andi would be fuming if she wasn't in shock. One of her friends had died in front of her, his throat torn open by some terrible little lizard thing.

Somehow they had made it to the end and then made the awful decision to try just one more door. Nate had been the person pushing for that. He was big into games and wanted to go for a better class. Andi had been so annoyed with his chatter about 'leet builds just ten minutes earlier, but now she just felt an aching loss.

She'd never seen a person die. The world had gotten bad in the last few years, and it had gotten even worse for young women if they didn't have some form of protection. When the laws went away, the monsters came out to play. She'd joined the council early on, desperate to avoid some of what she knew was happening in the more lawless parts of the area.

Andi hadn't even wiped his blood spray off her arms. They had tried to stem the bleeding and stabilize him, but you can't tourniquet a neck. After a surprisingly short time, the light had left his eyes while bitter tears filled hers. They'd all selected their classes and stumbled out of the rift that appeared. No one had moved to buy anything, too disturbed by what they had just seen.

Now, some council asshole was taking their money. It was Jerrod. She knew him, of course, but it didn't make him less of an asshole. The emergence of the rift had destroyed the council's headquarters and most of their Dublin infrastructure. They were determined to make up that ground and prevent a power vacuum from forming from these new developments.

"I'm sorry, Andi, but those are the rules, and I'm not going to bend them for anyone, not even members."

Andi wanted to yell and scream at the injustice of having their money taken away but couldn't. She was too numb and too empty. There was nowhere else to go. She was alone except for her friends, and they were all council members as well. Andi didn't even sigh as they emptied their pockets and put the coins into the backpack Jerrod was holding.

"There's a trauma center set up under the tent back that way." Jerrod nodded his head away from the rift. "Go get something to eat and see to your injuries. It may not seem like it, but an eighty percent survival rate seems to be above average."

Andi started to move in the indicated direction when a weight slammed into her back with no warning. She was knocked to the ground and looked up in shock. A man had come through the portal at a dead sprint before barrelling into her.

He was terrifying. Bloody bandages were tied around several of his limbs, but that wasn't scary after they saw today. No, blue blood was smeared over the bottom half of his face. The same blue blood that those awful lizards had. He didn't seem to react to leveling her, just his wild eyes darting around before he resumed his sprint away from the rift.

Jerrod started to yell, but it was too late. The man was faster than anyone was expecting and quickly cleared the perimeter of their makeshift camp. No one moved to stop him, his wild and blood-covered appearance giving everyone pause. His direction was westward, and there were soon calls to chase after him once he was gone.

Andi's mouth hung open as she watched him leave. His appearance was disturbing, but she was sure she'd heard one word after he impacted her. It was quiet, but it hung in the air where only she could hear it.

"Sorry."

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Joe felt terrible. He had leveled that poor girl and only mumbled a 'sorry' in apology. Stopping was not an option and he knew it, but hurting anyone that hadn't done him any harm wasn't in his nature. All those thoughts passed in a blink as he found a gap in their fencing towards his house and sprinted that way.

The rift let out on the other side that he'd entered. Joe had hoped that would be the case and at least knew where he had come out. He could see the devastation of the hospital as he passed, and Joe could also see the obvious distinction between what the council provided for its members and the bare-bones treatment the rest of the people received. He didn't miss the guy taking everyone's money when they exited.

After he cleared the camp's perimeter, Joe poured on as much speed as he could. He figured that his best chance to get away clean would hinge on people not knowing exactly where he had gone. With that in mind, he turned into the first neighborhood. It took longer than on a sidewalk, but Joe grew up around here and knew how he could cut through some backyards and one random field before he was back on his street.

As he crossed the field, Joe took a moment to marvel at his speed. He'd always been in decent shape, and the last few years hadn't led to anyone outside of the council packing on extra weight. He felt fast and was tired but not gulping for air the way he would expect after a mile of sprinting.

Joe paused to catch his breath before walking to the sidewalk about a block from his house. He turned right and made his way home.

"Shit!" Joe cursed under his breath.

He had seen the curtains move at the Gold's house as Mrs. Golds peered through them. Her whole family was early council members, and it was foolish to hope that she wouldn't rat him out in a heartbeat. He suspected he looked pretty rough, but there weren't a lot of mirrors around as he fought for his life.

Joe knew his timeline had just shortened and started to jog to his house. He went straight to his bedroom and moved the dresser. Joe used the knife and pried a large piece of drywall away from the rest of the wall. A small campers backpack with a bedroll was waiting for him. He'd been determined to have the home here for his family, but after things got bad, having a bug-out bag had helped him sleep a little more securely at night.

Joe glanced around the room filled with memories. His heart broke looking at it and thinking about losing the last ties to his family. He wiped the tears away from his eyes and went back downstairs. Joe repeated his trick in the pantry and quickly stocked the open space in his bag with some canned goods and a small camping can opener. A pair of empty canteens were strapped to the sides before Joe moved to the back door.

He took a single moment to look back and feel the loss. There would be no coming back here. Joe had barely been hanging on, and with open defiance of the council, there was no way they wouldn't take his home and send him to a work camp if he stayed.

"Goodbye."

The words hung in the air, but Joe was already moving through his backyard. Most of the houses didn't have a fence in this neighborhood, but almost all of them did have a line of trees to block the view of the adjacent field and, more importantly, the bitter wind that came out of the northwest in the winter. That provided at least some cover as Joe quickly walked towards the main road.

He knew walking along the main road towards the hospital was a bad idea, but he had a stop to make first. There was still one was home at the Miller house, and his water jug was still sitting next to their door. Joe barely paused before he rammed his shoulder into the door and popped it open. It hurt but not as much as he'd expected. He knew where the water tank was and filled both canteens. He took several long slow drinks from one and then topped it off again.

Joe felt bad. The Millers hadn't done him a lot of favors, but they had always kept their end of any deals that they had made. On impulse, Joe took two of his four copper coins and stacked them on top of the water tank where he knew they'd be noticed. It probably wasn't enough to even cover the door's cost, but Joe didn't want to venture into the world completely penniless.

The door took a moment to get coaxed back into its frame, but eventually, it looked like it was still locked to casual inspection. Joe already felt like a jerk, and he certainly wasn't going to leave their garage wide open. As he cleared the trees on the edge of the backyard, he heard the sound of people yelling in his neighborhood. Mrs. Gold's slightly shrill voice stood out even from a distance.

"His house is that way. It's the grey one, two blocks on the left."

Joe was out of time. He didn't look back as he ran full speed across the field. After he made it to the farmer's house in the middle, Joe cut a wide circle around the property before heading on his way. There was no point in making it this far and catching some birdshot for being mistaken as a burglar. Another slower sprint put him on the edge of the fields right next to the highway. He crossed under the overpass and kept going down Post road.

His breath came heavy, and his sweat did little to cool him as he kept a solid pace heading west. Running with a backpack was work, and the adrenaline wearing off had left Joe a bit shaky. He kept his head forward and continued his walk towards the west. The sun hurt his eyes, but he welcomed it, knowing that it would make it that much harder for people looking his way to spot him in the distance.