Gresham Park, DeKalb County, Georgia. Saturday, October 26th, 2019. 15:00

They left the U-haul parked on Kelly's neighbor's driveway after commandeering their SUV. Using Abby's guidance, they went from house to house, releasing the pets. Sara wanted to take all the dogs with her but she knew she was unable to feed them. Better leave them loose and give them a chance to make it on their own rather than sharing in Rudy's fate.

She was concerned with the pets surviving Winter, but with the infusion of Mana and Qi, living beings gained a huge amount of resilience. She remembered the heroic tale of Officer Jones. who survived a few days with a .50 cal hole in his guts, then sacrificed himself to take the Necropolis King down.

Their modus operandi was simple. Kelly would slowly drive along the street while Sara broke into the houses and released the pets, checked the house for bodies and interesting articles, then looted only the fridges. The girl then dumped the food in the SUV and moved on to the next house.

She wasn't subtle in her liberation of the pets. Locked doors were shown the sole of her sneakers, and she searched the fridges and pantries like a B movie's version of the FBI. The pets sometimes had to be dragged out and most even went back inside their homes but at least they had a way out. The sadness in each puppy and kitten's eyes, for all of them were puppies and kittens regardless of age, they felt the loss of their human families. But as they went, another facet of the time bubble was revealed to them.

Gresham Park had an unusual amount of survivors. Compared to the rest of their area, survivors were way more than one in a thousand. Sara took note of where the corpses and survivors were, so she could come back tomorrow and gather them. The dead deserved a proper funeral, a matter of both human decency and sanitation. She couldn't let people become food for vermin else they would be tainted by the bad-stuff. Rudy's cautionary tale and the warning from the personal trainer's ghost remained strong in the girl's mind.

Abby also detected a few ghosts but Sara only added pins to the holographic map the fairy created. She would come back for them later.

The SUV's trunk was full of food. Fresh meat, milk, eggs, packets of frozen food, everything that would spoil in hours if left out of refrigeration. By the time the sky darkened and they went back to Kelly's home, the inside of the SUV was so cold it felt like a winter snowstorm had arrived earlier. At least it would keep things cold for longer.

*

*

Kelly's home, Gresham Park, DeKalb County, Georgia. Saturday, October 26th, 2019. 19:30

The end of sunlight meant the end of the rescue operations. Today was a new moon and the night was pitch dark.

As they entered the living room, Kelly shook her head. "Sara, we should split. You should go back to the University and deliver the food. They have electricity and the dining hall has a massive refrigerated room. You should also let people know what is going on so they can send help. I don't want to leave my parents."

Sara could see the conflict in the woman's eyes. For two weeks, she kept her worries repressed, trying not to think about the fate of her parents. She knew Kelly should be the one delivering the news because Sara would probably screw it up. Yet to make the musician leave her parents behind was too cruel.

"I think we should find a refrigerated truck. There are dozens of shipping companies around here, finding one should be easy. Better, two trucks. One for the food, another for the bodies."

It was a lot of work. Sara's selfishness wanted to keep all of this region for herself, to comb every house and fill another three or four U-hauls with sweet, sweet loot. Clothes, blankets, towels, shoes, and stuff to last a lifetime. Or at least until people turned the factories back on. If they hadn't been destroyed by meteorites. Yet, she knew she needed help and Sara hated it. She had to go back to the university and report that the area around the lake was open for business.

Worse, they would ask how she managed to gain access.

"Kelly, we should keep the feather a secret. If anyone asks, the time anomaly ended by itself."

The musician nodded, "I was thinking about it, and we are of the same mind. Your secrets are safe with me, Sara. I owe you more than—"

"Don't get soppy or we'll start crying again and never get anything done. Stay with your folks, make sure they're comfortable."

"And hydrated," Kelly added, probably remembering how thirsty she was when she woke up.

"Yeah, about that," Sara rubbed the back of her head, feeling the short hairs. "Don't put water in their mouth. Unconscious people cannot swallow, they breathe in anything in their throats. You should..."

Kelly smiled to ease Sara's worries. "What should I do?"

"The best way to hydrate someone unconscious is with an IV. We don't have it, so we need to... take extreme measures. Find a large needle-less syringe or a water bottle you can squeeze, and hydrate them rectally."

"Oh," surprised, Kelly's mouth formed a perfect circle. "You mean..."

"Yeah," Sara felt uncomfortable, "hydrate them through their asses. Intestines are awesome at reclaiming water, they'll even filter most stuff out as they absorb it. I mean, they're engineered to remove water from shit, after all. Back in Seattle, the homeless people who squat near me did that to keep a guy that was OD'ing alive. They don't need much water, though. You survived a week without it, whatever changes their bodies are going through should keep them alive. But you know better how thirsty you were when you woke up."

Kelly grunted, "Yeah, unlike someone who remained awake during the world's end."

Sara shrugged, "It was awful. I can't decide if being knocked out for a week was better or worse. Peace."

"Sure," Kelly smiled. "Rectal hydration," the musician said slowly. "Sounds like a medical procedure."

"It's a survival technique, I think that British guy did it once on Discovery with water from a lake covered in bat shit. Guano. Anyway, they're your parents. You know what's best for them. I should go."

"Before you go," Kelly approached and grabbed Sara in a bear hug. "Thank you. Thank you."

"Hey, no kissing," Sara slowly pushed the woman away. "I did nothing, really."

"They would be trapped inside the bubble if not for you," Kelly rebuked.

"You should let them rest tonight. Remember, they skipped all the days between today and the seventh. Put that hydration thing on hold, we can see if there's a better way tomorrow. And then we have the other survivors. While you are your parent's daughter, the others are complete strangers. I don't feel comfortable with the idea of even finding a syringe for each one of them. Or washing it between uses."

"Eww."

"Eww. Can we agree to just leave your parents' butts alone for the time being?"

Kelly mocked a salute. "Aye, aye, captain!"

"And don't get drunk."

This time, the woman rolled her eyes. "Yes, mom. Off you go!" She slapped Sara's butt.

Sara blew a raspberry and left a giddy giggling Kelly behind. Before she took off, they moved the best items from the SUV to Kelly's fridge. The rest would go to the university survivors.

*

*

Administration building, Clayton State University, Clayton County, Georgia. Saturday, October 26th, 2019. 21:30

The terrible conditions on the roads made driving slower than running. At least for Sara. The massive windfall of Mana from bringing the barrier down seemed intentional and made her wonder what exactly was "Verachiel's Contingency Plan". Abby wasn't surrendering any information on this but Sara was suspicious.

She reviewed her encounter with the Seraph and couldn't shake the idea she was manipulated by the Celestial. 'Maybe that's my paranoia speaking', she told herself.

Sara made her way to Hainsworth's office, unsurprisingly the former President's office. She was admitted without delay.

"Sara, what is the matter?" The army Major asked. "You seem worried, please, have a seat. I'd offer you a drink, but..."

"I'm good."

"Should we wait for Keynes?"

"Yes, that would be the best." An awkward silence followed. Sara broke it. "You covered up the mass suicide."

"Yes, that was for the best," he parroted her. "People need hope. News that a lot of their fellow survivors had just abandoned it wouldn't do good. I don't expect—"

"Spare me the political speech. I'm not here to question how you lead your people."

"My people."

"Yes. I won't join you. If we can keep a good working relationship, then great."

"Fair enough."

They waited a while longer and Keynes arrived with Patricia pushing his wheelchair.

"Sara, good to see you," the detective greeted.

"Detective, Patricia," Sara tipped an imaginary hat.

Patricia smiled knowingly, "How was your da... outing with Kelly?"

She was sure Patricia meant "date". Sara doubled down and smirked. "Very good. We did all sorts of naughty stuff. I even danced naked in the rain," she lied.

The cop coughed. "That's good to hear. Is she fine?"

"Better than ever."

"Well, now that everyone is here, let's hear what Sara has to say," Hainsworth cut in.

All eyes were on her. She felt a bit intimidated but her Composure Skill blocked most of the detrimental effects.

"We found about fifteen new survivors. They need rescue, though."

The three looked very surprised.

"Why? Are they wounded?" Keynes asked.

"No, they're unconscious. I fear they'll remain unconscious for a few days, the same as each of you."

"Where?" Hainsworth tried to hide his suspicion. He noticed Sara's choice of words but decided not to comment on it.

"Gresham Park," she replied.

"That area was off-limits. How did you get there?"

"By driving north on Bouldercrest Road," she deadpanned.

"No, I mean the..." Hainsworth grunted and sighed. "Did you find anything unusual there?"

"Yes, a lot of unconscious people. A lot more than what was expected. It seems people there had a higher rate of survival but remained unconscious for longer. Kelly stayed behind with her parents. We found both of them alive but unconscious like the others."

At the mention of Kelly parents' fate, Patricia squealed and jumped while Keynes became somber. Hainsworth, for some odd reason, was relieved. Maybe the military man had a good side, Sara thought.

"Trevor told us he met you two this morning, but to find both parents alive? What a blessing!" Patricia gushed.

"Right?" Sara engaged, very happy to change the course of the conversation. The least they asked about the time bubble, the better. "Patricia, I need your help. I have some perishable food in my car, I need to put it somewhere cold. Kelly suggested the freezer room at the dining hall."

"Is it spoiled?"

"Nope. It's fresh and still cold. Come, let me show you." She stood up and offered Patricia her hand. Before either could object, she turned to face them. "So, tomorrow, rescue operation. Is there a way to talk over long distances? A radio or something?"

Hainsworth scowled for a moment but composed himself quickly. He reached for a military radio sitting on a charging station. "Here, take mine. Don't turn the knobs, it's on listening mode. Press here to talk," he showed her the buttons and gave some quick instructions on how to use them.

Sara stowed the radio in her backpack. "I'll wait for you to contact me tomorrow morning."

"Patricia, take Sara to the dining hall and see what she brought us. Sara, we'll have your trucks tomorrow morning, full tanks with a few extra jugs of diesel."

After sharing Kelly's address and pointing the location of the survivors on a map, Sara left with Patricia in tow. After unloading the SUV, she hopped on her Silverado and drove back to Kelly's house. She slept in Kelly's guest bedroom.

*

*

Kelly's street (yeah, her folks were the only survivors, they now own the place), Gresham Park, DeKalb County, Georgia. Sunday, October 27th, 2019. 6:50

An hour before the sun rose, Sara was already up and in front of Kelly's house. Hainsworth's people would be here any time now to rescue the survivors and it would be hard to hide the effects of the time bubble, including the fact that the fridges were still cold. Gauging Patricia's reaction to the food she brought yesterday, people would go mad.

The girl looked east. Lake Stonecrest, her goal, was a couple of miles in that direction. The city of Panthersville spread in the shape of a crescent along the western lake shore. It attracted money and development projects, becoming a popular place for both Atlantans and tourists alike. The promenade was full of hotels, mid-rise buildings, and luxurious mansions. The marinas were full of boats and latches and the lake's crystalline waters became crowded during Summer although people used the lake all year long. It was rather deep and didn't freeze during winter. In fact, it was so deep the temperature remained a few degrees above the atmospheric temperature in the first few weeks of Winter.

As the crescent-shaped promenade ended, small houses and even farms took over the rest of the circular lake shores. If the time bubble kept these places frozen for three weeks, a lot of livestock and produce was up for grabs over there.

Sara's greedy wishes were to put a wall all around the lake a couple miles away from the shore and claim everything for herself. She felt this odd compulsion to claim stuff for herself, to compete with the other survivors for resources even though they had more than enough for everyone. The girl thought she had to do some soul-searching and rein in these impulses.

Food wasn't a problem. The military base had more than enough MREs to feed everyone until the hardy rations spoiled several years from now. And while the farms were up for grabs, the land wouldn't surrender its bounty without a lot of work. Farming was hard.

She thought of other things and reviewed her notes on the System's directives. Then she added a new point. "Abby, when integrating new users, check their minds for how many people they murdered. We'll ban those that killed three or more people without a good reason, like self-defense. Those mass murderers and gang members that are hunting people out there right now do not deserve the System."

Sara nodded. She didn't need to hoard everything. She had a shot at becoming the world's richest person alive. Arguably, she was the strongest one, unless someone else also had a personal System.

That reminded her. "Abby, give me a Status Screen? Yesterday we got a huge windfall of Skill points."

"Show me." She looked at the window, then decided. "Add them to Brawn. I'd like to one day shrug bullets."

Name:

Sara

Species:

Human (+2 Skill Slots)

Skill Slots:

10 / 12

Magic Type:

Mage - Enhancer (Exclusive)

Special trait:

See through the Veil (Able to see into the ethereal)

Special trait:

Personal Core (Treat Core Strength as levels in a main Class).

Main Class:

N/A

Secondary Class:

N/A

Development

System Core Strength (SCS)

21

The System Core becomes stronger and better at generating its own energy.

1 - You can have a maximum of 10 skill points per level of Core Strength.

2 - Currently, the System Core generates more Mana than necessary for its upkeep, considering ambient mana levels.

3 - Set to use surplus energy to increase the System Core Strength. Extra mana may instead be used to refill your MP pool faster.

Mana Conductivity (MC)

52%

(77%)

A measure of how clear the body's meridian system is. Mana conductivity impacts environmental energy absorption and channeling directly. Cleansed body systems are stronger and tougher.

Purity of Body

Digestive,

Skin,

Bones,

Muscle,

Circulatory.

1 - Increase the efficiency of all cleansed body systems efficiency by this value.

2 - Synergy between Skin, Muscle, and Bone: Increase damage resistance by an additional half of MC

3 - Synergy between Muscle and Bone: Increase physical strength by an additional half of MC.

4 - Synergy between Digestive and Circulatory systems increase immunity and resistance to external pathogens and toxins by half of MC.

5 - Cleansed body improves MP pool and body recovery rate by half of MC

Mage - Enhancer (Exclusive)

25%

Your mana channels greatly enhance internal circulation but aren't that good at projecting and controlling ambient mana.

1 - Add a linear 25% to your mana conductivity for internal manipulation purposes.

2 - Multiply the effect of all Physical Skills and internal mana manipulation Skills by [25+Mana Conductivity]%

3 - Divide the effect of all External Mana Manipulation by 10.

4 - Exclusive-type mages cannot cultivate or actively use Qi.

MP Pool

565

Available Energy for Active Skills. MP is equal to Core Strength, with a bonus equal to internal MC. You recover 56 (SCS/10 + MC bonus) MP per day.

Skills: Physical (69)

Adroitness

15 40%

The Skill of moving one's body with grace and precision. Increases speed and coordination and reduces reflex delay by Rank%.

Composure

12 64%

Staying calm under pressure or pain. When under duress, reduces penalties to mental stability, logical reasoning, and self-control by 2*Rank%.

Prowess

8 21%

Making the most of one physique during stressful situations. Lower reflex delay, increases combat damage and physical power by Rank%.

Brawn

17 45%

Muscular toughness and endurance. Reduces stamina consumption and damage taken, increases lifting and carrying capacity by Rank%.

Rapid Healing

11 59%

Accelerates and optimizes body recovery. Increases healing rate, reduces the odds of permanent damage, including scars, by 2*Rank%.

Thermostasis

6 16(%/F)

Widened temperature comfort range. Increase temperature tolerance by 1F per rank. Reduce damage from heat exchange by Rank%.

Skills: Social(18)

Flattery

9

27%

Making graceful compliments and answering them appropriately. Increases reactions during and after intimate interactions by 2*Rank%.

Presence

9

27%

Motivating people with the power of your personality. Increases reactions during and after social interactions by

2*Rank%.

Skills: Mystical(16)

Mana Infusion

10

53%

Infuse Mana into tools and melee weapons. Adds 2*Rank%. effectiveness and damage. Infused objects can interact with incorporeal entities. This is considered an internal manipulation Skill.

Active Skill: Activation time: instantaneous. Cost: 1 MP/minute or attack.

Skill Boost

6

18%

32%

Specialized supplemental Mana flow to a Skill. Boosts effects of a Skill by 2*Rank%. This is considered in the same category as the affected Skill. Activation time, 1 minute. Cost, 10 MP/minute.

Total Skill Points: 101 / 210

"Abby, explain it to me. How does this damage reduction thing work."

"Will the System have an HP mechanic?"

"Okay, go on."

"And half."

"Okay."

"So I reduce all damage by two-thirds. It would take three hits to do the damage of a single one on a hypothetical unaugmented Sara."

"What about these two numbers on Skill Boost?"

"If I use Skill Boost on Brawn during a combat, what would happen?"

"And in that hypothetical 100 damage, it would mean..."

"Neat."

"YMMV, gotcha."

Sara approached the neighbor's house on the other side of the street and jumped. She cleared more than five feet of height as she grabbed the roof, easily climbing on it.

"I should play basketball," She said with a grin. "I'm pretty sure that I jumped more than my own height."

"Meditate?"

Sara sat on the roof in a perfect lotus position. Crossing her legs was easy now that her joints were made of rubber. She didn't even feel her muscles stretch. She would probably need to do the human pretzel again if she wanted to really stretch.

"Can we turn the Skills off when I train?"

Abby guided Sara into the steps to manipulate mana and she slowly got it to move slowly as she commanded. It was like moving a muscle you never knew you had as the blob of mana sluggishly followed her instructions. She felt the chilly energy move inside her, making her shiver.

"It's cold," she tittered.

Indeed she only felt cold while the mana was moving through.

Despite the chills and jolts, she moved it up and down her limbs, becoming used to the effort and increasing the speed. But instead of warming up, it felt even colder. After several more minutes of doing it, she started to feel cold even after the Mana had passed. She dropped her concentration and the blob of mana faded into her body.

Opening her eyes, Sara saw frost covering her arms again. "Just my imagination," she scoffed and brushed the frost off. "Explain it to me."

"Ice magic?"

Sara understood fuck all about that explanation. "Say again?"

Sara massaged her temples, "Is it too late to get that intellect Skill? And why is ice blue and what is orange in this case?"

"Can I use ice magic?"

"But I can freeze myself from the inside out just fine," she lamented as she examined her forearms. "Or make some frost to pour on drinks."

"Who am I now, Elsa? It gives the expression icy bitch a new dimension."

"Great. Instead of making my castle out of ice, I'll just not freeze during winter," she sarcastically remarked.

"Sure."

She saw the first rays of the rising sun. Sara stood up on the roof and heard the sound of engines coming from the south. "I think we have company."

She took the radio out of her backpack and turned it on. The device crackled with static. She pushed the button to talk. "Sara here. Do you copy?"

"Loud and clear, Sara," Hainsworth replied. "We are arriving at Kelly's house in about half an hour. We need to clear the streets or the large trucks won't pass."

*

*

Kelly's home, Gresham Park, DeKalb County, Georgia. Sunday, October 27th, 2019. 7:50

Instead of going to meet the survivors, she went back to wake Kelly up. Sara helped the woman with her morning ablutions and by the time the convoy reached them, the women were already outside waiting for them.

And what a convoy. Peterson's cobalt-blue Silverado leads, with a sleepy Amanda strapped to the front seat. Behind the pick-up truck were an ambulance and several other large trucks. Sara squealed in glee as she saw the large refrigerator strapped to the box of one of the trucks.

Peterson pulled into the driveway next door, leaving the way open for the larger trucks to park all along the road, blocking sight of the other houses. From one of them, Hainsworth came forth.

"Sara, Kelly! Sorry about the noise."

In these three weeks, everyone got used to the quiet. Without cars and people, the city became very silent.

"Welcome, Hainsworth," Kelly grinned.

"I'm so happy for you, Kelly. Both parents alive, what a blessing!" Hainsworth crooned.

Kelly stole a glance toward the girl next to her, "Yes, a blessing!"

"How are they?"

"Sleeping, just like we were after the world ended. Sara thinks it'll be a few days before they wake up."

"What happened here?" He inquired, shifting his tone to something more serious.

"The survival rate in this neighborhood," Sara explained, "was way greater than normal. I suspect it is because the energies around here were different, and while more people survived, they need longer to adapt."

While her statement was technically not a lie, she was intentionally omitting the time bubble.

"The lawns are well-trimmed too," He noticed.

"It's as if time crawled into a standstill," Sara remarked.

Girl and Major stared at each other for a few moments, then both decided not to press the issue further.

"Well, that's yet another mystery," Hainsworth shrugged. "Kelly, do you want us to evac your parents? We got an ambulance for our VIPs," he joked.

Sara was surprised. The taciturn soldier could make jokes. She tried to be not judgmental about the quality, though.

"No, they're good, they have me. We should move the other survivors first, they have nobody to look after them."

"Sara, the two white trucks are yours. Their tanks are full and I have fifty gallons of diesel in the back of each cabin. If you need more fuel, we can provide it to you. What you two did here is amazing," he nodded. "Seventeen new survivors."

"I still haven't combed the other neighborhoods," Sara remarked. "This number will surely increase."

The dour man grinned. "That's fantastic."

Genuine compassion or glee at having more subjects to his budding kingdom? Sara believed the jury still had to come up with a verdict on that one. Regardless, she would rather deal with Hainsworth with a ten-foot pole.

*

*

Kelly's street, Gresham Park, DeKalb County, Georgia. Sunday, October 27th, 2019. 20:00

Hainsworth and his team went back to the university with the unconscious survivors. A problem for next week but hopefully she would've activated the main System Core by then.

Kelly remained home with Amanda and Brett, who had set a mobile HQ in the house next door. They brought a portable radio with a generator and he would coordinate the rescue operation from there. The volunteers for this mission each had a photocopy of the map and they went around Gresham Park, gathering the unconscious survivors.

Sara, on the other hand, took a mountain bike and went on her own around the neighboring cities, like Constitution and Panthersville, using Abby's senses to find more survivors and release more pets. She didn't have the chance to loot any houses but kept an eye out for interesting things in the front yards or driveways.

The whole day was dedicated to this rescue operation. By Sara's accounts, thirty-five survivors were rescued and their houses marked with spray paint so people knew the owner was still alive. It was an ironclad rule of that particular survivor group to keep away from others' belongings. The survival rate in the area inside the time bubble was more than ten times bigger than otherwise.

That inflated the number of survivors in their budding community by more than a half, according to Hainsworth.

At night, she checked the refrigerated trailers that had been running all day. They were ice cold and billowing clouds of chilly mist seeped out when she opened the door. Sara intended to check Lake Stonecrest tomorrow, take Kelly for a date along the promenade, and loot the restaurants and fast food joints before all the buns, burgers, and slices of cheese went bad.

She intended to move to Panthersville and claim somewhere nice for herself. The area had a lot of untapped potential and was close to the main System Core. She was looking forward to implementing the System and seeing what happens.