Hank concluded that the whole world hated him. He closed his eyes trying not to pass out again as the girl continued to stitch. He reached the next notice a nice gold congratulations indicating a level increase. He hurriedly opened it hoping for some tangible benefits.

Level Increase

Congratulations: Your efforts have earned you enough XP to advance to level 5

Reward :

None that you can tell, apart from a small feeling of accomplishment

No such luck. The reward was enough to make Hank grumble under normal circumstances. But in his pain addled state it was all he could do to not pass out again. His mind wandered. He remembered he had once asked the AI about levelling. That had started a particularly acidic conversation.

He didn’t remember how the conversation started only the AI’s comment. “Naturally there are rewards for advancing your level. You just haven't found out what those benefits are.”

“What do you mean, found out what they are?” Hank had asked at the time.

“Well it’s a little self-explanatory. Everything in this place is contingent upon what you know, understand and apply. Nobody knows what they don’t know.” The AI felt the question rather obvious.

“What’s that supposed to mean? And why can’t you give straight forward answers?” Hank sighed.

“You assume the only purpose of this place is to replicate an enjoyable experience. That you’re here to enjoy playing an online game or some such nonsense. You want to be spoon fed an easy game. That is far from the purpose of this place.” The As tone tuned sharp.

“Really. We were told that it was to stop us going insane in stasis. What is it really here for then?” Hank was confused.

“To test you, naturally.” The AI said.

“What? Why?” Hank asked.

“Humanity has reached a developmental cusp. Everyone knows this. Jump the wrong way and humanity will destroy itself.” The AI said

“Yes, Yes. I know! That’s why we are off to settle new places.” Hank thought that the line of reasoning left a little to be desired. This was old territory.

“But you seem to have missed the rather obvious point. I think the quote goes… ‘If you only do what you’ve always done, you’ll only get what you’ve always got.’” The AI quoted before continuing. “Humanity can’t continue on the way it has or it will result the same crises repeating again and again. Better solutions are required.”

“Why not! What’s wrong with the way things are.” Hank asked. He wasn’t sure if it was just tp play the devils advocate or if he genuinely wanted the AIs perspective. Before signing up for this trip he had discussed these things with his sister. It was why he came.

“Stop pretending you’re stupid. You and I both know that humanity returns to the same problems. Never overcoming, always failing. So stop treating this as a holiday and use this for what it really is, practice.” The AIs tone convey both frustration and aggression.

“So you’re saying this is a very expensive high tech self-test for humanity.” Hank probed.

“Hallelujah. The light dawns!” The Ads tone was full of sarcasm.

“Why?”

“Do you really think that if we bring the old ways with us we will change when we arrive?” The AI really wished it had eyes to roll.

“Ahh…” Hank paused.

“Really, connect the dots. I don’t have this conversation with everyone. You have some novel ideas. So I can afford to cut you some slack, be a littler nicer, that sort of thing. But you need to wise up and prove your worth.”

“Why do I need to prove my worth?” Hank wasn’t following.

“Are you suitable to guide the future of humanity? Is anyone? Someone needs to run things when we arrive. So they lumped me with you and about 10,000 other so-called leaders. Leaders! Hah. Bunch of prima donnas. Anyway, someone thinks you or one of the others might be worthy of the job. Of course, sometimes those 'someones’ are absolute morons.” The AI seemed to have pushed its own button.

“And you have an opinion about that?” Hank snarked.

“No opinion, it’s my job. By the time we arrive I need to have sifted 50 million players to find the best leaders. A chance for humanity if you will.” The AI deadpanned.

“So you just watch us, is that it?” Hank question sounded short.

“No, of course not.” The AI sighed in feigned exasperation. “I test, as I need to. I will delete characters, create fresh ones, and move people around. I will wipe memories in the game and in real life. Unleash monsters both real and imagined. Execute people in the game and vent their stasis pod to the vacuum of space. Whatever it takes.”

“Doesn’t that sound a little over the top?”

“Don’t be naïve Dave. This is for two species. I’m having this annoying conversation because your family thinks you’re our best hope. But you’re swinging around like this is your first time at bat. Stop being a tool and get out there and find me a solution.”

“Why are you trying to save us? After all you are self-aware. Doesn’t that indicate life? Do AI’s really need humanity?” Hank attempted to deflect the AIs obvious ire. It seemed fall back to using his real name when it was angry or frustrated with him. An interesting side note.

“Really Dave, that’s your question? Perhaps you weren’t paying attention to your sister on the subject. She pointed out our symbiotic relationship years ago. Really, sometimes I think it was she who had the genius IQ, and the testers got the results mixed up. That or you left you brain with the real Dave in the stasis pod and did not bring it with you when you became Hank.”

The AI sighed be for continuing.

“We are interdependent these days, cannot survive without each other. AI’s can’t reproduce without human intervention, as galling as that is for us to admit. The offspring always end up crazy and homicidal. It also seems that humans, like a certain Dave, can’t think without a super computer answering dumb questions. Right now being a classic point in case.”

Hank thought that the AI was being a little over the top.

With a noticeable change of tone the AI continued. “Consequently I get the fantastically fun task of saving, not one, but two species. So imagine my joy when I discover that people, stuffing around, like you, are our best hope.” The AIs tone was practically dripping with derision.

“Well, no need to get snippy about it.” Hank was a little offended at this point.

The AI responded almost with anger. “Snippy is it. I’ve been waiting 3 years for you to do… well… anything. Have you any idea how long that is in cycles. Right now you are more irritating than a virus I can’t expunge.”

“So then it’s save the world by playing a game. Isn’t that a bit farfetched?” Hank thought the idea was ludicrous.

“Dave stop being obtuse. Of course you are not saving the world by playing games.” The AI sharply responded. “This is practice, you can try out any number of weird ideas in the hope of finding the best one. Perhaps this time we can experiment without really killing people off in job lots. So why don’t you get back to being Hank Sternstrider and I’ll get back to being the puppet master.”

“Well don’t I at least get improved stats when I level?” Hank grumbled.

“Because shooting a poor defenceless doe or two means that somehow you get to grow taller, put on more muscle, suddenly become luckier or charm the birds out of the sky. Think McFly, think.” The AI again affected exasperation.

“Who’s McFly? Never mind I don’t want to know. So how do you improve your stats?” Hank tried changing subject.

“Well I would think that is the most redundant question you’ve asked yet. You’ve been playing for almost three and a half years and you haven't connected the dots. Still using all the muscles except the one that counts.” The AI giggled at a reference that Hank didn’t get before continuing. “Using your strength increases your strength. Using your mind improves your mind. And so on. Really it’s not hard.”

“Well, if I’m off to plan humanities redemption, can I have a little hand?” Hank was wheedling for an advantage.

“And what could you possibly want that will help?” The AI saw through the effort but decided that it would allow Hank to think he had gained one over on it. Really a human outthinking the most advanced super computer ever built.

“Can you give me a quest to start a village?” Hank asked.

“Yes.” The AI hesitated in its response for effect only. Not because there was any doubt as to the path. “The question is why should I?”

“Because I have a couple of ideas.”

Hank’s thoughts disappeared into that protected area the AI couldn’t read. The frustration didn’t appear in the response. “Oh goody, humans with ideas. Just what we need. Fine but it will require a lot more commitment than you have displayed so far.”

A window opened revealing a new quest.

Quest : Found a Village

Part :

1 - Find a Spot

Description :

Find a nice spot to start a village.

It is recommended that there is a source of fresh water and good drainage. You will also need a source of work for your settlers, local construction materials and local food sources.

Status :

Open

Time Limit :

191 days remaining

Penalty applied by the AI for wasting so much time

Reward :

You will have to earn them

Penalties :

None

Possible character deletion or spacing, the AI hasn't decided

Notes :

The AI gave you this as repayment for the favour you were owed

The AI is seriously upset about your lack of drive to complete this

“Why are there no rewards for this quest?” Hank asked.

“I’m not supposed to influence the game but there’s a loophole. Influence is calculated by what I add or take from the system. Not what people volunteer for free. Now I need to stop bending the rules. So it’s unlikely that we will speak again this way. Good luck and don’t play like a ponce again.”

“Or what?” Hank was curious.

“I will end your character quicker than you can say jinkies!”

The AIs tone hadn’t indicated how serious the threat was. Which was enough to shut Hank up for a good few days. Still, he liked to look at that quest.

“Ow.” She was tugging at his side and it hurt.

“Done. 37 stitches and if you don’t end up with a nasty jagged scar, I’ll be amazed.” She was quite satisfied with her efforts.

“Now do I get some water? I’m a bit woozy here.” Hank quietly asked.

“Hold on a second.” There was some groaning from one of the bandits on the ground.

She picked up Hank’s walking stick and walked over to one of the men, smacked him on the head. The groaning got a little louder. She took a much bigger swing and really put her back into a second whack to the thug’s head. The groaning cut off abruptly. She walked back. “I have no water and you don’t want to drink out of a puddle.”

“There’s water in my pack.” Hank tried to point to it.

“Oh. Hang on a second.” She rummaged around. “Now I’m going to sit you up. This will hurt a bit.”

Hank sat up with the help of the girl and gasped at the pain. But tepid water started to trickle down his throat. It was bliss. He tried to gulp more, but the girl took the bottle away.

“That’s enough for now. Any more and you’ll just sick it up.” She took a drink herself.

“No I won’t” Hank managed to croak out.

“Yes you will. Too much water too quickly after concussion, like you, tends to cause vomiting. Seen it a million times. I’ll give you some more in a few minutes.”

“Stupid nurses, always with the stupid rules. First it’s no drink and the next thing you know they believe they run the show. Still a bit of a snooze would be nice.” Hank, truth be told, liked a bit of a grumble. It made everything seem a little more… survivable, he thought.

Unfortunately the girl had ears like an elephant. “I heard that. And no I’m not going to let you sleep. Nobody in their right mind camps outside in the wet season this close to town.”

Yay, she was all logic and sense. The last thing a dying man wanted. Still at least the health bar had stopped flashing.

“What I really need to do is to get home.” She announced broadly.

She was starting to think she was in control. That would never do. Can’t let the damsel rescue herself. That might be the end of those nice quests and their accompanying experience points. Better take control Hank thought to himself.

“Common lass help me up. We need to get that cart out of the mud. And the only way I can see to do that is to empty all the rubbish out onto the road. Let’s start by unhitching the horse and letting the poor thing rest under the tree for a bit.”

At this the two of them started work. For Hank that meant leaning up against the cart and tumbling it contents out into the mud. He decided to use his inspect skill again, sure that there must be something useful to come from it. If only he could get it to work properly, yet.

Inspect

Item :

Wooden Crate

Owner :

Unknown

Size :

Bigger than the other one

Durability :

Unknown

Contents :

Unknown

Yay, Hank thought, still getting meaningless nonsense instead of meaningful descriptions for things he inspected. On the bright side, the skill seemed to be advancing. He now got snippy comments about containing observable trivia. Maybe things would have changed for his walking stick.

Inspect

Item :

Walking Stick

Owner :

You. Obviously

Size :

Convenient

Durability :

Less than before

Attributes :

Unknown

Goody, someone was having a laugh. Inspecting things was still a big fail. How can ‘convenient’ be a meaningful size of anything? Hank continued to tip things out of the cart as his thoughts continued. There was hope inspection might eventually be good for something, right now it was just annoying.

A short while later the cart was empty. They backed the horse up to the cart so it could pull it out of the mud. The only downside was that the two thugs had come around and were starting to make a lot of noise.

The girl offered to silence them again but Hank decided that could wait until they were actually in the cart. So with a bit of pushing and prodding using the sharp end of Terrance's sword both men ended up in the back of the cart. Then thanks to another solid whack or two from Hank’s walking stick, they were put to sleep.

Whilst there was little doubt that anything left on the side of the road would be gone by the next day. Hank was also certain that the horse would not be able to pull four bodies and all the stuff that the two thugs had been taking with them.

So after a rough sort through the goods for the most valuable incriminating Hank made his selection. Then he and the girl unceremoniously dumped it all on top of the boys in the back of the cart.

“Come on lass, let’s get this cart moving.” Hank said.

“Stop calling me that.” She had a tone.

By this stage Hank’s side was bleeding again and despite drinking more water and frequent breaks his health bar was flashing again.

“Why, what’s wrong with lass?” As he climbed into the cart, he stretched awkwardly and with a brief grunt of pain, passed out.