There's a massive rush as everything becomes clearer and sharper. The world just feels so much more real. The cold air on her breath no longer feeling quite so cold. The slight twinges of discomfort from moving and walking since early morning pushed away into dull aches. The murmur and clatter of the milling crowd becoming sharper, clearer, louder, overwhelming if not for the fact that there's suddenly so much more room to think. Who's doing what and where, where the shelves are, how the tree clearing was going, how many guns are on the wall, the instinctual tracking of movement and mood in the back of her head- It's all so much easier now. Things are suddenly blindingly obvious. The perimeter is honestly weakest on the south, when if anything the opposite should be true. The watchtower needs to be a bit taller, or the apartment building just south needs to come down, for it to have truly commanding sight lines. And so on.

Multimind Selected!

You are now Level 1!

Level: 1
HP: 60/60
MP: 90/90
Experience: 500/1000
Body: 6
Mind: 10
Spirit: 9

Conditions: None

Class Powers: None

5 points available to assign. Assign points to earn Class Powers and Class Upgrades.

The runner comes back with a guy that's extremely built, like ultra-bodybuilder, and... Abyssia.

She looks totally different now. A bit taller, a bit broader, somehow- Maybe that's all in the pose, or maybe not. The most salient difference is that her skin is now a deep blue, eyes gold, and her black dyed hair is shot through with silvery streaks. Oh, and she's carrying a bright red fire axe in addition to her usual knife, and has kitted herself out with those improvised arm and leg guards.

"Sable! Are we going on a rescue mission?"

When the runner gets back, Maya fixes them with an intent gaze, warm steel in her voice. "Good job. Now we need you to talk to the construction teams about reinforcing the southern perimeter and raising the watchtower higher. Go."

Then Sable turns to smile at Bys. "Hell yes we are. Ink and Salt, girl, that class upgrade made you even hotter."

She hops into the shotgun seat, where she can put her perception and speed and command to use.

"Get in, bitches. We're going rescuing."

<How long have you been waiting for an excuse to use that line?>, Neo asks.

<Long enough,> Sable replies with an internal blush.

"I resemble that remark," the buff guy mutters, chuckling.

Bys's eyes go wide and she rears back. "I- This is no time for that! We've got work to do. I'm not sure about my powers, we can review while we're driving-"

The pair clamber into the sports car's back seat, with a bit of difficulty. Mike taps his foot rapidly, impatient. As soon as they're mostly seated he pulls a tidy three-point turn and heads back for the fortress entrance, trundling over the concrete dividers and grass in places with soft thumps. "So the sitch is that there's a fucking school bus full of kids, and a couple cars with people still in 'em too, in some kind of incredibly fucked up giant pile-up right near JBLM. It's such a mess. Bus on its side, field of cars three deep around it, cars on top, cars blocking the back... The teacher turned into a Healer so they're all stable - but the only two people who weren't absolute fuckwads and stayed to try and get 'em free instead of running for Tacoma, can't do it by themselves, not in time."

He hits relatively open ground and pushes the throttle open, peeling rubber down the clear part of the 5.

Even before everyone's in, Neo prods the System for a list of available class powers.

"Sounds like a mess," Sable says in response to the briefing. "Everyone review class powers and get talking, w—I have the bandwidth for all of it."

<That's fair, now isn't the time to explain us to new people,> Hailey agrees.

Maya gives Sable a mental hug. It feels more vivid than ever.

"I'm a Racer, already spent all my points on '86. It's powered by magic, I got a repair spell, it's got offroad tires, and three points in something called 'slip driving' that makes me real nimble."

"I'm a Bodybuilder. Potential powers, Leverage, Brute Force, Endure, Roid Rage. I think Leverage sounds like what we want."

You have 5 Points available.

Available Class Powers:

Parallel Processing 0/5 - Each level of this Power reduces the additional mental load caused by multiple active minds of thought by 10%.

Many Voices One Body 0/5 - Allows seamless coordination and task switching in combat between personalities I.E. A mind for footwork, a mind for spells, a mind for aiming. Efficiency increases with number of points invested. Costs [N-1] MP/second where N is the number of minds coordinated.

Absolute Focus 0/1 - Allows shunting of all minds except one to an inactive state in exchange for a 100% increase in speed of thought and 50% decrease in reaction time, for up to one objective minute. Costs 10 MP.

Strong Will 0/5 - Increases effective willpower for contested Mind and Spirit checks I.E. against charm, fear, confusion, blindness, or suppression Afflictions, by 20% per level.

"I have- Baleful Strike, Bloody Work, uh is lifesteal, Dark Power- That's a channeled aura thing- And Sudden Charge, which can affect a group, speed and first strike boost."

They immediately sink a point into Parallel Processing.

"Okay. Sebastian," Sable points at the Bodybuilder, "you're definitely taking Leverage. Bys, you want Sudden Charge and anything that can throw enough damage to blast a car to chunks or knock it out of the way, if any of those do that. Sketch of a plan is Bys hits us with Sudden Charge when we start, Sebastian goes straight for the bus and heaves cars out of the way of the back, and everyone else gets other people out of cars, breaking windows as needed. Whenever monsters show up, Bys hits us with another Sudden Charge if needed, and one or both of us switch focus to keeping them off the party while everyone else focuses on liberating people. Once everyone's out, fighting retreat to JBLM, civvies stay there until a secure corridor exists. Once the civvies are dropped off, we all pile back into '86 and Mike drives back to Fort Bass. Any monsters show up along the way, I lean out the window and shoot 'em. If Bys has ranged powers, she can optionally hit with those. Once home, we contribute to defense there. Feedback?"

"I don't wanna sit still, and I don't really wanna try fucking ramming monsters either. And I'm a terrible shot. Transport only," Mike snarls, jerking the wheel to drift around an 18-wheeler on its side in the middle of the highway.

"Leverage talks about- getting around simple physics. I think I also need a Brute Force, I'm strong but not that strong," Sebastian says. "Oh, shit, taking a point in a power unlocks upgrades for it, that's something new to think about too. Leverage upgrades: Ground Pressure, World of Cardboard, Precise Break."

"Baleful Strike is a ranged magic bolt attack. Does damage based on my Spirit, costs 2 MP. Maybe we should save some of our points for emergencies, or for later analysis- I think things are going to start happening very fast in, uh, less than three minutes. Sudden Charge upgrades- Shock and Awe, Speed Boost, Disengage."

<Upgrades? System, tell us about the upgrades,> Hailey asks.

Parallel Processing (1/5)
-Back of Your Head (0/1) - Creates a set of phantasmal eyes that can move up to Sqrt(Spirit) meters from you. 5 MP/minute.
-Parallel Pain Tolerance (0/1) - Allows differential loading of sensory or pain overload among minds.
-Psychic Scream (0/5) - Single target mental attack with a range of Mind meters. Causes confusion, disorientation, pain, and light damage increasing based on upgrade level. Cooldown: 1 minute.

<Are the phantasmal eyes visible to others?>

System Inquiry Detected

Remaining Tutorial Duration: 6 days, 23 hours, 47 minutes

Phantasmal eyes appear as translucent, slightly glowing spheres that look like eyes. Certain skills and powers can detect and track phantasmal links.

<A point of Many Voices One Body, please, and list upgrades.>

Many Voices One Body 1/5
-Acclimation (0/5) - Reduces ongoing cost of maintaining MVOB after the first 2 seconds, by 10% per level.
-Wired Nerves (0/5) - Reduces effective neuron transmission delay by 10% per level when MVOB is active.
-Many Voices One Mouth (0/1) - Allows you to speak in two voices simultaneously while MVOB is active. Both will be heard clearly.

"Everything I'm looking at upgrades focus, attention, fluid multitasking, and so on. Mike, no worries, just drop us off. Maybe come get us later, or maybe we'll just fight our way back if we have to. That's up to the group. You stick to your strengths and keep yourself and '86 safe," Sable replies.

She nods at Bys. "Yeah, we shouldn't spend everything." Then to Sebastian, she says, "Makes sense about Brute Force. Probably pick that up too. Do any of those upgrades look useful?"

<System, show Bys our character sheet and purchased/available powers. Is there a way to relay private messages?>

System Inquiry Detected

Private messages require an appropriate Class Power or Settlement/Location upgrade.

"I might need more time to look at it all. World of cardboard and ground pressure so I can move cars without just tearing bumpers off..."

Bys says, "I am taking Baleful Strike and Sudden Charge and holding the rest of my points for now.

"Yeah, I'm limiting my purchases as well. Just a few things I think will be useful here."

<Back of Your Head, please.>

One minute until Monsters begin spawning.

"Okay, we're halfway there but I'm going in the grass. The wrecks get bad up here," Mike says.

"Makes sense. Good thing you've got those off-road tires. I should be able to keep up situational awareness even while we work, so I should probably be on the perimeter working in, ideally on the side furthest from JBLM. Really it just depends on monster quantities when we get there. If there are enough, I stand atop the bus and shoot them while everyone else rescues people, since I've got a cheap ranged option."

"How much ammo you carrying? Not worried about the soldiers?"

"Eighty-one rounds total: one chambered, three mags of ten, and a box. The soldiers can handle themselves and may help keep that side clearer, if anything. I expect they know how to tell people from monsters, if they bother approaching. If I run out of ammo, I switch to baton and knife, and dance."

As the sportscar rolls over the grass, bumping around, she takes a centering breath. "System, what monsters are going to spawn around here? -Classified." She rubs her hands together. "Okay, we'll do this, we got this. How much further, uh, Mike?"

"See the airfield off to the left? That's the base. They're not defending the runway, just the buildings. Pileup's a bit past it, by the highway exits."

Sebastian looks around uncertainly, but he's not gonna be the coward in the group, no sir. He just wishes he'd thought to bring something other than a sledgehammer.

Monster spawns are now enabled.

You are outside of a safe zone.

New Quest Available: Safe Passage

Assist in establishing a safe route between Joint Base Lewis-McChord and Tacoma by killing monsters, providing intelligence, or coordinating with other Players.

Reward: 200-2000 Experience.

"Alright, we're here! Get to it, heroes!"