Lair by Carl Stubblefield (recommended reading TXT) 📕

a blue haze, a smile on his face. He blinked a couple times until he realized that it was a status window dominating his entire field of view. A countdown timer relentlessly announced:

13 days 8 hours 22 minutes until nanobot shutdown/death

That’s a bit of a buzzkill, he thought, frowning. Stretching his neck side to side, Gus sat up and coughed a bit. “Nick, are our conversations out loud or only in my head? My throat feels hoarse like I haven’t spoken in a while.” Gus said in a croaky voice.

“Actually, the majority are mental, but it is possible to communicate either way. Only certain things may need to be said aloud to activate the skill, mainly to avoid accidental activation and use when planning or recalling past events. It is usually more helpful not to telegraph one’s intentions or make noise to maintain stealth in battle conditions.”

“Good to know. One more question. Are you able to play back music, seeing as you have access to the quantum computer or whatever?” Gus asked hopefully.

“Yes, what music would you like?” Nick offered. A familiar chime sounded.

You have just unlocked the skill: Wreck-ord, Soundtrack of your Life (Level 1)

Everyone marches to the beat of their own drum, but you use this to your advantage! When you songify your life in apropos ways, you will get a bonus to stats. Bonus depends on the aptness of your choice and stats relevant to the situation. Rock on!

Note: Each song can only be used once for effect. Unlike most abilities, as you increase in your personal level, this ability loses its potency. Use this ability wisely.

For levels 1-10:

Multiplier Progression: Factorial

Cooldown: 6 hours

100 XP awarded

690 XP to level 3

“I knew this was going to be a great day!” Gus cheered, again noticing his parched throat. “Dang, I need to deal with the water situation, I only have a couple coconuts left and they don’t have that much coconut water inside of them.”

Gus grabbed a coconut and his foam pad, and went to his ‘thinking spot’ where he had watched the sunset. He hit the coconut with the flat end of the blade on the side opposite the two ‘eyes’ and it cracked open. Drinking the water inside and then using the knife he pried chunks of the meat away from the shell as he thought about his next tasks. He noticed that he was able to chew normally again.

“Top of the list is getting some clothes—”

A chime interrupted him.

Quest Granted: Better Cover Up

For all our sakes, put some clothes on, man!

Quest Conditions:

1) Find durable and comfortable footwear

2) Find suitable clothing/undergarments

3) Find a storage device of some sort

Quest Rewards: 750 XP

Do you want to accept this quest? (Y/N)

“To do that, I’ll probably need to sharpen my knife, and find a—”

Another chime sounded, with its accompanying message:

Quest Granted: ‘Dems sharp!

1) Find a way to sharpen your knife to a functional edge

Quest Rewards: 250 XP

Do you want to accept this quest? (Y/N)

“That’s not annoying at all…” Gus grumbled as he accepted both tasks.

Gus stood up and grabbed his knife. “Let’s find something to wear, and something to drink if possible. Nick, queue ‘Sharp Dressed Man’ by ZZ Top.”

A notice popped up under his display:

I see what you did there…

+3 perception while searching for a way to sharpen your blade and get dressed.

Gus grinned and gave himself a mental pat on the back. Well played. Venturing farther inland was easy at first but became much more of a challenge once the vegetation became thicker. Gus cycled through a few other classic rock songs but no other bonuses triggered. He decided to stop playing songs so he wouldn’t ‘waste’ any that he could use for a bonus later.

Having geocached in his ‘life before,’ he knew well that a mere two-hundred feet could be extremely difficult to traverse, especially when blackberry bushes or some other obnoxious, thorny plants impeded progress. He definitely did not want to encounter anything with stickers or thorns while naked. Gus hoped to find a clean water source, so he scanned the area to see if he could detect some kind of river. He remembered seeing a couple areas where water was trickling down the beach from inland while he was gathering food the day before.

Gus took his makeshift knife and walked inland. Fortunately, there was a path that was mostly sandy. Occasional messages of slight HP losses popped up as he tried to move inland and hit a sharp rock or hidden thorn. The offenders were quickly dealt with, but it made for slow progress.

There was a rustling in the treetops nearby as something unseen moved. Remembering the screech in the night, he felt a slight dread at wandering toward the jungle and clutched his crude saw a bit tighter. Hopefully whatever that was is nocturnal. When nothing attacked, he continued moving inland after he was sure the coast was clear.

After half a mile, the trail disappeared. He stopped and surveyed the area. The dunes gave way to small bushes and grasses, with the trees growing dense and tight in the distance.

His attention was drawn to a small part in the tree line. He squinted to see what was in that area, and his visual display zoomed in, hyperspace-style, until he spotted a small stream. The stream had a slight yellow glow outlining it in his zoomed view.

“Whoa, what was that?”

“Your perception will allow you to notice multiple things in your environment, and certain filters will allow you to sort visual information with increased levels in your perception skill.” Nick explained.

“What about the yellow highlights? That wasn’t you showing me where to go, or what would be most efficient to finishing the quest? I don’t want any more penalties to my XP if I can help it. What gets highlighted?”

“Do you recall that you received a perception bonus before you set out? Perception functions that way, and it heightens your ability to notice and understand the world around you. I was not showing you what to do or