Lair by Carl Stubblefield (recommended reading TXT) 📕

armor (+50%). It extends to vehicles you directly use or are a passenger in, and lowers critical failure rates (30% reduction).

Penalties: Gives a one-time -5 to luck stat.

Progression to level 2: 46% (Passive)

“Well that explains my luck, but how do I have that much progression already? Is that a result of things that have happened in the past, before the crash?”

“Very little progression can be made in any advanced skill without the aid of a nanobot interface construct. There are changes to DNA and rewriting over junk DNA in the genome. Custom reverse-transcriptase viruses must be made to insert the DNA throughout the body while monitoring that vital genes are left undamaged. Introns and exons are manipulated in cases of progressive skills, with the intron being removed and ‘activating’ the next level of the skill. The fact that you have any advanced skill at all is highly irregular. It would have remained at its base stats had you not undergone nanobot integration.”

“I guess I understood about a tenth of that. Can you boil that down to normal non-scientific words?”

“Certainly. Your nanobots will help modify your DNA, adding new information and cutting out inactive parts. Some abilities are locked, and this will require your nanobots to activate the full potential of some of these new genes as you increase in level. Without the help of these nanobots, those genes would never activate on their own. These changes will increase your abilities past current human norms and allow you to access and control forces currently beyond typical human evolution.”

“Ok, I already have one skill. That skill is the only reason I was on Graviton’s station. My father worked out an agreement and called in some favors so I could ‘get to the next rank.’”

Gus had been a henchman for a while and had progressed up their hierarchy a bit. He had advanced from L.A.C.K.E.Y., which was the basic training level, noobs among the henchmen. Then came G.R.U.N.T., then P.E.O.N., and currently he was at G.O.O.N. His father thought he was advancing too slowly, so he’d arranged a post with more possibility for advancement.

Henchmen accrued merit points for serving without disciplinary incidents, completing successful missions, and various activities that basically meant you showed up and did the tasks assigned to you. The higher ranks were where regs could advance into limited management positions. Gus knew that that type of advancement would separate him from his friends, so he never really applied himself.

Having his father’s expectation hovering above him also made him dig in his heels and resist more than he normally would as well. The fact that his friends weren’t on the station was probably something Tempest arranged so he could focus on ‘the job.’ Fat chance.

Looking back at the display, Gus marveled at the information there.

“This is the first time I’ve seen everything quantified. I can see why it would be a beneficial skill to have for any ship-based headquarters. It’s kind of depressing to see my physical stats though. I realize I’m skinny and all, but that’s downright weak! What is the baseline for the average reg, Nick?”

“Do you really want to know?”

“Lay it on me,” Gus said with trepidation.

“The average value for a reg is ten in any stat.”

“Ouch, I’m that much below average?”

“I did warn you, Gus.”

“Ok, so I have a lot of work to do. How do I power up skills and get new ones, Nick?” Gus sighed, feeling discouraged at his lackluster innate abilities.

“Down to brass tacks, then. Building your skills uses a game framework, as it is familiar to humans and allows directed progress with immediate feedback. This prevents wasted effort on non-productive actions and offers rewards; as a result, a player levels. This provides a continuous positive feedback loop. Productive actions garner XP, or experience points, and utilization of skills has a similar progression. Various bonuses and skills are unlocked as you progress. This is how all supers have increased their abilities.”

Gus thought back to everything he thought he knew about supers. Most supers had aligned into Factions, the main ones being Green, Orange and Purple. Since Gus’ father was in the Purple Faction, he had always gotten jobs working for supers in that particular Faction. When his older brother Alan got his powers, he followed Tempest’s footsteps. Each Faction had its basic tenets and had a heavy impact on the laws and organization of an area where they exerted their influence. People tended to live near areas controlled by supers that aligned with their political views. He had never heard anything about nanobots and their connection to them giving supers abilities. Gus stopped his musings as Nick continued his explanation.

“Regarding your skill increase, you have two ways to increase stats. The most common method at low levels is through training and quests. A majority of skills are forms of active abilities, and a very limited amount have a passive function. Often what we call passive skills are, in reality, an active ability trained to the point that it becomes available for passive, unconscious use. Using abilities consciously and in a focused manner results in much more XP and quicker advancement.

“While you were unconscious, we made use of the cotton fiber in your clothing to fabricate nanofibrillar cellulose to dress your wounds. Some of the cellulose from the cotton was crystallized and used to reinforce muscle fibers and aid in increasing your strength and agility stats as you train. Your Wreck-less skill enabled the cotton to resist decomposition, so more of the fibers could be harvested and utilized. Before you had nanobots, this ability was totally passive. Now, however, you can interact and develop this skill. In fact, you would probably be midway from level two to three in this particular skill had you been consciously activating it since the crash. Mentally invoking this skill with intention will trigger the skill to activate.”

“To be honest, Nick, I have never really noticed I had a skill at all. It’s just what I’ve been told. My father