Town Under: A Post-Apocalyptic LitRPG (The System Apocalypse: Australia Book 1) Read online
Town Under
The First Book in a New Apocalyptic LitRPG
The System Apocalypse – Australia
By
Tao Wong & KT Hanna
License Notes
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite book retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
Town Under
Copyright © 2021 Tao Wong and KT Hanna. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2021 Sarah Anderson Cover Designer
Published by Starlit Publishing
PO Box 30035
High Park PO
Toronto, ON
M6P 3K0
Canada
www.starlitpublishing.com
Ebook ISBN: 9781990491450
Print ISBN: 9781990491504
Hardcover ISBN: 9781990491511
Contents
Chapter One: Timer
Chapter Two: Flying Bugs
Chapter Three: Free For All
Chapter Four: Not a Game
Chapter Five: Slowly Does It
Chapter Six: Doodle Dandy
Chapter Seven: Ready or Not!
Chapter Eight: Tick Tock
Chapter Nine: Fetch
Chapter Ten: Smoothing Out
Chapter Eleven: One Down
Chapter Twelve: New Reality
Chapter Thirteen: New Order
Chapter Fourteen: Denial
Chapter Fifteen: Tech
Chapter Sixteen: Rescuing
Chapter Seventeen: Unexpectedly
Chapter Eighteen: Bloody Hell
Chapter Nineteen: Skin Crawler
Chapter Twenty: Reality Check
Chapter Twenty-One: Day 7 Post-System Onset
Chapter Twenty-Two: 20 Others
Chapter Twenty-Three: First Contact
Chapter Twenty-Four: Goddamn Quests
Chapter Twenty-Five: Quest Complete
Chapter Twenty-Six: The Shop
Chapter Twenty-Seven: Level Up
Chapter Twenty-Eight: Township
Chapter Twenty-Nine: Dungeon World
Chapter Thirty: MacGregor Dungeon
Chapter Thirty-One: Loot Restrictions
Chapter Thirty-Two: Eye of the Beholder
Chapter Thirty-Three: Countdown
Chapter Thirty-Four: Mutations
Chapter Thirty-Five: Ambient Flow
Chapter Thirty-Six: Power Source
Chapter Thirty-Seven: Turn the Power On
Epilogue
Authors’ Note
About the Authors
Acknowledgements from KT Hanna
About the Publisher
Books in the System Apocalypse Universe
Glossary
Ecological Chain Specialist Skill Tree
Ecological Chain Specialist Skills
Other Class Skills
Spells
Equipment
Perks
Life in the North (The System Apocalypse): Chapter One
Initializing (Somnia Online): Chapter One
To Tao, for obvious reasons
Chapter One:
Timer
10:45 p.m.—15 Minutes Prior to System Onset
Usually, the stars gleamed through Toohey Forest at night, twinkling through the glass to remind me why I loved my work. Tonight though, the glare of the non-fluorescent lights reflected off the window and back to me, like it was trying to blind me. I hurried through my tasks as fast as I could trying to get the sample kits prepared before everyone got to the labs bright and early the next morning.
“Mum. Are you done yet?” Jackson’s bored voice broke through my contemplation as I juggled several ecological sample kits. He was lucky I didn’t drop them.
“You didn’t have to come. I told you you could babysit.” I kept my voice as soft as possible, knowing that Wisp was asleep over on my office chair. Jackson rolled his eyes at me but went back to whatever he was tinkering with on his laptop. It was true, though; he’d just turned thirteen. I figured he could babysit for a few hours, but he surprised me by insisting they come with.
Almost eleven at night. Just over another hour and it would literally be tomorrow. I would have been so much faster if I hadn’t brought them with me, but sometimes I think they just liked to be near me. Not that they’d tell me that, of course. That wouldn’t be on the cool scale at all. I stifled a chuckle knowing my newly minted teenager would assume I was laughing at him. I wasn’t even close to in the mood for teenagerisms.
“Not too long. Just keep an eye on your sister while I check the progress on a few of these experiments and we’ll head home. Just got to make sure the grafts are taking.”
Jackson didn’t answer but shifted in his seat with a wry grin. He always said I treated plants like they were kids too.
Glancing at the array of kits I still needed to check over, I couldn’t blame him. After all, it wasn’t difficult to get lost in my work. Ecosystems were an amazing thing, and helping them thrive when they’d almost been wiped out gave me tingles up and down my spine. With the amount of drought Australia went through on a regular basis, finding rare plants and trying to rejuvenate their habitats was everything I’d ever wanted to do. There I went again . . .
One more quick scan over the gear I’d gathered together so the field trip could leave in the morning and help gather the next round of samples we needed. Done, which meant I could check on the few running grafts I had percolating. I managed to suppress the sheer joy I felt at grabbing my clipboard so I could jot down my observations. There was this one fascinating plant graft that I’d had to use very specific soil mixture for, not to mention lugging back its native water source for testing—
The lights flickered, and I frowned.
That was odd. I was sure there hadn’t been any storm warnings, not even an electrical storm. I’d have known, and I definitely wouldn’t be in here for one of those. A few seconds passed. The entire university campus had back-up generators just in case. Turning around to comment to Jackson, the lights flickered again, and while I only had a brief moment to adjust as darkness engulfed us, I clearly saw a wave of bioluminescent air hit me in the chest.
My entire body tingled, and the power remained off.
“Mum. What the . . .” But Jackson didn’t get any further, and my brain didn’t have an answer for him anyway.
Blue flashed across my vision again, but this time eerily like the blue screen of death I’d grown up fearing as a child.
Greetings, citizen. As a peaceful and organized immersion into the Galactic Council has been declined (extensively and painfully, we might add), your world has been declared a Dungeon World. Thank you. We were getting bored with the twelve we had previously.
Please note that the process of developing a Dungeon World can be difficult for current inhabitants. We recommend leaving the planet till the process is completed in 373 days, 2 hours, 14 minutes, and 12 seconds.
For those of you
unable or unwilling to leave, do note that new Dungeons and wandering monsters will spawn intermittently throughout the integration process. All new Dungeons and zones will receive recommended minimum Levels. However, during the transition period, expect there to be significant volatility in the Levels and types of monsters in each Dungeon and zone.
As a new Dungeon World, your planet has been designated a free-immigration location. Undeveloped worlds in the Galactic Council may take advantage of this new immigration policy. Please try not to greet all new visitors the same way as you did our Emissary; you humans could do with some friends.
As part of the transition, all sentient subjects will have access to new Classes and Skills as well as the traditional user interface adopted by the Galactic Council in 119 GC. Thank you for your cooperation, and good luck! We look forward to meeting you soon.
Time to System Initiation: 59 minutes, 23 seconds.
“Mum?”
This time, Jackson sounded scared, and if there’s one thing I’ve learned about my two-week-strong teenager, admitting he was scared was no longer a thing. So much for vaguely hoping he’d played a practical joke. With his programming knowledge and penchant for fiddling with electronics, I was fairly certain a part of his brain was already trying to figure this shit out.
“It’s okay. Probably just a gimmick of some sort.” Even I didn’t believe that lie, but he had the good grace not to harp on it. “Check on your sister for me.”
I tried to keep my voice steady, not to give away that I might be freaking the hell out. That blue wave of whatever hit my chest had left a glowing residue behind in the project I’d been checking on. My fingers even felt like they’d been saturated, like they were swelling. The soft blue glow was our only light, because as I glanced at my phone, it was nothing but a glass and metal brick. Nothing I tried to do switched it on.
Breathe. I had to breathe. Maybe. What if the air was suddenly toxic?
This was the same old, though. What I’d done every day of my life for the last thirteen weeks and two days. My kids needed me. I couldn’t and wouldn’t panic right now. Later, when I’d figured out things, I could go somewhere and scream into a pillow, but right now I needed to gather my shit together and figure out what was happening and why the damned back-up generators hadn’t kicked in yet. The samples, the supplies, the research . . . all of our work was going to die if their environments weren’t maintained.
There was a part of me, though, that knew that screen wasn’t a good thing, that knew I should probably swipe it back in front to read through again, and that knew none of our usual concerns mattered anymore.
Only the moonlight and stars shining through the massive, double-glazed windows illuminated the room now—like it mocked my earlier thoughts. I gazed around the room, past the desks to where Jackson stood watching over Wisp who was, somehow, still asleep.
“I . . . Mum, this is weird.” Jackson kept his voice low, his words hurried, even if I could sense a hint of excitement underlying his tone. “It’s like something beamed a video game into our heads.”
My first response was to tell him not to be stupid and to take this seriously, that now wasn’t the time for games, but since he couldn’t legitimately beam anything into my brain and I had definitely read that weird shit only moments beforehand, I took another breath. A blue screen I’d basically swiped left on.
“What do you mean?” It was all I could do to fight that flight response, especially as I could have sworn that the soft blue glow in all of the testing tanks was rippling, moving, alive.
“Wave your hand, like you’re using that VR rig dad got me for my birthday.”
Yep. There was definitely excitement oozing out of his voice now.
I humored him, still wrestling that thing called panic. Surely, I could spare two minutes to indulge my slightly delusional son. Except maybe he wasn’t imagining things. There, in the corner of my vision, was a golden glow, like it was trying to get my attention. Fine, then. My panic could just wait and sulk in the corner I’d relegated it to originally.
Congratulations! You have been spawned in Australia, Griffith University, Nathan Campus, Brisbane.
Australia is an exception under the Dungeon World Development Schedule 124.7.5.2. Just for being in the Down Under of Australia, not to mention being brave enough to eat Vegemite, you are assigned one Small Perk. Aren’t you lucky? You’ll need it.
As per Dungeon World Development Schedule 124.7.5.2, inhabitants assigned to a region with a recommended Level 25 or more (+25) will receive one Medium Perk.
As per Dungeon World Development Schedule 124.7.5.2, inhabitants assigned to a region with a recommended Level 50 or more (+25) will receive one Large Perk.
As per Dungeon World Development Schedule 128.9.6.2, inhabitants recognized as parental units must allow their spawns access to the System before they can have full use of all assigned Perks.
Your spawns awaiting approval are:
Jackson Kent—13 years. Enabling Jackson’s interface allows him direct access to his Perks and abilities. Any choices will require your approval before being applied.
Whisper (Wisp) Kent—8 years. Warning: Wisp is only 8 Earth years old. It is highly recommended that she does not have full access to the System yet per Dungeon World Development Schedule 133.4.2—Protection of Youth Potential and the Abuse Avoidance Scheme.
However—Wisp will have one Small, one Medium, and one Large Perk at her disposal. You are responsible for choosing these. Please select them wisely.
Caution: As per Dungeon World Development Schedule 142.4.2.8, certain Skill sets are recognized as having abilities sympathetic to the System. Not applying these would be a grave violation. Swipe to let us know you’re ready to choose a Class, upon which your life and the lives of your offspring will depend.
What. The. Actual. Fuck.
“Don’t pick anything yet,” Jackson urged, and he didn’t have to tell me twice.
Maybe I was asleep; this was too surreal to be, well, real.
“Sure.” My voice even sounded dull to me, and I reached down to stroke Wisp’s hair behind her ear.
She was still wearing the leotard she’d been in when I picked her up from training. Silly thing, she’d get cold and only reluctantly put on her warmups. It was turning to winter out there . . .
“Mum. Pay attention. You need to allow me access to my abilities or I can’t help you.” His voice was soft, gentle even, like he was trying to take care of me.
What a shit-tastic thing for me to do to my son in what appeared to be an end-of-the-world scenario. “Sorry. Okay, give me a moment.” Crap on a stick, Kira, what the fuck are you doing making your son be the adult?
This time I stood there, determined not to let him down. I thought at it, wanting it to show me how to give him permission.
Your spawns awaiting approval are:
Jackson Kent—13 years
Whisper (Wisp) Kent—8 years
With a thought, I activated his ability to choose himself. He knew more about stats and abilities in games than I did. Well, nowadays anyway. It had been years since I’d played seriously. Kids, post-graduate degrees, doctorates—they all ate right into that leisure time. Right now, I had a gut feeling that I was going to need Jackson’s help at least as much as he’d need mine.
Parental Notifications. Do you wish to receive notifications when your spawn wishes to make adjustments to their Class, not restricted to abilities, Levels, and equipment?
Another hasty yes and I was done. I watched him as he clearly looked through whatever list of abilities he had in front of him, and I glanced at the notification and advisement about Wisp. I chose not to activate hers, especially since they were advising me not to. She was eight, and I was her mom. I didn’t have time for any of that other crap right now. We just had to get to the damned carpark and get out of here so I could figure out what to do, before that glowing stuff in the terrariums blew up and took us all with it.
Jackson lo
oked up at me, and I could see that excitement about a new game tempered by having no idea what was happening. Me too, kid. Me too.
So I did what any good mum would do: I told him what to do. “Grab two of those sample kits over there and we’ll get one of the tents and ground sheets out of the lockers on the way out.”
I quickly tallied what we had in the Jeep. Thank everything I grew up in America with a prepper for a dad. I turned to figure out how to carry Wisp, but just as I went to pick her up, she raised her head, bleary eyes blinking rapidly in the dim moonlight.
“Mummy . . . why are the tanks glowing like that?”
❖
Wisp was a good kid. But just after eleven at night, after a full gymnastics session and a nap, she was still in the middle of waking up groggily. Balancing her on my hip, I had one of the rationed backpacks on and carried a tent and supplies in my free hand. The halls were dimly lit, but if nothing else, humans adapted well, and my eyes could make out shapes and doorways, enough that we didn’t walk into walls. I okayed the choices Jackson had made so far without paying much attention and just hoped I wouldn’t regret that decision later.
No lights were visible anywhere on campus that I could see even though the science area was a little bit further away from the main portion of the campus, close to the trees, letting us study our ecosystem in fitting surroundings. But the lab creeped me out, the glow of the tanks and their movement seriously giving me run now vibes. I had this urge to just move away from there, to get away as fast as we could. My watch wasn’t working, our phones weren’t working, and for the first time ever, my son hadn’t even blinked when he packed the laptop.
“Could it have been an EMP?” I asked Jackson. For all his young age, technology was his gift, in a way anyway. Gifted technological understanding, obsession with gadgets, disassembled everything whether or not he knew how to put it back together . . .