Homegrown System

Alice felt her hair float up from her back as the electrical charge from the Thunder Sparrows filled the room. The reason for their name became evident as they made a final circuit and started to dive down at them. A wave of sound crested over them, making her clap her hands to her ears and duck down.

Titus, though, weathered it somehow, and even as Alice dove out of the way, he watched the tiny birds approach. She stared as he slashed his makeshift spear through the flock, and several birds fell at his feet, dead or stunned. But the rest of them passed over his head, and she saw his body spasm and jerk as electrical currents flowed through it.

Still on the floor, she scrambled toward the wall to limit the angles of attack as her mind raced.

Looking over her shoulder, she saw that Titus was still standing. Barely. His hair was smoking, and parts of his clothes looked charred, but his grip on the wooden shaft of his shovel remained steady as he prepared for another pass. He must have been made of stronger stuff than her. Or his extra levels were helping. She wasn't sure if she'd be able to handle a shock like that quite as well.

What can I do? She frantically ran through her options. She backed up against the wall, ensuring nothing could sneak up from behind her. She didn't have the speed, control, or power to hit multiple targets. One knife wasn't going to do much, and even then, she didn't trust herself to use it effectively. Not until she'd had some more practice and invested in more control, at least.

Still Alice kept moving, hoping to find something of use. She crawled around a server rack and found another wall. If she was always moving, she wouldn't be an easy target. Maybe she could serve as a distraction? Titus looked like he could use any help she could give.

Just as she was sliding along the wall, her head whacked against a metal protrusion several feet up. Rubbing her head, she looked to see what she had hit. It was a case holding a fire extinguisher with breakable glass. An idea came to mind, and she stood up, smashing her elbow into the case. She pulled out the fire extinguisher and yanked the alarm next to it, hoping the fire suppression would affect the birds' delicate bodies more than her own.

Unfortunately, the alarm did nothing but make a loud noise. As she pulled out the fire extinguisher, her skill activated without any prompting from her, identifying it as a [Common Fire Extinguisher].

Does that mean this fire extinguisher has some System properties?

Without thinking too much about the identification, she pulled the pin and ran forward. The extinguisher was heavier than she remembered, but at the same time, it wasn't as hard to hold onto as she had expected. That one extra point in power didn't seem like much, but it was a 50 percent increase in her strength.

As she ran, she repositioned the extinguisher in her grip. Holding the nozzle in one hand and the release valve in the other, she aimed it forward just as she remembered from orientation training so many years ago. She skidded around the corner, hoping that she wasn't too late.

The situation didn't look good. Titus was on one knee, still swiping through the air with his shovel. In the brief time she'd been gone, she noted that the number of birds flitting around him had significantly reduced by about 30%. The electrical shocks were less frequent now, but still occasionally jolted him as he tried to fight.

She sprayed the fire extinguisher at him, aiming to snuff out his burning hair and distract the birds. However, instead of the wave of white foam she'd expected, a cone of ice rushed out of the extinguisher. Her eyes widened and she jerked the nozzle upward, hosing it over the sparking birds instead. Their feathers were soon coated in ice, causing them to fall to the ground with angry screeches. She only managed to get a fraction of them before the ice stopped coming. Looking at the gauge, she realized the tank was out of gas.

That was much faster than a real fire extinguisher should have run out.

The much-reduced flock of birds screeched again, but she maintained her grip on the extinguisher and refused to turtle up. They eyed her warily, then winged away back onto the tops of racks before disappearing. She didn't trust them to be gone for long.

In a rush, she shoved aside her compunctions and smacked the heavy cylinder down on the bodies of several of the frozen birds, killing several with each swing. Notifications rained in, as did the experience.

Titus stood up, a thin layer of frost sprinkled across his head and shoulders, but holding his shovel in a ready position. He stepped behind her and covered her back as she straightened. Several loud thwacks caught her attention. She turned to see him batting aside several of the remaining Thunder Sparrows as they attempted to dive-bomb them again.

As their numbers dwindled, Alice felt the tingling of static across her skin lessen bit by bit. The electrical potential energy they generated became much more manageable, only giving her the feeling of a static balloon. Titus continued batting them out of the sky, one after another.

Alice did her best to help by crushing the dazed birds before they could get back up and come at them later. Eventually, the small handful of remaining birds realized they were at a disadvantage and fled, their crackling wings carrying them over the server racks and deeper in.

"Is that all?" Alice panted, her heart racing as she watched. Her grip on the fire extinguisher remained tense.

"I don't know," Titus said. "They could be going to get more, or they could be running. Regardless, we should get more of those," he pointed at the fire extinguisher.

Alice nodded. They hurried along the wall, picking out two more sets of extinguishers as they moved. Titus took one while Alice exchanged her empty canister for the other.

She hefted the heavy cylinder. "I don't think these are going to be very effective against many other things, but they work perfectly against these small swarm enemies," she said. "We need another area of effect attack besides these though. I don't imagine this is the only time we're going to find an enemy like this. And we can't carry enough of these for it to be a reliable solution."

Titus nodded. "Yes, but this will have to do for now. I'm still mostly worried about the large single-target enemies."

As they swept through the server racks, various small groups of sparrows ambushed them, only to be frozen and either stabbed or stepped on. It didn't take long for them to clear out the facility. As they moved through the server racks, Alice looked at some of the connection ports and groaned.

"What is it?" Titus asked.

"Well, they were a bunch of electrical birds. It seems like they've done a lot of damage to the servers."

"Will it still work?"

"I think I can fix it," Alice said, holding up several strands of cables that had been yanked out and used as nests. "It might take me a couple of hours. Everything seems to be powered on. Hopefully, the electrical currents haven't messed with the memory or anything."

"Shit," Titus said. "Where is the extra cable stored?"

"I'm not sure. I don't think it's stored in this room. At least not as much as I need. The location should be in the maintenance room or the director's office at least."

"Let's take stock of the damage and then figure out how to fix it," he suggested.

She nodded. They started going up and down each aisle, carefully cataloging everything she would need to replace to get the supercomputer center fully functional again. Ideally, she'd have several people spending a few days making sure they got everything. Still, she didn't need it to be perfect, just good enough to operate again.

Technically, she might be able to access parts of it, and with redundancies, everything should be back online. But without it fully functioning, she didn't want to risk the System interfering. She might only get one chance at this before the System intervened, and she didn't want to risk an attempt when the servers were less than full power. Perhaps it was faulty reasoning, but it might be their only chance.

When she finished making a list, she sat down against the wall. "Hold on," she said. "I think I might have leveled up. Let me check."

Pulling up the logs and messages she'd received, she grinned. A list of possible skills at level five awaited her.

[Level Up! Level 5 reached.]

+2 stat points

+1 general skill

Available Skills:

[Enhanced Strength]: Increases physical strength, allowing the character to deal more damage in combat.

[Agility Boost]: Improves speed and reflexes, making the character more adept at dodging attacks and performing acrobatic feats.

[Mana Sight]: Enhances the ability to see mana, allowing for more understanding of the unseen world.

[Improvised Weapons Mastery]: Increases combat proficiency with tools not made for combat.

[Tactical Insight]: Provides a better understanding of battle tactics, improving strategy and decision-making in combat.

[Crafting Efficiency]: Boosts skill in crafting, allowing the character to create higher-quality items and equipment.

[Stealth]: Improves the ability to move silently and remain unseen, making the character better at sneaking and avoiding detection.

[First Aid]: Grants the ability to perform basic healing through first aid techniques.

[Novice Alchemy]: Allows for the ability to create basic potions and elixirs.

[Enhanced Endurance]: Increases stamina and resistance to physical fatigue, allowing for longer periods of activity without rest.

[Enhanced Perception]: Enhances senses, making it easier to detect hidden traps, enemies, and secret passages.

[Enhanced Charisma]: Boosts social skills and increases the likelihood of successful negotiations.

[Magic Resistance]: Provides a degree of protection against magical attacks and spells.

[Survival Skills]: This skill improves the ability to find food, water, and shelter in the wilderness, increasing the character's chances of survival in harsh environments.

[Appraisal]: Allows the character to identify the properties and value of items, which is useful for determining loot's worth and potential use.