Infinitium

Adam decided to check out the only other two towns within 100 miles of Alamogordo that might have people in it. A couple of seconds later he was on the outskirts of Artesia New Mexico which only had about 12,000 people in it. Adam made his way to the center of town and allowed his senses to spread out and take everything in. His bunker couldn’t take in another 12,000 people but he could help these people out. One thing he noticed, there were no pillars nearby so they should be relatively safe. Adam made his way to Artesia General Hospital and down into the basement without allowing anyone to see him.

There was a tornado shelter where people would most likely come if the city was under attack. Using Mold Chaos he created enough nanites to create a stairway that went down another 30 feet into a vault which he hid behind a secret door. While he had some of his nanites creating the vault and fortifying it so he could open portals to it, he also had his nanites start creating food and pallets of water bottles. He only spent five minutes setting up the emergency exit under the hospital while he also pulled out his linked tablet and activated Technomancy to add the information to the Generals Tablet with the recommendation to get some teams together to come over and make contact.

When he was done, Adam headed north to Roswell New Mexico, and did the same thing under the Easter New Mexico Medical Center. It wasn’t that he was trying to create new bases. He was creating shielded areas where he could open portals that could act as emergency exit points for the cities or emergency exit points for his bunker. Adam stayed in each area just long enough for his Sense of Chaos to take in the 50-mile radius to make sure none of the hunters were nearby while he created these auxiliary connection points.

When he was done, Adam headed toward Albuquerque. When he was 40 miles east of the city he stopped. Running back and forth over hundreds of miles made him feel like t like The Flash. At 55 miles per second, his perk Chaos Step prevented him from creating shock waves as he moved around so he couldn’t complain. The only thing that slowed him down was his need to stay in one spot to let his Sense of Chaos spread out. Sure, he could feel everything within 1,000 feet of himself with no issue but to get everything in that 60-mile radius he needed to sit still for a full five minutes.

While he waited for Sense of Chaos to scan the area, he looked around and noticed the Red Pillar poking up above the skyline. He also noticed that there wasn’t a SYSTEM Shop. This alternate version of Albuquerque did not have a million people. While Albuquerque didn’t have a SYSTEM Shop, it did have a large group of hunters systematically killing every human they could. Women, children, the elderly, these hunters were killing anyone.

A quick count showed that there were approximately 460,000 people left. There were 8 hunter teams, on each of the eight main points of the compass working their way toward the city center. Unlike the loan hunter he’d fought earlier, each of these hunter groups consisted of 5 hunters. There were three damage dealer types, a healer and a mage. Adam took the time to make sure which hunters were the invaders and then Adam decided to sow a little chaos, while he learned how to use his skills and perks. Instead of attacking one team at a time, he’d use drive-by tactics on all eight teams.

Adam had all eight teams’ locations locked into his mind. Approximately 5 miles from the center of the city, each team was over 3 miles away from the other. With Chaos Step active and his ability to move 55 miles in a single step, he appeared one mile from his target, fired off a Mind Bolt at the Healer of the hunter group, and then moved to the next group. 1 minute and 20 seconds later, 8 healers were dead and Adam was listening to the hunters call out to each other as they looked around for what had attacked them.

“What happened to …” one of the mages called out

“He’s dead, whatever it was it destroyed his mind,” one of the melee hunters called as he looked at the blood that had exploded from the healer’s eyes, ears, nose, and, mouth”

“Get the word back to…”

Adam reacted to the person making that statement by moving within a mile of him and using a Mind Bolt on him as well. As he dropped, Adam made his way to within a mile of each party and hit them with a Mind Bolt. Because he never stopped moving, Chaos Step kept him shrouded better than invisibility could have. Well, that and he was over a mile away, and using an attack that traveled at the speed of thought, or light, through physical objects, Adam wasn’t sure. In either case, the attack was instantaneous and devastating due to the bonus given because of his high intelligence. When all eight mage types were dead, he paused and let Sense of Chaos scan the area so he could respond to any action the rest of the hunters might take.

Since he’d been popping all over town taking on the hunters his Sense of Chaos had already taken in over 95% of the city when he paused. 20 seconds later he had the whole city scanned. There were 632,496 people left. The smart ones had tried to flank and get behind the hunters and were even now heading away from the center of the city while the ones allowing their fear to control them were still heading toward the city center on foot.

Adam’s scan also found pieces and parts of 13,456 people that had been killed near each of the hunter parties. It looked like each of the hunter parties had teleported into a location and just begun slaughtering everyone. All the evidence that Adam could find pointed to the masses being herded toward the center. Adam also noted a peculiar hole 1 millimeter in diameter in the middle of the forehead of each deceased human. They had all been killed in many ways but very few had any damage to their heads besides that single hole that stabbed through the skull and into the brain. Men, women, children, the elderly, it didn’t matter, every single person that the hunters had come across had one of these holes.

This both interested and angered Adam. This time he moved to each hunter’s location and hit them with a Psionic Blast which knocked all three unconscious. Once unconscious, Adam moved up and stabbed each through the heart in three rapid motions. 2:40 seconds later, all 23 were dead and two minutes after that he had all 40 bodies lined up outside the city where he could loot the bodies and figure out what was going on.

Adam wasn’t surprised to find that the hunters were predominantly human or human-like with a few other races mixed in. He noted dwarves, elves, lizardkin, and some alien species he’d never run into before. Each was carrying a Ring of Holding that could store up to 10 cubic feet while one of the human women, a mage, if Adam remembered right had been carrying a piece of cloth which had been inside her bra under her right breast that reminded Adam of the description of a portable hole.

With his Sense of Chaos, he’d known what type of object something was and even if there was anything in each of the bodies. Adam thought back to the fight and realized that he had not been able to detect the dimensional storage cloth when the mage was alive. So, a person's aura must block his Sense of Chaos, at least in as much as if something was covered and against the skin, he wouldn’t notice it, unless he’d normally notice something like someone putting keys in their pocket. Once they were dead he had no issues.

Adam pulled out the cloth and unfolded it. When it was fully unfolded an armoire rose out of the cloth. It had four drawers along the bottom and two large doors that were quite large. With a thought, the Armoire lowered back into the cloth. With another thought it rose back up. It wasn’t very efficient and would take too long to use during combat. When Adam opened the drawers and doors he found out why the mage had been carrying it.

If he rose it up so the doors were flush with the ground he could step into a space that had even more drawers, doors, and storage locations. Each storage location was the access point for at least 1000 identical spaces that were accessed from the door he’d just opened. Adam quickly went through the storage panels, drawers, shelves, and rooms. He found that there were some weapons; swords, maces, staves, and the like. None were magical. To swap between various dimensional storage locations all he had to do was make a swiping motion to the side and the contents would shift to what was in the next location.

Adam went through the Armoire quickly, surprised that he found no trapped items. The Armoire was empty of anything important. There were enough supplies for up to 10 people for at least a year including water and food. Adam was also pretty sure that the storage areas held their contents in stasis because one of the storage rooms he’d stepped into had an assortment of already-cooked meals that still had steam coming off of them when the drawer opened. Adam closed down the Armoire and put it in his pocket. While it wouldn’t hold over that many people there were supplies that could be used by others inside.

Adam pulled out the remote to the Bunker and activated Technomancy. With a thought he had one of the portals open next to him that led to the office. When the General looked up Adam stepped into his office and walked over to one of the walls. As he did so the General looked at the line of dead bodies on the ground that he could see through the portal, “Something I need to know about?”

“Nah, those scum bags had already killed over 10,000 of the people in Albuquerque. I’m just going through their stuff. No, the reason I came back is to show you this,” Adam said as he unfolded the cloth and showed the General the Armoire and then how it worked. When he was done, Adam said, “I’d find some people you trust, have them go through and catalog everything that is in there. If there is something you don’t understand, like the tomes of magic I noticed, just put those to the side and when I get a chance I’ll go over them with you or whoever you designate.

The General looked a little out of his element as he stepped out of the Armoire and then watched it disappear into the cloth at its base, “How does it do that?”

“Simple answer, Magic. We don’t have time for the long answer.”

“As you say, Adam,” The General agreed.

“Adam stepped back through the portal to the 40 dead hunters and then continued searching them. When he found the objects that had made the wounds on each of the corpses, Adam wasn’t happy. In layman’s terms, they were sample collectors and held the genetic information for each person that had been killed. Simply place it on the forehead and voila!, information collected.

Adam collected their weapons and armor, had a portal to the base open to the armory tossed everything through to the people waiting on the other side, and used Mold Chaos to release chaos on the area to turn all the bodies into their component electrons and protons so there wouldn’t even be a trace that they’d existed.

With a red pillar in Albuquerque and no SYSTEM Shop, Adam decided to leave them alone and head toward Phoenix Arizona. It would be the next closest place that could have over a million people in it. Kansas City was on that list as well but Phoenix was almost 100 miles closer to his current location.

As Adam ran across the Rocky Mountains he slowed down and stopped on a mountain peak when he could see Phoenix in the distance. Because his perception was so high, Adam noticed the Red pillar to the south in Tucson and the other one in the middle of Phoenix. He allowed his Sense of Chaos to reach out and take in the area. Tucson would be out of range but he should be able to scan all of Phoenix. This time things were a bit more chaotic. Hunters, both individually and in groups were running around killing everyone indiscriminately even this far out from the city. Hunters and nonhunters, it didn’t matter, whichever hunters had come to this city were all in a free-for-all.

As Adam waited he found out that Sense of Chaos could not sense an attack traveling at the speed of light. He had gone to a knee to give himself less of a profile but it hadn’t mattered. 20 seconds after he stopped moving a particle beam lanced into his forehead from a point that was still outside the range of his Sense of Chaos, so at least three miles away.

While the particle lance didn’t get through his Damage Resistance, it did blind him for a split second as the force knocked him on his ass. Whatever weapon had been used against him created a hell of an impact and had a very good range. Before Adam had even come to a rest he rolled to the side rose to his feet and moved. In a second he was 1,000 feet off the ground and running around the area. At 1,000 feet his feedback from Sense of Chaos to the ground was instantaneous and he was able to take in everyone below him.

Chaos Step kept Adam from being detected while he looked for the sniper. It didn’t take long. Adam had stopped to the northwest of a mountain range outside of the city proper to give his Sense of Chaos perk a chance to scan the area. While there were people nearby, his scan showed that most of the people from Earth were hidden in basements and mines in the region. The sniper was on the highest peak and also shielded from view by a screen of some kind. When Adam passed over him, his Sense of Chaos picked the sniper up with no issue.

The peak the sniper had chosen was a good one. It had a line of sight on the northeast side of the city and also allowed them to check their background to make sure nothing was coming up from behind them. The sniper was in a full-body suit with a mask that made it impossible to see her face. While Adam couldn’t see the hunter's face, very apparent mounds on the front of her chest made it pretty apparent that the hunter was a she.

Adam made sure no one was around and that there was a spot next to the woman where he could step and not be in the line of sight of anyone else. Then he hit her with a Psionic Blast, which knocked her unconscious immediately. Adam landed and opened a portal to a holding cell back at the bunker in an area of the base that no one else had access to. He picked her up, stepped through the portal, and stripped her. He may have accidentally broken her armor when he couldn’t figure out how to break the seal but that was to be expected.

Adam did not expect a high elf to be under the armor. Normally they were too stuck up for physical games like hunts and such. Still, she would be a great source for questions about The SYSTEM outside of the Foundation sector so he stripped her down to nothing. Checked her completely for any hidden devices or storage items. If she had mental powers or magic, she might be able to escape but she wouldn’t do it with the help of any items.

Adam used Mold Chaos to create a few items. The first was a transmitter which he placed on the wall of the room. The second was a sign in multiple Elvish languages that said “Do Not Leave, There is a bomb that will detonate around your neck”. The third item was the bomb. The last item Adam created was a microscopic tracking bug that was quantumly linked to a tracker. Anyone worth their salt would be able to get rid of the necklace and possibly teleport away. What they wouldn’t be able to do was remove a tracking device that he’d just shoved down her throat that would stay lodged in her stomach for a bit. And of course, he left her with a grey robe on the bed he put her on.

Adam stepped back onto the mountaintop and made his way toward the SYSTEM shop node. He appeared next to it and vanished before anyone in the area could react. Adam appeared in a showroom identical to the one he’d visited in Vancouver. Also, the halfling woman, Alerna Light-Touch was behind the counter again so the Shop Nodes must be taking him to the same shop.

Alerna looked up from her tablet and frowned at Adam as he walked up to the counter.

“Hello Alerna, why the frown?” Adam asked

“Because our scanners have detected 41 of the Xeli Corporation Samplers on you. Are you collecting samples for them as well?”

“Not really, but I guess so. Why? Can they give me some credits?” Adam asked.

“I would say so. For every unique sample you provide, there is a bounty of 1,000,000 credits. Normally, you could get this from the merchants on the planet in the designated zones but the SYSTEM will honor the bounty for a 5% fee, as standard,” Alerna explained.

“Are you telling me that I’ll get 950,000 credits for every sample I turn in here? Do you get a commission?”

Alerna smiled, “Yes I do. My commission is 10% of any collected fees.”

“Well then Alerna, let's do this, what do you need?” Adam said as he rubbed his hands together excitedly. Maybe he wouldn’t have to just sell Adamantium Bars again to get the things he wanted to pick up.

“Just put the sampling devices on the counter and I’ll start downloading their information.”

Adam did as Alerna asked and waited patiently as she took all 41 sampling devices and downloaded their information. As Adam watched Alerna explained, “The sample data is uploaded to a Xeli Corporation database where it is compared to all other Genetic samples that have been taken. In the Prime Universes, the original file is updated that the quantum copy has been terminated and the bounty is paid out.”

Adam looked thoughtful for a moment before he asked,” What makes that Universe the Prime one and not a copy?”

“You don’t know about alternate realities and quantum copies?” Alerna asked.

“No, I understand all that,” Adam affirmed, “In fact, I’m not even from Earth. No, my question is more of a philosophical one, What makes Xeli Corporation's universe and everyone within it the Primaries instead of the people on the planet I was just on?”

Alerna looked thoughtful before she said, “Because they have the power and money to make it so. That is the simplest answer I can give you,” Alerna said.

“Might makes right, and all that?” Adam asked.

“Yep, also you, or the previous owners of these sampling devices, collected 15,341 unique samples,” Alerna said.

“If I’m supposed to get 950,000 credits per sample, that’s 14,573,950,000 credits. Is that right?” Adam asked.

“Yes Sir that is exactly how many credits have been deposited into your account,” Alerna said with a smile

“You just made a 76,705,000 credit commission didn’t you?” Adam asked

“That would also be correct,” Alerna said with a giant smile

“Very cool. Now, guess what time it is,” Adam said

“I would expect that Sir would like to make some purchases,” Alerna stated with absolute seriousness.

“And you would be correct. The first item on the list is a Nanite stabilizer,” Adam said.

“Nanite Stabilizer? We have them though they are quite expensive,” Alerna said.

“I need one that can cover a 10-mile radius.

“The maximum size that you can have will stabilize everything within 25 miles. Additionally, you should know that you can only have one of these items on each planet. The cost for the 10-mile radius is 100 million credits. A 20-mile radius stabilizer would be 200 million credits and the 25-mile one is 1 Billion credits.” Alena said.

“Yep, I want one of those.”

“Next I need to look at all the skills I could have purchased for my Mentalist class”

“Let me check your level,” Alerna said and then looked back at Adam shocked,” You’re already level 100?

“Yes. Why? Will that be a problem,” Adam asked

“No sir, it’s just that a couple of choices would have become available to you every 10 levels, in addition to the normal skills you could have picked up,” Alerna said.

“That’s fine, I just want to look over what’s available”

“Also I should let you know that all skills will be Rare Level 1 which means each will cost 100,000 Credits to purchase.”

“That’s fine, “Adam said.

The kiosk presented a list of skills that became available that looked a lot like spells he’d seen either in Role-Playing Games or during his time in other universes and realities.

At level 10 three skills had become available that did exactly what the names implied. Dark Vision, Meditation, and Detect Emotions.

At level 20 only two skills were available; Telepathy and Memory Recall. Memory Recall allowed him to search his memories for something that he’d forgotten. While he didn’t think he’d need the skill because of his ability Perfect Memory Adam purchased both skills anyway.

At level 30 two more skills became available; Advanced Telepathy, which allowed for more than one other person to be in mental link at a time, and Aura Sight, which allowed Adam to detect and read the aura of the targets around him and even use it as a way to pierce invisibility.

At Level 40 the only skill that was available was You Can’t See Me which was simply a mental Invisibility. Adam would show up on any recording devices but anyone who was looking at him wouldn’t notice or remember that he was there if Adam’s use of the skill succeeded.

At Level 50 he gained the skill Astral Projection. This version didn’t allow Adam to leave this material plane. Instead, it merely allowed the individual's spirit to leave their body and move around. Those with Aura Sight would be able to see him but otherwise, he was invisible and noncorporeal unless he wanted to show himself. Even then he was still noncorporeal.

At level 60 he gained a skill called Spiritual Strength, which made it so that he could use all of his mentalist skills and perks from his Astral Projected form though doing so was quite taxing mentally.

At level 70 the skill Teleport became available. It had two modes. Short-range site-to-site and long-range to locations he’d been to before.

At level 80 the skill Portal was unlocked which allowed Adam to open portals with his mind. The range was a bit reduced but he could use it to allow others to follow him for short ranges.

At level 90 Adam gained a skill called Extended Duration which allowed him to expend Mental Energy to extend the duration of any of his skills and perks so that they would remain active even if he wasn’t present.

Adam’s level 100 skill was nice, Safe Haven. This skill allowed the Mentalist to place their body in an adjacent dimension which was permanently locked to their soul which they could also exit with a thought. From this Safe Haven Astral Projection would automatically project the individual into a primary dimension and they would automatically return to the person's body when the skill was ended. While in the Safe Haven, the Mentalist’s physical body was nigh impossible to hurt.

Adam looked over the skills and had to admit that they were quite powerful. It also meant that there could be others running around with a similar skill set or monsters that had skills, spells, and abilities like this. Adam purchased all 14 skills for 1,400,000 credits.

Adam looked up to Alerna as he asked, “What do I need to purchase to make an area a safe zone?”

“How big of an area?”

“As big as a large city?” Adam answered.

“If you’re trying to make a city a safe zone, you purchase that from the City Node. Some people think you need to come to a SYSTEM Shop, and yes you can make a city a safe zone from a SYSTEM shop but you can also do it from the City Node. Is that what you need?” Alerna asked.

“No, I need to make an area the size of a city, that is not currently a city a safe Zone.”

“Okay, First you need to purchase a City Node. Those are pretty cheap at 10,000 credits If you want to make the City a safe zone no matter how far it expands, the cost will be an additional 100,000 credits per 1,000’ foot radius. For instance, if you wanted to get an area out to one mile you could reach just short of a mile for 500,000 credits,” Alerna explained.

Adam thought about his bunker, He’d only taken it just a little over 1 mile deep but latterly the base had parts of it up to 10 miles away from other parts. Also, when he installed the nanite stabilizer he’d be able to create nanites and let them go to work without him needing to stick around while they increased the base and outfitted it as needed. Yep, he was going to need to take it out to the 25-mile limit. With that thought, Adam smiled and said, “I’d like to purchase the City Node with a Safe Zone installed up to a 25-mile radius to begin with. That should be 13,210,000 credits if my math is correct.”

“Alerna smiled, Your math is correct. Where would you like?” Asked as she pulled up a holographic map in front of Adam.

“Can you also place the Nanite stabilizer in the same room?” Adam asked.

“Of course,” Alerna said.

Adam looked over the map and adjusted it until it showed the layout of his underground base, which was accurate to the current layout, and found the secret room which was accessed from the office General Duvall was currently sitting in. Adam paused and asked, “Can you set me as the City owner before we place the node?”

“Of course. You are the owner of the city node. Please place it,” Alerna said.

Adam had the node placed in the center of the hidden room with the Nanite Stabilizer placed right next to it. As he did so a notification appeared in his vision.

Congratulations! You have established Racoon City. Racoon City is a Safe Zone. Please choose the penalty for breaking Safe Zone policies.

Adam looked over the choices and chose the fairest penalties he could think of:

Violation of Safe Zone Penalties

Murder - Teleportation naked to the nearest monster spawn, All belongings confiscated.

Bodily Harm to another – Teleportation to predetermined location – Middle of White Sands Missile Range - and the inability to enter Racoon City until 6 a.m. Central Standard Time the following day, minimum 12-hour delay.

Exemptions – Children under 14 and Adamantadine.

Adam looked over the Penalties for violating the rules of the Safe Zone and smiled before he it “Accept” When he was done he turned to Alerna, “One last thing, Can I purchase a portal from here to my city so I can drop some things off.”

“Alternate exit points are available for purchase. The standard cost is 10 credits per foot. Creating an exit point and not using it is not possible as the individual is teleported out of the SYSTEM Shop fully when exiting. There can be no open stable connection points between SYSTEM Shop instances and the worlds they connect to.”

“Very well, Could I please purchase my exit to this point,” Adam said as he pointed to the room he’d placed the city node in on the holographic display.”

Alerna hit a few keys on her terminal and a couple of notifications appeared in his vision

Exit Destination Distance offset is 374 miles or 1,974,720 feet.

Exit Destination alteration cost is 19,747,200 credits

Would you like to change your Exit Destination for 19,747,200 credits, Yes or No?

Adam chose “Yes”

Exit Destination has been altered, when you exit the SYSTEM Shop you will appear at the destination you have designated.

Adam laughed

“What’s so funny?” Alerna asked.

“Well, when I arrived there was a lot of fighting going on so I needed to rush in and enter the SYSTEM Shop quickly. I know that at least 10 people saw me enter and were probably waiting to attack me when I asked. I laughed because they are going to be waiting there a long time.”

“I can see how that would be funny,” Alerna agreed as she let out a soft chuckle.

“Is there anything else?”

“Yes one last thing, how much is it to add a SYSTEM Shop node to my City?” Adam asked.

“That one’s easy, If your city has over 1 million people, it’s free. If you want a System Shop Node before you have a million people in the city, it’s 1 million credits.”

“Please add the SYSTEM Shop node to my city for 1 million credits.”

“Done!” Alerna affirmed. “As The City Owner you can put the SYSTEM Shop node wherever you would like.”

“Not to worry, I’ll make sure it’s near the food court so everyone can visit whenever they need to,” Adam said.

“My fellow Merchants and I do appreciate your business,” Alerna said with a smile. “Now, is there anything else?”

“Nope, for now, I’m done,” Adam said as he turned and went to the exit and reappeared in the room with his new City Node and Nanite Stabilizer. Adam immediately started creating nanites with Mold Chaos as he activated Technomancy and reached out to the governing A.I. He gave control of the nanites to continue construction and modification of the base along the plans that had been laid out. A portal opened for him and he stepped into the hallway outside of the general office and knocked, even though his Sense of Chaos told him that the General, Captain, and Lieutenant were talking with the cook about current rations and supplies.

“Come!” The General called out.

Adam walked into the office and smiled as he said, “We have some new things to discuss and set up for Racoon City before I go interrogate a hunter I captured.”

All three officers looked up at Adam as the General asked, “What have you got for me, Adam?”