Food was running out, and the last time the government sent a relief helicopter had been a week ago. The need was great and the aircraft were scarce. Vehicle deliveries were put on hold because of the risk and potential for loss. While the lines of communication were still open, it was clear that the U.S. government was losing control of California. Inadequately stocked sanitation supplies ran out early. People's minds became even more dirty.
The season was heading into late fall. Camp Roberts was unprepared for winterization. It needed to be heated, and it didn't have enough food or supplies.
Refugees in the camp also volunteered to go out and get what they needed. The base commander called a meeting of refugee representatives to gather opinions. The general consensus was that the living dead roaming outside the fence didn't discriminate, so it was only fair that the aid shouldn't discriminate between young and old. Anyone who was not too young or too old should strive to live. Of course, fairness is not the primary motivation of these people. They simply wanted to reduce the chances of death coming to them as much as possible, and their commander allowed them to do so. For this reason, minors and the elderly were also eligible to apply. The enclosures of civilization, which cared for children and the elderly, were removed by consensus.
The San Francisco police, who had joined the camp, were in charge of manpower management. Ration cards were prioritized for volunteers, so if food became scarce, those who stayed put were likely to starve. Still, there were many who refused to leave and chose to squat in a corner and starve to death. They'd die anyway, but they'd rather die in safety than be eaten alive out there. It's possible that the food shortage won't get that bad. The U.S. military did not ask them to participate. The reasoning was that if they didn't comply, they would be a danger to the American soldiers with them.
"Player's Choice: Accept the supply mission."
I was different. If I let myself become exhausted from lack of nutrition, I might die for reasons other than lack of food. I wanted to struggle before that happened.
I went to the recruiting station and volunteered, and one of the officers who happened to be in the office dragged me back out. Lieutenant Robert Capstan. One of the more moderate officers in the U.S. Army. He said I was the only one in the middle management who didn't belong. I asked him if I was being marginalized because I was underage, and he told me to reconsider because he'd give me a ration card so I wouldn't starve.
"AI Help (Insight Level 4): Accept the suggestion to increase community stability. May gain favor with moderate US military officers. Increases the player's influence in the community. Increases the player's leadership. Increases the player's Will, Charm, and Leadership if they refuse."
"Player's Choice: I volunteer for the supply mission anyway."
I told him I appreciated the favor, but I wanted to get out. I didn't want to stay helpless, I wanted to be of use to people. Lt. Capstan looked stunned, but he didn't hold me back; he just patted me on the shoulder and told me to come back alive.
There are always good people. Even in times like these, it's good to have people like Lieutenant.
#materials, Camp Roberts
This was the setup. The situation before the game started, presented through videos and journals, varied depending on the nationality, gender, age, profession, characteristics, and starting point settings. Even if you restarted with the same conditions, the story was never exactly the same.
This is why I've been dying and restarting so many times, but I've always kept an eye on the journal. With few exceptions, the journals, which are presented in monologue form, contain a lot of information about the player's situation. The persona that hosts the journal becomes more sophisticated over time as it learns about the player's personality.
For the boy, reading the journal is not boring: the monologue is narrated, but it is actually experienced as a virtual reality. You don't decide what you say or do, you just feel the outcome. In a way, it's the ultimate evolution of 4D movies.
The boy looked around.
Rows and rows of faded white tents and rain-soaked military tents stood under a dawn sky. The camp was almost urban in scale. People didn't make eye contact with each other. As I followed the holographic instructions visible only to the player to find my mission, I heard a dull, low rumble from nearby. I didn't recognize the words when I first played the game, but now I know them by sound. It was the sound of a man being stabbed with a blade. With a middle-aged man clutching his stomach, the woman who dropped the knife looks around and sees a boy. Hmmph. After a moment's hesitation, she snatches the ration card from the dying man, wary of the boy, and runs. The boy watches the scene with a frown. He watches. This game, this is not the first time. I've played the dying game many times, and I know she's just the tip of the organization. If I followed her, I would have to deal with the entire organization.
People make different sounds depending on where they are stabbed. The boy knew from experience. It was inevitable. The enemies on the other side of the fence, the infectious strains, had human mothers. Their stabbing sensation was not that different from humans. Moreover, in this virtual reality universe, "Day after apocalypse," evil-disposed humans were a greater threat than infectious strains. Even good people are driven to kill in times of crisis, and it's impossible to progress in this world without killing people.
The augmented reality hologram said, "Viewer messages have arrived. 77. Please check your logs." It was actually a notification that had been flashing earlier. Reluctantly, the boy opened the message log. A translucent window popped up with a system log, a general message log, and a viewer message log. Viewer messages are only active in publicly broadcast games. He adjusted the tabs and a colorful string of messages spread across the screen.
"Dodo Han Gong Chu♡ : Why doesn't he go after her?"
"SALHAE: Chase and kill! You SALHAE, you exist! A woman is only half a man! To kill and commit is the way of a man! Who is a real man? You are a real man! How real? Fucking real! You are a real man, a 12 out of 10! Worrying is for women! Don't hesitate! Do it!"
「ㄹㅇㅇㅈ : 씨발 위엣놈 미친 새낔ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ 방송 진행자 나이를 보고 말해라」
"Cashmere: Who is eligible for post-mortem insurance?"
「반닼홈 : ㄹㅇㅇㅈ 씹선비질 오지구요- 캐쉬미어는 아는 척 오지구요- 오지면 오지명?」
"Lee Kwon-na-rau: A remote name, that's a person from yesterday... A senior citizen's certificate... Grandpa, where are you?"
"Gold Cutlery: Ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh"
I wake up. The boy's face flushed with embarrassment at his first public broadcast. He quickly closed the log window, hesitated, then reopened it and carefully typed his message. The VR's "teletype" module instantly transcribes the user's thoughts and automatically translates any language differences. So thinking and typing were happening at the same time.
"Midwinter: As previously announced, we will not be accepting orders, and please use kind words."
I quickly closed the window. I saw the number of incoming messages explode, but I didn't want to know what they said.
But why this intense feeling of rejection and discomfort. The boy felt a chill. A stone in his chest that he had forgotten about for a while rolled around. They hit here and there and hurt quite a bit. He tried to ignore it and quickened his pace.
There were several mission markers to follow. The choices I make will determine much of my future. However, I had my mind made up, so I didn't hesitate. At the destination, a convoy of vehicles was waiting. It was a far cry from the American military he had seen in his life. The time period was past, the early 21st century. The extinction of the human race due to a biological disaster is less realistic when set in mid-century Earth, where technology is rapidly developing.
The control AI, actively responding to the user's subconscious, displayed the names of the vehicles. At the front and back of the procession were four-wheel drive vehicles (Humvees) with machine guns, and in the middle was a line of trucks that were unusually shaped for military use. Two camouflage-painted military tank lorries (M978A2) could be seen waiting in the middle, presumably to refuel.
The area around the vehicle was tightly controlled, and there was a palpable sense of worry that refugees might try to hijack it. The boy waited patiently in line for his turn. After being frisked, the volunteers were given body armor, gas masks, and duffel bags. The weapons would be handed out once they reached their destination, the sergeant in charge of the pat-down repeated like a machine.
When the order was called back, the black boss, who had been chewing gum, looked quite unhappy.
"Tiny, does this guy get support?"
"It's not mandatory."
The sergeant spoke up. The sergeant was a stranger, but he knew the sergeant. He squinted at him, then spoke.
"Lieutenant Robocop likes this guy. He said he volunteered because he wanted to help people."
"How do you know that?"
"He has no affiliation, speaks good English, and has recently picked up a few words of Japanese and Chinese, which might come in handy when it comes to controlling applicants."
Robocop was Robert Capstan's nickname. The reasoning was that the first part of his first name and last name are pronounced similarly when read in isolation.
The ability to rhyme Japanese and Chinese is a skill the boy has acquired by investing experience points. It's not what he originally knew, but rather a system-calibrated translator. In a "post-apocalyptic" world where socialization is so important, language is a crucial survival skill.
Your boss asks.
"How old are you?"
Once again, the holograms are aided by subliminal and context-sensitive interfaces and control AI. It shows contextualized lines, keywords, and hints, which vary depending on the player's intellect (intellect) and high and low levels of leadership skills such as Insight, Spy, and Deception.
For now, it simply shows his age in the settings. He had the option to lie, but he chose to be honest.
"Seventeen."
"Seventeen? Damn, not twelve? You Asians can't tell how old you are by looking at you," he grumbled, and motioned for a pat-down. Tsk, tsk. After a cursory pat-down, he gave the boy the same body armor, gas mask, and duffel bag as those who had passed before him. There's no proof that the plague is airborne, but there's also no proof that it can't. The sergeant warned him not to remove his gas mask during the mission unless specifically instructed to do so.
After passing through, follow the controls to enter the temporary barracks. U.S. soldiers seat the volunteers in order. They sort them by nationality, and near me, Tae-ban is from South Korea. The chatter was all in Korean. A few of them greeted the boy. He didn't want to, but he returned the greeting. There was no point in ignoring them.
Waiting for the room to fill, Lt. Robert Capstan, standing at the podium, sent a signal to the soldier. A projector shot light onto a white screen, revealing a map. The lieutenant glanced down, then called several refugees forward to serve as translators.
"Those who have been called will now translate what I say."
When the boy and the others who had been summoned nodded, he snapped his fingers into the microphone to get their attention, and began his briefing from the map he had unfolded.
"What you're looking at is a map of San Miguel County, where we're headed. As you can see, it's not a very big town. It used to have a population of about 3,300 people, but there's probably no one left. Our first objective is the only gas station in town."
The gas station he pointed to was located right at the intersection where Route 101 exits into town.
"The convoy is going to stop here and we're going to wait for you while we fill up the tanker trucks. You're going to split into two groups and go get the supplies. Your first target is a church two blocks south of the gas station. It was used as a temporary shelter when the evacuation was ordered, so there's a good chance it has some supplies left. The second stop is a little farther, but if you go four blocks north, there's a diner and a gristmill right here in the center of 14th Street. It's worth the risk because that's where you can most certainly expect to find food."
Having said this, he looked back at the people.
"As you have all heard, it is more dangerous to go to the mill. You have bravely volunteered for this mission, but I'd like to ask you one more time. Please raise your hand if you're willing to go to the mill."
The boy translates this verbatim and immediately raises his hand, so that it appears to the others that he has spoken for himself and raised his hand on his own. Lt. Capstan and others looked at the boy curiously. The favorability uplift logs were displayed several times, more favorable to the U.S. military because there was an invariant in the mix.
Increase the likability of "Corporal Elliott". Corrects for an unknown amount of dearness. Fixed an unspecified amount of dearness."
Human relationships are variable. Just because you were close once, doesn't mean you'll be close for a million years. Therefore, the level of affinity could decrease over time or due to a hostile event. But invariant calibration is different. It doesn't decrease no matter what.
If you don't know the numbers, it's because you don't have "insight".
"It won't be long.
I didn't have high hopes.
"Anything else?"
Lt. Capstan asked during the briefing, but everyone just looked at each other. They'd been praised for their bravery, but the truth was that most of the men here were just trying to stay alive and collect their ration cards. The lieutenant looked shaken, but there was also a hint of resignation.
The use of refugees to deliver supplies was likely for two reasons. First, the atmosphere in the camps was so hostile that it was difficult to draw large numbers from the U.S. military, and second, they didn't want to send U.S. troops into harm's way, and it's hard to hope that refugees would be more willing to do so.
"I have a question."
The boy raised his hand, and the lieutenant nodded.
"There is a limit to how much an individual can carry in a bag. Is there any reason you can't drive a truck to the front of the mill?"
It was a knowing question. It was a question that was going to come up anyway, so he might as well ask it directly to speed things up. Lieutenant Capstan nodded again, then turned to the soldier operating the projector. "Put up the satellite image.
"That's a great question, and that's what I was going to say anyway, so pay attention. This is a satellite image of Miguel County before the introduction. You can see the cars that are stopped at every intersection, those are the cars that were driving through red lights and causing crashes when the referrals were made. There are also cars that are from other parts of the country. You will be issued radios, and if you can somehow get these cars out of the way, you can radio in. But if you feel like you're going to attract the attention of an infected strain by trying to clear an obstacle, it's probably safer to just get the food on an individual basis. We'll make the judgment call, you just need to follow the controls."
A few minor questions followed. The most useless was from a Chinese man, asking how many ration cards would be issued to those who participated. Lt. Capstan looked fed up, but answered dutifully as usual.
"We'll pay you the standard three days, but please keep in mind that your compensation will vary based on your individual attitude and performance."
The above is reflected in the quest information. Rewards may vary depending on the evaluation of the accompanying American soldier. This was actually a gray area. If the soldier or officer doing the rating had any racist attributes, you were likely to get a poor rating. This is often the case with VR worldviews that prioritize realism.
"If there are no further questions, I'd like to ask that each group follow their leader's instructions and participate in the map exercise. This is a dangerous mission, so please familiarize yourselves with the maps to avoid any untoward incidents in the field. Now, dismissed."
After Lt. Capstan stepped down from the podium, the noncommissioned officers, corporals and above, stepped to the front to control the volunteers. A tabletop exercise is literally an exercise on a map, a process of familiarizing yourself with the area of operations and discussing how to move around. For players, it's also an opportunity to master the minimap. Characters with the skill "Reading" or high Intelligence will get a complete minimap, while the opposite will get a minimap that is flawed, has errors, and has blank spaces here and there.
Only one boy volunteered to go to the mill, so the rest were chosen by lot. Without exception, the chosen ones were building statues to die for.
While this was an important process to ensure safety, it was not a lengthy one. This is because San Miguel County is so small. In terms of difficulty, it was more of an introduction (tutorial). If it's hard, it's hard.
#Intermission, advice on characterization
The player's character settings will affect the progression of the game in a number of ways.
Depending on your starting country, you may encounter discrimination based on race, nationality, and gender. If you accept this discrimination, you will receive an upward adjustment to your experience gain.
Instead of receiving a percentage downward modifier to their stats, minors receive an upward modifier to their experience gain.