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SoK Chapter 170
🕑 Added 2025-06-14 15:00:11 +0000 UTC***
Instead of Molly and Tessie and their families plus Mimi and Sam and a couple other people, TJ stood looking down at at least 30 assembled people. Many of them were those that’d followed Sarah and Farid there, but there were others that TJ had only seen in passing. One who took TJ py special surprise when he saw her there was Maddie, the scout that he’d run into outside of the encampment before he’d made first contact here.
“I’m not going to be so childish to ask what these people are all doing here,” TJ said, “but I’m really not sure what I’ve done to gain their confidence. I mean, they’re nominally here to follow me, so…”
“Frankly, I don’t know.” Seth replied. “I just got here too. There were a couple other people gathered, but I don’t have the same experience around here that you do. I figured that you’d know better than me about why these people would want to follow you into the untamed wilderness instead of sticking around here in the comfortable known.”
TJ levelled a look at Seth, who just shrugged. He was more confident now, as an Avenger. His shoulders were squared, his hair pulled back from his face, and, now that TJ thought about it, Seth’s skin had cleared up quite a bit. Evolution? Or something else, something more than that?
There wasn’t any way to know without asking, and he didn’t care enough to ask. Instead, TJ spoke aloud. “Hello, I’m going to assume you’re all here for me. Or, to follow me, as the case may be. If you’re not, well, I’m glad to see you, you can move along.”
Nobody moved. TJ nodded and spoke again. “Look, I’m not sure why most of you are here, and I don’t need you to air your grievances or whatever. Just know now: if you’re going to be my people, then you can trust me to be on your side. To help you when I can. To fight to keep you safe. All I expect in return is for you to protect the people at your side. Be reasonable. Talk like adults. This is a new world we’re in, and I expect you to act in a way that isn’t going to get the person next to you killed. Other than that, we’ll get this figured out. Grab your things, and let me know if there’s been any problems before we get going.”
A couple scattered claps and a single whistling cheer from Molly greeted his little speech, and TJ just walked forward to stand in front of the rest. Nobody approached him right away, but after about thirty seconds, Maddie walked up. She carried a baseball cap in her hands, twisting it nervously as she approached.
“Hey Maddie. Surprised to see you here. What can I do for you?” TJ asked.
“Um. I have a couple things that I wanted to bring, but my old team leader told me no when I tried to bring them out this morning.”
TJ’s knee-jerk reaction was to storm through the New Republic’s lands, to take back everything that these, his people said was theirs. These pissants would attempt to steal from his people? It was an outrage!
Then, he calmed the feeling and instead thought about it logically as he Appraised her.
Acolyte (Copper), 27
“What were you trying to bring out? I can see that you’ve gained some good levels and evolved since I last spoke with you, so congrats.”
“Yeah, thanks. It was some equipment I’d had made. A quiver, some gloves, and a pair of boots.”
TJ nodded. “Ok. Was any of it Bronze tier? Did any of it give Attributes or have any Skills?”
“No.” She shook her head. “The gloves had a… wind enchantment, I think? Let me draw arrows a little faster, kept my fingers from getting too irritated. The boots were just leather, and the quiver just held physical arrows I’ve made with a Skill. I’ve got those in my bag, but the quiver’s nice.”
“Ok.” TJ sighed. “We can go in there and try to give em hell for that stuff. I can probably get it back. However, it looks like most of it is just… convenient, is that right?”
“Yeah.” Maddie’s face fell, knowing where he was going.
“Don’t misunderstand,” TJ raised his hands, “if it’s really important to you to get those back specifically, I can do what’s necessary to make it happen and I won’t mind. Here’s the tradeoff, though, and I want you to know what it is and make your decision accordingly, ok?”
Maddie nodded.
“I’ve got mostly tanned leather from two different Copper monsters back there. If you can wait a couple days, one of our… at least four crafting-adjacent people can probably make you way better equipment. So, you’d go without for a couple days, and in exchange, you’d get something better. Or, I could storm in there, scare or hurt enough people for us to get all these things back, and then we’d part on worse terms with Sven and his people. Honestly, if we push that too far, I wouldn’t be surprised if we ended up with some violence on our hands. I’m willing to do either of these things for you. Which do you want me to do?”
“If those are my choices,” Maddie laughed, “then I’ll take the Copper equipment.”
“Probably the better choice.” TJ agreed with a chuckle. “Thanks for understanding.”
“Yeah.”
“Now,” TJ raised his voice for all the people nearby, many of whom were eavesdropping, “I don’t want you to misunderstand. If you have something that is important to you for any reason, let me know. If some asshat’s got your wedding band or a child’s favorite blankie, or a piece of equipment that really matters to you, let me know! I’ll make sure we can get those important things back! If it’s something that’s just a thing and you don’t care too much about it, just let me or one of the people from my Tutorial, Seth, Farid, or Sarah, or to a lesser extend, Molly and Tessie, and we’ll get it replaced with things that we already have. Got it?”
A chorus of more excited answers came that time, and TJ allowed himself to smile. As he looked around the group, he saw that Roger and Suzie, his back neighbors, were missing. They’d seemed pretty happy to throw themselves in with the New Republic, and despite his many statements to the contrary, he found himself a little miffed. He’d saved their lives and promised and delivered them so much, and they just… didn’t care about that?
An old woman walked up and interrupted his thoughts. In her, TJ saw one of the positive possible side effects of the Integration. Various signs of advanced age covered her body, like fading liver spots. Thick crow’s feet and worry lines on her face, and though her palm was firm and rough when she shook his hand, the skin on the back of her hand seemed as thin as paper.
“I have just one thing.” She said.
“Great, I’d love to hear it. By the way, I’m TJ. You?”
“Gertrude. And someone in my row of cots took my locket, and it was then passed around. It’s from my late husband, Bob. They wanted it because—”
“I don’t care if they wanted it because it’s damned Gold tier equipment.” TJ growled. “I’m not going to stand for it. Who’s got it?”
“A…” Gertrude looked more than a little frightened by his intensity. “It’s a woman, her name’s Raya. Do you know her?”
TJ cursed sulfurously under his breath. Taking a moment to gather himself, he answered. “Yeah. She’s Sven’s second in command. She say something stupid like it being for research or the good of the New Republic?”
“Both of those, yes.”
TJ nodded once. “I’ll take care of it and get it back for you. Once anyone else has said what they need to get back, I’ll take a list and ensure that we get it all.”
“Bless you, TJ.” Gertrude said it, and he felt something warm suffuse him as she said it. The System flashed a notification in his face, and he quickly read it.
You have been entrusted with a Divine Trial. Divine Trial: requisition Gertrude Nieuwyndyk’s locket. Reward: Understanding of the Path of Worship available to all Participants.
TJ wanted to delve deeper into what that meant, but instead, he nodded his goodbye to Gertrude and instead called out, “Anyone else need to tell me anything? I’m happy to do it, but I need to know now.”
He waited another minute, but nobody approached, so he nodded. Then, looking at the Copper tiers all around him, William, Brad, Lucy, and Stella included, he crooked a finger at Farid. The Acolyte walked forward without question, and TJ addressed the rest of this new group of his.
“Farid’s going to come with me. We’ll get this locket back, and we’ll meet you. With as many Coppers as you have, especially you more established Copper tiers, you should be fine. We’ll meet up at the corner of Broadway and Mill Ave, just in front of the high school. Any questions?”
Sarah frowned a little. “Why not me too?”
“Because you’ll try to start a fight.” TJ said simply. “I trust Farid to keep a level head.”
“And to keep yours level.” Farid joked back, though the small smile on his face didn’t reach his eyes. TJ was sure it was still to do with his parents, and he’d already had the conversation with Farid a time or two. There wasn’t anything else that he could say.
“Great, you all move out. Seth, you pass the bag on to someone else. Mimi, you take Luz, please.”
They followed his commands, and though a part of TJ loathed to be in charge, he found he was more and more easily falling into the position. Then, before he left, he called Molly, Tessie, and Sarah forward.
“I don’t know how long this will last, because we’re going in opposite directions for now,” he warned, “but having my Ritualistic Transfer going on will let the others know if something’s going on. I’ll be able to see if you’re losing any resources, and I’ll pull a little on you if something’s going on here. Not saying anyone should react drastically if that were to happen, but it’s something that the other’s should be aware of, for as long as we have the capability.”
“Good idea.” Sarah nodded. “If I start going hog wild with the crazy, everything-destroying attacks, can you just… give me more Stamina and Mana to do it some more?”
“Am I capable of it?” TJ answered. “Yes. Will I? Not today. Have a rampage when we’re not precariously exiting a semi-hostage situation.”
“Fine.” Sarah smiled, less goofy and more honest. “Be safe. Let us know if anything’s happening.”
“I’ll pulse three times slow if I’m feeling the connection fade, how’s that sound?” TJ offered.
“Great.” Sarah nodded.
“Don’t give my Class a reason to come back here.” Seth said, his tone serious. “I don’t think I want to see what would happen to me and Avenger if I got a bunch of levels from slaughtering my way through a peaceful camp.”
“Ok.” TJ quickly went through the motions of his ritual, anointing each of the Participants from his Tutorial, his friends. Then, once it was complete, he waved them off and stood shoulder to shoulder with Farid.
“You ready, Farid?” He asked.
“To enter the lair of the dragon and demand that she return her stolen gold?” He joked. “I suppose. You don’t have any sort of a shield that holds dragons back, do you?”
“Eh. I’m kinda a dragon. I mean, I can fly now. That’s a good start, isn’t it?”
Forcing themselves into a happy mood, they strode deeper and deeper into campus, more and more aware of unkind gazes looking at them. And still they walked until they stood outside the permanent enrollment shade tent that Raya usually stayed at. And just their luck, there she was.
“TJ.”
