Chapter 10
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David immediately opened his status screen,
Name: David Care Points: 0 Race: Human Lottery Slots: 0
Class: Life Orb Master (1/1) Energy Stored: 35.4 hours
Abilities: Life Orb Designate, Life Orb Create, Store/Expand Energy
Stored Inventory: Glock 17 Gen4 Handgun
Life Orbs: 19
As soon as he opened his screen, several other screens popped up. David clicked on the first one he saw.
In approximately 12 hours, the Monthly Lottery Scattering will occur.
Monthly Lottery Scattering:
This monthly event will have Lottery Slots scattered throughout the world. They will be placed in preset destinations, locations available 24 hours in advance of the event. This does not apply to the first Scattering.
Lottery Slots will spawn in large Crates with each Crate holding 5 slots. Anywhere from 1,000 to 10,000 Crates will spawn across the world. Spawn locations are based on population density cross referenced with important or historical cities.
You may review the list of spawn locations using the newly added World Map function in your Status Screen.
David read through it, excitement starting to tinge his eyes. He personally knew the value of a Lottery Slot and apparently hundreds of them were going to be released every month. Though David had only won a weapon and an ability, things like points were also available as prizes. Previously, points had been a finite resource in David's eyes, one that he needed to keep track of and not squander. However, he no longer regretted buying supplies and weapons. These tools would aid them when they went for one of the Lottery Crates and potentially win more points. David immediately began to plan how he would take one of the Crates, thinking through various strategies.
Ever since David was young, he had always loved playing games that involved strategy. It was one of the things that made going to military school bearable, the fact that he could play games like chess or other strategy intensive activities, like the school wide paintball tournaments. He considered himself very talented when it came to strategy; his ability to think up stratagems, on the spot, was very diverse. In middle school, he was often bullied because he constantly played games, but he considered it worth it.
David put aside planning for a moment and opened up one of the other blue screens, quickly reading the prompt.
In approximately 24 hours, the System Auction will open up.
The System Auction is a worldwide Auction that will become an option you may call forth by mentally requesting it. Users may trade other users by placing items, abilities, and more in the Auction, only allowing users with sufficient points to bid for them. The Auction will be opened permanently, with new items allowed to be added at all times.
Only System Weapons/Armors/Supplies/Abilities/Physical Modifications can be added to the System Auction. Anything from the normal world may not be added.
You may open your Auction screen in 24 hours to learn more.
David nodded, committing the information to memory. An Auction where they could sell things they didn't need sounded useful. It would also be a great way to earn points to help them upgrade their weapons and armor.
Suddenly, David was struck by a thought. He stuck his hand in his pocket, fingering the Unbound Life Orbs he had there. These were made inside the System, right? He thought, considering. If he could sell these, he would be able to make tons of points. He assumed that many people would want access to an ability that can save your life once.
He decided to test that later, returning them to his pockets. David closed out of the Auction notification and brought up the last one.
In approximately 1 year, the Titans will return.
…
David clicked it again, but no information was forthcoming. If he had to guess, he assumed some race of giants or the like would come. In ancient literature, Titans were sort of like ancient gods. David doubted they would see humanity's ancient, mythological Gods but with this System in place, he refused to completely discount anything. He decided to worry about whatever Titans were later and instead focus on securing a base of operations for himself, for now.
David closed the pop up and returned to his status screen, looking for the World Map option. He didn't see it listed near his status after a moment. He mentally yelled, "Map!"
Instantly, a small map of the world appeared. It showed a small circle over where David was currently located. To the side of the map was a large list of city names:
…
Shanghai
Karachi
Istanbul
Lagos
Tokyo
Mumbai
Moscow
New York City
Seoul
Sao Paulo
Lahore
Jakarta
Mexico City
Austin
…
The list went on and on, listing well over a hundred cities. David's eyes latched on to the Austin option. He quickly tapped it. Immediately, the map indicated where Austin was located, which was in the middle of Texas, in the southern part of America. However, it gave no other information, and was simply a glowing map.
David tapped off the screen and once again began to plan how they would take the Lottery Crate. First off, while he knew there would be a Crate in Austin, he had no idea where specifically. Austin was a huge city, and it would be easy to miss the Crate unless it was obvious where it was. He needed more information.
David looked away from the screen, turning to the others. May and Stacy were still reading the screens intently. Leia had stopped reading and was talking to Sarah quietly. Flynn stood behind her looking a bit awkward, also finished reading. Shin was…sleeping. David stared at him. It had been, at most, a few minutes and Shin had already managed to fall asleep. David sighed and walked over, nudging him with his foot.
Shin woke up and stared at him,
"What? I was napping." He turned over, apparently intent on ignoring David.
"Yo, Shin. Come help me scout out Austin. I checked over the map and it looks like a Crate is going to spawn there. I want to see if we can find out where it'll spawn so we can grab it." David gestured as he talked, outlining his plan. Shin looked up and nodded, getting to his feet. He stretched and yawned loudly, ignoring the looks the others gave him.
"Alright." Shin pulled out his gun, being careful to aim it down. He didn't want to accidentally set it off again. "Where do you want to touch down?"
Before David could reply, Stacy came storming over.
"If y'all are scouting out Austin, you better count me in. With my ability, I'm bound to be of use if something dangerous happens." David nodded and reached in to his pocket. He tossed her 2 Unbound Life Orbs, saying,
"Bond these. Like I said before, they'll save your life if you should otherwise have died."
Stacy nodded and quickly bound them, the Orbs starting to float around her head in an orbital pattern. She poked them in amusement.
David was fine with Stacy joining them and had in fact planned on asking her regardless. He quickly discussed what he had in mind with them.
Shin would place all three of them on top of the Frost Bank Building. From there, they would stay under cover, using the unique shape of the roof to move around. This would be their starting location when they went for the Crate. However, David wanted to scout out the city early to see if they could discover the exact location.
David continued explaining his plan for when they went for the Crate in 12 hours,
"Shin, you will be in charge of getting the Crate and all of us back to here. I will be in charge of distracting anyone that attacks us. Stacy, you will be in charge of protecting Shin so that he can make it to the Crate. Are we understood?" The others nodded. David had thought out a clear and concise plan.
Shin would teleport all three of them near the Crate. Immediately, he would grab the Crate and power up his group teleport to move them away. His teleport, however, took a few seconds to charge up when he moved a group, and he would need approximately 5 seconds of free time. This was where David and Stacy came in. David would be the distraction, if anyone was attacking, while Stacy would block any attacks that passed David and moved towards Shin. Finally, they would teleport outside their base here as soon as Shin could.
David walked over to May, explaining the plan. Leia and Sarah joined her in listening, all nodding and agreeing. May and Leia, alongside Sarah and Flynn, would stay here to guard the base and maintain the Small Rechargeable Energy Shield. David doubted they would be gone for a long amount of time, but the shield they had up should stop anything from harming the rest of his group, and, more importantly, from damaging his base of operations. David grabbed 2 of the Sending Scrolls from May before leaving them.
David had assessed the situation and finally came to terms with this strange, new world. All of his popularity and networking was useless now. The only true power in this new world was strength, and David didn't plan on staying weak. He needed to quickly gain in power, and to do that, he needed this Lottery Crate.
David, joined by Shin and Stacy, quickly walked to the side, preparing to transport. David withdrew his gun from his inventory, cocking it. Shin already had his out and was ready to go. A powerful Steel aura surrounded Stacy as she prepared for combat. Shin smirked and, suddenly, motes of light surrounded them and their surroundings began to blur.
The United States of America, Austin, Texas – Roof of the Frost Bank Building
David landed on top of the roof quietly, sliding to the side. He dashed under the cover of one of the large steel frames. The roof of the Frost Bank building was very unique; it was shaped like a multifaceted pyramid, with several protrusions. David was currently laying low on the north side of the building. Stacy slid over, joining him. Shin teleported behind David, silently. He gave David a thumbs up. David nodded and took in their surroundings, looking for danger.
The majority of Austin was similar to how he knew it, before the System. The large chunks of frozen ice had disappeared overnight, leaving great stains of water on several of the buildings. Large amounts of glass were missing in most of the skyscrapers, with several having large holes. A few of the small skyscrapers were partially collapsed. The air smelled like rotting vegetation combined with the city's normal smell of automobiles and people. A few small fires still burned in some of the smaller buildings.
The sounds of battle that had painted the air on their first day visit had vanished, leaving a quiet tranquility. David listened closely and noticed that he couldn't hear the sounds of people.
Directly in front of where they stood were several other large skyscrapers, though none as large as the one they stood on. The buildings were only slightly damaged, and seemed to be intact for the most part. David motioned at Shin and then at the other buildings. Shin nodded, and their surroundings blurred again as the trio teleported to the smaller skyscrapers.
David landed on the roof of the smaller skyscraper. This building was more of an office building, with a roof access door that he had spotted while on the bank. David quickly ran to the door and opened it, motioning for Stacy and Shin to follow. They filed in and moved down a floor before sitting down. David started talking,
"Alright. I had Shin teleport us here because I didn't feel safe being on top of the Frost Bank. It's too obvious and I don't want us spotted." He said, motioning towards where the bank stood.
"This is what we're going to do now. Shin, you can teleport instantly when it's just yourself, right? I want you to scout out the surroundings. Go from skyscraper to skyscraper and look for anywhere that might be a location the System would set the Crate at. We have just 12 hours till it spawns. From the way it talked about it, I think the Crate will appear in a wide-open area that is well known. For instance, I'm sure the New York City Crate will appear in Times Square. Important places like that. Find us places that it could be at and save them in your memory. You have to have seen a place before you can teleport to it, right?" Shin nodded, seeing the logic behind what David was saying. If they found the location of the Crate, they needed to be able to reach it immediately. Having Shin be able to teleport to all major landmarks in Austin was smart.
David turned to look at Stacy,
"Stacy and I will go to the ground floor and look for survivors. We're going to find out what happened here and why no one is around." David brought out one of the Sending Scrolls they had bought for the base camp.
"If we run into trouble, we will meet up around the Frost Bank building. If we need you to return to us in a hurry, Shin, we'll contact you with one of these."
Shin nodded.
"Any questions?" David looked at the duo.
"Nope!" Shin said, "Do y'all want a lift to the ground floor of this building?"
David shook his head,
"Stacy and I are going to climb down using the stairs. We want to avoid drawing too much attention and your teleport would light up the ground too much. At least on top of the Skyscrapers, people might think it's a glare from the sun." It was still the morning, though the sun was slowly moving towards midday.
"I'm fine with this plan too." Stacy chimed in, an eager look in her eyes.
"Alright!" David said, nodding, "Meet back in 3 hours. Let's go!"
Please report us if you find any errors so we can fix it asap!
David immediately opened his status screen,
Name: David Care Points: 0 Race: Human Lottery Slots: 0
Class: Life Orb Master (1/1) Energy Stored: 35.4 hours
Abilities: Life Orb Designate, Life Orb Create, Store/Expand Energy
Stored Inventory: Glock 17 Gen4 Handgun
Life Orbs: 19
As soon as he opened his screen, several other screens popped up. David clicked on the first one he saw.
In approximately 12 hours, the Monthly Lottery Scattering will occur.
Monthly Lottery Scattering:
This monthly event will have Lottery Slots scattered throughout the world. They will be placed in preset destinations, locations available 24 hours in advance of the event. This does not apply to the first Scattering.
Lottery Slots will spawn in large Crates with each Crate holding 5 slots. Anywhere from 1,000 to 10,000 Crates will spawn across the world. Spawn locations are based on population density cross referenced with important or historical cities.
You may review the list of spawn locations using the newly added World Map function in your Status Screen.
David read through it, excitement starting to tinge his eyes. He personally knew the value of a Lottery Slot and apparently hundreds of them were going to be released every month. Though David had only won a weapon and an ability, things like points were also available as prizes. Previously, points had been a finite resource in David's eyes, one that he needed to keep track of and not squander. However, he no longer regretted buying supplies and weapons. These tools would aid them when they went for one of the Lottery Crates and potentially win more points. David immediately began to plan how he would take one of the Crates, thinking through various strategies.
Ever since David was young, he had always loved playing games that involved strategy. It was one of the things that made going to military school bearable, the fact that he could play games like chess or other strategy intensive activities, like the school wide paintball tournaments. He considered himself very talented when it came to strategy; his ability to think up stratagems, on the spot, was very diverse. In middle school, he was often bullied because he constantly played games, but he considered it worth it.
David put aside planning for a moment and opened up one of the other blue screens, quickly reading the prompt.
In approximately 24 hours, the System Auction will open up.
The System Auction is a worldwide Auction that will become an option you may call forth by mentally requesting it. Users may trade other users by placing items, abilities, and more in the Auction, only allowing users with sufficient points to bid for them. The Auction will be opened permanently, with new items allowed to be added at all times.
Only System Weapons/Armors/Supplies/Abilities/Physical Modifications can be added to the System Auction. Anything from the normal world may not be added.
You may open your Auction screen in 24 hours to learn more.
David nodded, committing the information to memory. An Auction where they could sell things they didn't need sounded useful. It would also be a great way to earn points to help them upgrade their weapons and armor.
Suddenly, David was struck by a thought. He stuck his hand in his pocket, fingering the Unbound Life Orbs he had there. These were made inside the System, right? He thought, considering. If he could sell these, he would be able to make tons of points. He assumed that many people would want access to an ability that can save your life once.
He decided to test that later, returning them to his pockets. David closed out of the Auction notification and brought up the last one.
In approximately 1 year, the Titans will return.
…
David clicked it again, but no information was forthcoming. If he had to guess, he assumed some race of giants or the like would come. In ancient literature, Titans were sort of like ancient gods. David doubted they would see humanity's ancient, mythological Gods but with this System in place, he refused to completely discount anything. He decided to worry about whatever Titans were later and instead focus on securing a base of operations for himself, for now.
David closed the pop up and returned to his status screen, looking for the World Map option. He didn't see it listed near his status after a moment. He mentally yelled, "Map!"
Instantly, a small map of the world appeared. It showed a small circle over where David was currently located. To the side of the map was a large list of city names:
…
Shanghai
Karachi
Istanbul
Lagos
Tokyo
Mumbai
Moscow
New York City
Seoul
Sao Paulo
Lahore
Jakarta
Mexico City
Austin
…
The list went on and on, listing well over a hundred cities. David's eyes latched on to the Austin option. He quickly tapped it. Immediately, the map indicated where Austin was located, which was in the middle of Texas, in the southern part of America. However, it gave no other information, and was simply a glowing map.
David tapped off the screen and once again began to plan how they would take the Lottery Crate. First off, while he knew there would be a Crate in Austin, he had no idea where specifically. Austin was a huge city, and it would be easy to miss the Crate unless it was obvious where it was. He needed more information.
David looked away from the screen, turning to the others. May and Stacy were still reading the screens intently. Leia had stopped reading and was talking to Sarah quietly. Flynn stood behind her looking a bit awkward, also finished reading. Shin was…sleeping. David stared at him. It had been, at most, a few minutes and Shin had already managed to fall asleep. David sighed and walked over, nudging him with his foot.
Shin woke up and stared at him,
"What? I was napping." He turned over, apparently intent on ignoring David.
"Yo, Shin. Come help me scout out Austin. I checked over the map and it looks like a Crate is going to spawn there. I want to see if we can find out where it'll spawn so we can grab it." David gestured as he talked, outlining his plan. Shin looked up and nodded, getting to his feet. He stretched and yawned loudly, ignoring the looks the others gave him.
"Alright." Shin pulled out his gun, being careful to aim it down. He didn't want to accidentally set it off again. "Where do you want to touch down?"
Before David could reply, Stacy came storming over.
"If y'all are scouting out Austin, you better count me in. With my ability, I'm bound to be of use if something dangerous happens." David nodded and reached in to his pocket. He tossed her 2 Unbound Life Orbs, saying,
"Bond these. Like I said before, they'll save your life if you should otherwise have died."
Stacy nodded and quickly bound them, the Orbs starting to float around her head in an orbital pattern. She poked them in amusement.
David was fine with Stacy joining them and had in fact planned on asking her regardless. He quickly discussed what he had in mind with them.
Shin would place all three of them on top of the Frost Bank Building. From there, they would stay under cover, using the unique shape of the roof to move around. This would be their starting location when they went for the Crate. However, David wanted to scout out the city early to see if they could discover the exact location.
David continued explaining his plan for when they went for the Crate in 12 hours,
"Shin, you will be in charge of getting the Crate and all of us back to here. I will be in charge of distracting anyone that attacks us. Stacy, you will be in charge of protecting Shin so that he can make it to the Crate. Are we understood?" The others nodded. David had thought out a clear and concise plan.
Shin would teleport all three of them near the Crate. Immediately, he would grab the Crate and power up his group teleport to move them away. His teleport, however, took a few seconds to charge up when he moved a group, and he would need approximately 5 seconds of free time. This was where David and Stacy came in. David would be the distraction, if anyone was attacking, while Stacy would block any attacks that passed David and moved towards Shin. Finally, they would teleport outside their base here as soon as Shin could.
David walked over to May, explaining the plan. Leia and Sarah joined her in listening, all nodding and agreeing. May and Leia, alongside Sarah and Flynn, would stay here to guard the base and maintain the Small Rechargeable Energy Shield. David doubted they would be gone for a long amount of time, but the shield they had up should stop anything from harming the rest of his group, and, more importantly, from damaging his base of operations. David grabbed 2 of the Sending Scrolls from May before leaving them.
David had assessed the situation and finally came to terms with this strange, new world. All of his popularity and networking was useless now. The only true power in this new world was strength, and David didn't plan on staying weak. He needed to quickly gain in power, and to do that, he needed this Lottery Crate.
David, joined by Shin and Stacy, quickly walked to the side, preparing to transport. David withdrew his gun from his inventory, cocking it. Shin already had his out and was ready to go. A powerful Steel aura surrounded Stacy as she prepared for combat. Shin smirked and, suddenly, motes of light surrounded them and their surroundings began to blur.
The United States of America, Austin, Texas – Roof of the Frost Bank Building
David landed on top of the roof quietly, sliding to the side. He dashed under the cover of one of the large steel frames. The roof of the Frost Bank building was very unique; it was shaped like a multifaceted pyramid, with several protrusions. David was currently laying low on the north side of the building. Stacy slid over, joining him. Shin teleported behind David, silently. He gave David a thumbs up. David nodded and took in their surroundings, looking for danger.
The majority of Austin was similar to how he knew it, before the System. The large chunks of frozen ice had disappeared overnight, leaving great stains of water on several of the buildings. Large amounts of glass were missing in most of the skyscrapers, with several having large holes. A few of the small skyscrapers were partially collapsed. The air smelled like rotting vegetation combined with the city's normal smell of automobiles and people. A few small fires still burned in some of the smaller buildings.
The sounds of battle that had painted the air on their first day visit had vanished, leaving a quiet tranquility. David listened closely and noticed that he couldn't hear the sounds of people.
Directly in front of where they stood were several other large skyscrapers, though none as large as the one they stood on. The buildings were only slightly damaged, and seemed to be intact for the most part. David motioned at Shin and then at the other buildings. Shin nodded, and their surroundings blurred again as the trio teleported to the smaller skyscrapers.
David landed on the roof of the smaller skyscraper. This building was more of an office building, with a roof access door that he had spotted while on the bank. David quickly ran to the door and opened it, motioning for Stacy and Shin to follow. They filed in and moved down a floor before sitting down. David started talking,
"Alright. I had Shin teleport us here because I didn't feel safe being on top of the Frost Bank. It's too obvious and I don't want us spotted." He said, motioning towards where the bank stood.
"This is what we're going to do now. Shin, you can teleport instantly when it's just yourself, right? I want you to scout out the surroundings. Go from skyscraper to skyscraper and look for anywhere that might be a location the System would set the Crate at. We have just 12 hours till it spawns. From the way it talked about it, I think the Crate will appear in a wide-open area that is well known. For instance, I'm sure the New York City Crate will appear in Times Square. Important places like that. Find us places that it could be at and save them in your memory. You have to have seen a place before you can teleport to it, right?" Shin nodded, seeing the logic behind what David was saying. If they found the location of the Crate, they needed to be able to reach it immediately. Having Shin be able to teleport to all major landmarks in Austin was smart.
David turned to look at Stacy,
"Stacy and I will go to the ground floor and look for survivors. We're going to find out what happened here and why no one is around." David brought out one of the Sending Scrolls they had bought for the base camp.
"If we run into trouble, we will meet up around the Frost Bank building. If we need you to return to us in a hurry, Shin, we'll contact you with one of these."
Shin nodded.
"Any questions?" David looked at the duo.
"Nope!" Shin said, "Do y'all want a lift to the ground floor of this building?"
David shook his head,
"Stacy and I are going to climb down using the stairs. We want to avoid drawing too much attention and your teleport would light up the ground too much. At least on top of the Skyscrapers, people might think it's a glare from the sun." It was still the morning, though the sun was slowly moving towards midday.
"I'm fine with this plan too." Stacy chimed in, an eager look in her eyes.
"Alright!" David said, nodding, "Meet back in 3 hours. Let's go!"
David immediately opened his status screen,Name: David Care Points: 0 Race: Human Lottery Slots: 0Class: Life Orb Master 1/1 Energy Stored: 35.4 hoursAbilities: Life Orb Designate, Life Orb Create, Store/Expand EnergyStored Inventory: Glock 17 Gen4 HandgunLife Orbs: 19As soon as he opened his screen, several other screens popped up. David clicked on the first one he saw.In approximately 12 hours, the Monthly Lottery Scattering will occur.Monthly Lottery Scattering:This monthly event will have Lottery Slots scattered throughout the world. They will be placed in preset destinations, locations available 24 hours in advance of the event. This does not apply to the first Scattering.Lottery Slots will spawn in large Crates with each Crate holding 5 slots. Anywhere from 1,000 to 10,000 Crates will spawn across the world. Spawn locations are based on population density cross referenced with important or historical cities.You may review the list of spawn locations using the newly added World Map function in your Status Screen.David read through it, excitement starting to tinge his eyes. He personally knew the value of a Lottery Slot and apparently hundreds of them were going to be released every month. Though David had only won a weapon and an ability, things like points were also available as prizes. Previously, points had been a finite resource in David's eyes, one that he needed to keep track of and not squander. However, he no longer regretted buying supplies and weapons. These tools would aid them when they went for one of the Lottery Crates and potentially win more points. David immediately began to plan how he would take one of the Crates, thinking through various strategies.Ever since David was young, he had always loved playing games that involved strategy. It was one of the things that made going to military school bearable, the fact that he could play games like chess or other strategy intensive activities, like the school wide paintball tournaments. He considered himself very talented when it came to strategy; his ability to think up stratagems, on the spot, was very diverse. In middle school, he was often bullied because he constantly played games, but he considered it worth it.David put aside planning for a moment and opened up one of the other blue screens, quickly reading the prompt.In approximately 24 hours, the System Auction will open up.The System Auction is a worldwide Auction that will become an option you may call forth by mentally requesting it. Users may trade other users by placing items, abilities, and more in the Auction, only allowing users with sufficient points to bid for them. The Auction will be opened permanently, with new items allowed to be added at all times.Only System Weapons/Armors/Supplies/Abilities/Physical Modifications can be added to the System Auction. Anything from the normal world may not be added.You may open your Auction screen in 24 hours to learn more.David nodded, committing the information to memory. An Auction where they could sell things they didn't need sounded useful. It would also be a great way to earn points to help them upgrade their weapons and armor.Suddenly, David was struck by a thought. He stuck his hand in his pocket, fingering the Unbound Life Orbs he had there. These were made inside the System, right? He thought, considering. If he could sell these, he would be able to make tons of points. He assumed that many people would want access to an ability that can save your life once.He decided to test that later, returning them to his pockets. David closed out of the Auction notification and brought up the last one.In approximately 1 year, the Titans will return.David clicked it again, but no information was forthcoming. If he had to guess, he assumed some race of giants or the like would come. In ancient literature, Titans were sort of like ancient gods. David doubted they would see humanity's ancient, mythological Gods but with this System in place, he refused to completely discount anything. He decided to worry about whatever Titans were later and instead focus on securing a base of operations for himself, for now.David closed the pop up and returned to his status screen, looking for the World Map option. He didn't see it listed near his status after a moment. He mentally yelled, "Map!"Instantly, a small map of the world appeared. It showed a small circle over where David was currently located. To the side of the map was a large list of city names:ShanghaiKarachiIstanbulLagosTokyoMumbaiMoscowNew York CitySeoulSao PauloLahoreJakartaMexico CityAustinThe list went on and on, listing well over a hundred cities. David's eyes latched on to the Austin option. He quickly tapped it. Immediately, the map indicated where Austin was located, which was in the middle of Texas, in the southern part of America. However, it gave no other information, and was simply a glowing map.David tapped off the screen and once again began to plan how they would take the Lottery Crate. First off, while he knew there would be a Crate in Austin, he had no idea where specifically. Austin was a huge city, and it would be easy to miss the Crate unless it was obvious where it was. He needed more information.David looked away from the screen, turning to the others. May and Stacy were still reading the screens intently. Leia had stopped reading and was talking to Sarah quietly. Flynn stood behind her looking a bit awkward, also finished reading. Shin wassleeping. David stared at him. It had been, at most, a few minutes and Shin had already managed to fall asleep. David sighed and walked over, nudging him with his foot.Shin woke up and stared at him,"What? I was napping." He turned over, apparently intent on ignoring David."Yo, Shin. Come help me scout out Austin. I checked over the map and it looks like a Crate is going to spawn there. I want to see if we can find out where it'll spawn so we can grab it." David gestured as he talked, outlining his plan. Shin looked up and nodded, getting to his feet. He stretched and yawned loudly, ignoring the looks the others gave him."Alright." Shin pulled out his gun, being careful to aim it down. He didn't want to accidentally set it off again. "Where do you want to touch down?"Before David could reply, Stacy came storming over."If y'all are scouting out Austin, you better count me in. With my ability, I'm bound to be of use if something dangerous happens." David nodded and reached in to his pocket. He tossed her 2 Unbound Life Orbs, saying,"Bond these. Like I said before, they'll save your life if you should otherwise have died."Stacy nodded and quickly bound them, the Orbs starting to float around her head in an orbital pattern. She poked them in amusement.David was fine with Stacy joining them and had in fact planned on asking her regardless. He quickly discussed what he had in mind with them.Shin would place all three of them on top of the Frost Bank Building. From there, they would stay under cover, using the unique shape of the roof to move around. This would be their starting location when they went for the Crate. However, David wanted to scout out the city early to see if they could discover the exact location.David continued explaining his plan for when they went for the Crate in 12 hours,"Shin, you will be in charge of getting the Crate and all of us back to here. I will be in charge of distracting anyone that attacks us. Stacy, you will be in charge of protecting Shin so that he can make it to the Crate. Are we understood?" The others nodded. David had thought out a clear and concise plan.Shin would teleport all three of them near the Crate. Immediately, he would grab the Crate and power up his group teleport to move them away. His teleport, however, took a few seconds to charge up when he moved a group, and he would need approximately 5 seconds of free time. This was where David and Stacy came in. David would be the distraction, if anyone was attacking, while Stacy would block any attacks that passed David and moved towards Shin. Finally, they would teleport outside their base here as soon as Shin could.David walked over to May, explaining the plan. Leia and Sarah joined her in listening, all nodding and agreeing. May and Leia, alongside Sarah and Flynn, would stay here to guard the base and maintain the Small Rechargeable Energy Shield. David doubted they would be gone for a long amount of time, but the shield they had up should stop anything from harming the rest of his group, and, more importantly, from damaging his base of operations. David grabbed 2 of the Sending Scrolls from May before leaving them.David had assessed the situation and finally came to terms with this strange, new world. All of his popularity and networking was useless now. The only true power in this new world was strength, and David didn't plan on staying weak. He needed to quickly gain in power, and to do that, he needed this Lottery Crate.David, joined by Shin and Stacy, quickly walked to the side, preparing to transport. David withdrew his gun from his inventory, cocking it. Shin already had his out and was ready to go. A powerful Steel aura surrounded Stacy as she prepared for combat. Shin smirked and, suddenly, motes of light surrounded them and their surroundings began to blur.The United States of America, Austin, Texas Roof of the Frost Bank BuildingDavid landed on top of the roof quietly, sliding to the side. He dashed under the cover of one of the large steel frames. The roof of the Frost Bank building was very unique; it was shaped like a multifaceted pyramid, with several protrusions. David was currently laying low on the north side of the building. Stacy slid over, joining him. Shin teleported behind David, silently. He gave David a thumbs up. David nodded and took in their surroundings, looking for danger.The majority of Austin was similar to how he knew it, before the System. The large chunks of frozen ice had disappeared overnight, leaving great stains of water on several of the buildings. Large amounts of glass were missing in most of the skyscrapers, with several having large holes. A few of the small skyscrapers were partially collapsed. The air smelled like rotting vegetation combined with the city's normal smell of automobiles and people. A few small fires still burned in some of the smaller buildings.The sounds of battle that had painted the air on their first day visit had vanished, leaving a quiet tranquility. David listened closely and noticed that he couldn't hear the sounds of people.Directly in front of where they stood were several other large skyscrapers, though none as large as the one they stood on. The buildings were only slightly damaged, and seemed to be intact for the most part. David motioned at Shin and then at the other buildings. Shin nodded, and their surroundings blurred again as the trio teleported to the smaller skyscrapers.David landed on the roof of the smaller skyscraper. This building was more of an office building, with a roof access door that he had spotted while on the bank. David quickly ran to the door and opened it, motioning for Stacy and Shin to follow. They filed in and moved down a floor before sitting down. David started talking,"Alright. I had Shin teleport us here because I didn't feel safe being on top of the Frost Bank. It's too obvious and I don't want us spotted." He said, motioning towards where the bank stood."This is what we're going to do now. Shin, you can teleport instantly when it's just yourself, right? I want you to scout out the surroundings. Go from skyscraper to skyscraper and look for anywhere that might be a location the System would set the Crate at. We have just 12 hours till it spawns. From the way it talked about it, I think the Crate will appear in a wide-open area that is well known. For instance, I'm sure the New York City Crate will appear in Times Square. Important places like that. Find us places that it could be at and save them in your memory. You have to have seen a place before you can teleport to it, right?" Shin nodded, seeing the logic behind what David was saying. If they found the location of the Crate, they needed to be able to reach it immediately. Having Shin be able to teleport to all major landmarks in Austin was smart.David turned to look at Stacy,"Stacy and I will go to the ground floor and look for survivors. We're going to find out what happened here and why no one is around." David brought out one of the Sending Scrolls they had bought for the base camp."If we run into trouble, we will meet up around the Frost Bank building. If we need you to return to us in a hurry, Shin, we'll contact you with one of these."Shin nodded."Any questions?" David looked at the duo."Nope!" Shin said, "Do y'all want a lift to the ground floor of this building?"David shook his head,"Stacy and I are going to climb down using the stairs. We want to avoid drawing too much attention and your teleport would light up the ground too much. At least on top of the Skyscrapers, people might think it's a glare from the sun." It was still the morning, though the sun was slowly moving towards midday."I'm fine with this plan too." Stacy chimed in, an eager look in her eyes."Alright!" David said, nodding, "Meet back in 3 hours. Let's go!"
