The woman took the injector and pushed it into the refiller. There was a pause then a click. In a practiced motion she pulled the injector out and into her left upper arm. She didn't wince, even though there was a pinch. She placed the injector back into the cabinet and closed it to show a mirror. Brown hair, buzzed, sun burnt skin. Freckles and pale if she ever bothered with healing. As if I could afford it. And scales around the left eye. Blackish brown. Like the Calamity. A reminder of her hate. Her right eye is brown, her left steel. The robotic left eye swiveled about, taking in the reflection in the mirror. It brought memories.
-----
The daughter and father were ushered off the landing craft into a vast hold. They were forced into lines. A new screen popped up in front of everyone. A moment and English begins to crackle through.
“Welcome refugees of Arth, the Red Deliverance Company will be bringing you to hub world Oiugfyd. It has a mild climate of two degrees Celsius. We will be shortly flooding the area with mana. This should initialize everyone into the system. Our handy help will then visit each of you and provide any corrective healing your own technological backwards planet was unable to provide. This of course will be debited to your awaken system and you will be required to pay back what you owe prior to leaving Oiugfyd. Along with any medical needs, your eyes will be etched to have a simply subtitled universal translation glyph. This is a non-negotiable cost that will be added to your system.”
The message then switches to a new language. Is it repeating itself, the girl Zelda doesn't know. There was a scaled creature shorter than her walking next to a rather squat bunny person who was only taller because of their ears. At the start there are some who yell and challenge the two. They are shot with something with a flash which stuns the belligerent. The lizard then would punch something into the shoulder with a gun shaped device while the bunny would peel open an eyelid and poke the eye with a rod of sorts. For those who didn't fight, the bunny went first. Words were exchanged then the lizard.
At times they would stop at an individual after the first two steps. They would say something in their language. There would be a pause and then either a nod or a shake of a head. Nods would get further treatment while shakes got further words. Few would shake their heads twice. No one denied them on the third conversation.
When they reach the girl and father. The girl shys away, pushing her aching left side of her face into her father. They engage with her father first, they say things. The father nods then speaks, “Randal Smith.” The lizard rolls his eyes. He fiddles with the injector and hits my father's collarbone with their device. “I said Smith.” The lizard says more which annoys the father. The bunny pulls back the eyelid of the girl's right eye. She struggles. “It's alright Zelda, let Kilp do her job. It doesn't hurt.”
The girl relents and finds out her father is a liar. It burns but quickly settles. The bunny speaks. The subtitles appear on the right eye.
“There, not so bad. Now we can communicate.”
The girl scrunches her nose at the last word. Her father chides her. “It means talk, hunny.” The words appeared in her right eye as he said them. She doesn't have long to wonder when her shoulder is jabbed.
ID tag implanted. System recognizes Zelda Smith43. Daughter to Randal Smith43.
Debt 500 exp applied to be paid to the Red Deliverance Corp.
Due to immature state, debt will not accrue interest till 30 days after final height reached or first mating. Whichever occurs first.
10% interest to be applied every 30 days after start.
The girl doesn't understand. The lizard has already begun to turn when the bunny finishes scanning the girl. The bunny exclaims. Words flow.
“Got a blighted, Jnaok.”
“Oh where, girl feel any scales? These things can be serious.”
The father turned the girl's face. They see black-brown scales around the eye socket and a golden cat eye surrounded by black sclera.
“She will need surgery, Randal.”
The father was shocked. He asked for more information.
“It's necessary, Dragon Blight is debilitating without treatment. I'm afraid she will need medication for the rest of her life.”
They say this with a great deal of seriousness. The father consented.
-----
+50 Exp Debt Update: 600769 Exp current Debt for Dragon Blight Suppressor Dose.
Zelda sighs. She leaves the bedroom. Picks up her rented sword and heads out. Perhaps Kobold pits have some need for melee fodder. She leaves her closet of a room with her armor dented. Her shield is a slab of sheet metal with a welded on handle. She at least owned that. A gift from her late father. His debt added to hers on his death. He wasn't required to rent a return bracelet, his debt a minor amount compared to her own. He should have anyway. He was brash and trying his hardest to chip away at Zelda exp debt. It left her alone and further chained to this planet.
She goes to the elevator lift.
+1 Exp Dept for 30 day Lift Renewal Pass
Another sigh as she accepts. It takes her to a room with various species. There are a few humans but she stays clear of any large groups of them. Party members who die shift their debt to surviving members. It is the survivors who decide who receives the debt. Which in turns means the lowest level member receives it all. Which meant Zelda.
There is a mass of groupless that she joins. They mill about while more formal parties walk to the gate. “Anyone willing to front the key cost?” The words show up in both her eyes. She steps forward when none else does. The squat lizard man looks at her.
“Status.”
She shares her screen.
Debt: 600770 owed to Red Deliverance Corp.
Level 4 - Zelda Smith43 Arth Human No Affiliations
9 Str
10 Agi
12 Con
13 Will
12 Int
Augment: Grade F Eye prosthetic, Permanent Debtor Return Implant in Chest. Basic Universal Subtitle Glyph
Stolen novel; please report.
Afflictions : Dragon Blight
Magic: Basic Strength
He looked up at the woman. “Reading words will get you killed. Why haven't you gotten the ear implant?”
She simply taps the debt number.
“And yet you're willing to carry the instance key cost.”
“It adds to my debt, implants require upfront payment.”
He grunts. Mutters about the return implant saving them from getting saddled and motions her to the counter.
“Again Zelda?” The Insectoid receptionist recognized the habitual debtor. Its inhuman expression was quickly learned to be exasperation.
Zelda raises her hand where the agreement for an additional 500 debt will appear. When it does she taps it.
The group will be split Exp evenly. You accepts any debt for the death of a party member. You agrees to surrender any loot.
Of course, wouldn't want the real debt relief to go to me.
Confirm?
She taps again.
+500 exp Debt. Instance 645 assigned. Good Hunting
-----
They don't bother introducing themselves. A cat person in calico colors and fur of her height. A bird person of black plumage looms over everyone, and the lizard man that only comes up to her waist, his scales blue.
They all ping higher level than her. Her system is not advanced enough to say anything beyond that. The cave they are in is a safe zone. There is water and a fire pit. They would need to have brought their own fuel. Going by the size of their bags, it will only be a day trip. Good.
They proceed forward. She is in front. The party's most expendable. They are wary about outright killing her, fearing the eye implant is a recorder. But should she fall victim to Kobolds early, it's only 10,000 more debt to her and one less to split Exp for them.
The first pack of the hulking fur hyenas arrived. Three of them. Her shield becomes dented again but she stabs with her sword. The others engage the remaining two. Her form is terrible, lacking any training. The other finished the two they had.
Gain 1 Exp from party kill
Gain 1 Exp from party kill
They do not assist Zelda on hers. They wait and chat. The words cluttering Zelda vision. The kobold goes for an overhead swing which Zelda puts her shield up and stabs forward. It is a shallow wound and the overhead smack to the shield numbs her arm. But shallow wounds are fine. A few more and he will die. The dance continues but she is no stranger to it. The Kobold finally slumped over.
Gain 1 Exp from party kill
An injustice when she soloed it. One of many. A soon to be reoccurring one. They search the corpses of the monsters but find nothing of worth.
-----
“Girl, why take on debt for what will be at most fifty exp for you.”
They were on break. Zelda reads the Birds words.
“Hoping for a spontaneous stat up.”
He laughs a caw at that. “I guess immortals are fine with a yoke around their neck for slow progress.”
“What, I thought Arth Humans didn't last longer than five times their maturity cycles.” The cat says to the Bird.
“Can't you see the blight. So long as she receives treatment she will not age.” The bird admonishes with a tone of superiority. Or so Zelda assumes.
And she was contractually required to continue her treatments. Should she fail to inject the dose a rather large minotaur looking man will politely ask her to do it. Then not so politely force her. Each level of aggression is added to her debt as a fine. She hasn't skipped a dose since the first infraction/arm fracture. No one can tell her what happens should she succumb to her blight.
The sun of the dungeon instance bears down on her. Her skin burns. She just sips her water. They get up and continue down the path.
-----
“Ah a moment, I believe this has some good metals.”
The lizard man moves forward and attaches a device to the lode. It breaks the ore apart. He sweeps a third of it into his bag while the other two join him. The cat person looks at Zelda with what might be considered pity. They easily had fifty exp worth of ore each. Zelda ignores them. They would only be more tempted to accidentally get her killed if she wanted a share.
“I think that about does it for me.” The lizard man exclaims.
The bird and cat look at each other and shrug. They head back. Zelda took up the rear. Yet again the most dangerous position in their retreat. They had killed thirty monsters to get to that lode. Technically not enough to offset the cost of the key. But they weren't paying.
They walked through the portal exit. Except for Zelda. She stopped at the portal. Turned around and filled her rented canteen. After a bit she went out and spread out the corpses of the dead kobolds. It took an hour and it was exhausting but it was important. She looked to the sky. Three hours till dusk.
She returned to the first set of bodies. She hoped their early duck out would mean they wouldn't be there when she exited. She learned early that some groups will wait a few hours for the last member to leave. Just to claim a split of whatever the sneaky final member will farm solo. Trying to negotiate for the solo farming only led to some groups forcing her out for the temerity of asking. Hopefully not outside waiting, 5 hours is way too long, right?
She starts to take a nap. It's interrupted immediately when the box opens. Another auction. She sees a mass of species of various sizes. They peer at a screen above the box. It shows a black orb with a yellow cat pupil. It's the eye the corporate bastards removed from her. Charged her for the surgery and then turned around and sold the damn thing. The number was always eight digits or higher. She saw that much but couldn't fathom the numbers. It was always different. Is that to imply a growing price or just different languages?
She didn't know. What she did know is that it would be bought, then implanted into someone's head and they would die in three days. That was the current record at least. They generally rotted. One died immediately. The eye would go back into a box and after a while it would get implanted again or sold at auction and then get implanted again. It was almost always young children too.
Zelda had grown numb to it. A lie she tells herself. Her dreams are just a continuous reel of the myriad deaths her eye caused. She wondered if the implantee could see through the cursed thing. She wondered how such a thing hadn't been destroyed in a fit of rage. She wondered if she too would have died if it had been left in place.
The eye is sold and the box closed. How many cycles till the next opening. She always hoped that it would end up in someone's vault. A vanity piece on display for dust to collect. But she knew it would be a doctor's surgery when light returned to that eye.
The sun in the dungeon has set. The kobold next to her stirred. Undead now. And a free kill. Her sword stabs down through the heart.
Gain 8 Exp from Undead Kobold
If only the rest would be as easy as this one.
-----
A pierced heart or decapitation. It was slow going. She finally used her one spell. It added one strength for an hour. She wouldn't have enough mana for another 4. A maturation gift from the company. And a note that said it was the last freebie she would receive. That it was the only one that was ever free is of small consolation. And plenty of system mails encouraging her to upgrade it with her spare exp. A joke if there ever was one.
She continued her lone efforts. Grueling but another 232 exp. She really wished they had gone further. She was incapable of fighting two at a time. And from here it was five. She left the instance. Her Str was one higher at least. Lucky on the second to last one.
-----
“Ah came up short again. Your debt is reduced by by two hundred and seventy.” The insectoid with a name tag of Marla said.
-270 Exp Debt. Current Debt: 601000 Exp
Zelda sighs. It will grow again by 10 when she eats. Another 5 for a shower. Add on the 5 for the daily sword rental. Another shit day.
She leaves the counter. The cat person waiting at the entrance.
“So you still live. What great reward required you to wait for us to leave.”
Zelda reads the replies, “Two hundred-Seventy less debt.”
The cat was confused, “But that doesn't seem worth risking your life.”
“Only risking another ten thousand debt in a return recharge.”
The cat again screws their face. I walk by them. “You want to party again?”
No, repeats are dangerous. She knows when I am leaving now and can demand a split the next time.
Zelda drops off her sword at the smithy. Her rental warranty was expiring. She knew she would receive the same sword in two days on her next rental. But with a new warranty applied. Better the legal fiction than paying when it inadvertently shattered. That the upfront cost of an extra 50 Exp she had to pay for the initial warranty was worth the piece of mind. The 10,000 additional debt for breaking an out of warranty sword the last time was lesson enough. It was only a cycle expired.
Exiting the smithy she finds the cat person waiting for her. Again. The cat's head tilted in curiosity. Zelda returns to her apartment. Ignoring calls to wait up.
-----
+5 debt for a cycle rental data vid
Dragon Slaying. Needed skills. Ship build. Magic types. The video played. It had scant more information then the previous theory video had but Zelda watched it rapturously. It was her religion, her life, her hatred. She will fall asleep watching this video for a fourth time. Trying her best to recall every detail.
30 cycles passed, interest accrued and applied
+60103 exp debt. Current Debt: 661128 Exp
