System Break

I blinked. My neck ached. I was back in the old world. The real world or was it a prime world?

"Benzhi, you there?" A young man spoke.

"Call me Ben here. Give me a sec." I ordered my robot to get me out of the pod. This was done through my cybernetic implant in my neck. I could move my arms, but barely. They were like spaghetti arms.

"Gan, and my sister is Jia."

"I knew that. Remember I was here for a few days with nothing to do. Is she here yet?"

"No, hope she's okay."

"If she wasn't okay, she'd be here."

"Good point. Unless they're torturing her and keeping her alive." Gan laughed.

A familiar hydraulic swoosh sound accompanied the lid lifting on my pod and before I was seated in my robot wheelchair Sakaala aka Jia joined us.

"Can't believe you left me behind. All on my own," she said.

"Hey," I said.

"Hello to you too," Gan said.

"Barrin is with you," I said. "And Alejo."

"I haven't seen Alejo yet and Barrin is visiting with the guilds all day. He's going back tomorrow with the Whitecloaks."

"You should go with them," I said.

"I don't have the document yet. Wait. It's from the Duke of Salastria and they're headed to Salastria." She thought out loud. "I'll go with them and tell the old cruskit to deliver it to me there."

"Close to the stronghold," Gan said.

I asked, "Any excitement after we left?"

She shook her head. "Quiet. Too quiet. I was lonely."

I sighed.

"What? What happened?" Gan asked.

"Nothing," I said.

She pouted.

Gan looked from his sister to me. She was in her early twenties, a slim, tall beautiful woman. She had a long neck to go along with her perfect cheeks and nose. As an heiress to an empire she was the closest thing to a princess without being an actual one. And certainly wealthier than any real princess.

"Shit, you didn't," he said.

"It's none of your business," she said. 

"We should move on. Who are these new recruits?"

Her eyes narrowed as she stared at me.

Gan shook his head and looked at the ground. "We just need to wait. They're on their way." He walked over to a table and checked a screen. A couple of taps later he said, "Yep. They're on the property and I just sent a bot to fetch them."

Jia glared at me and I did my best to ignore her. Gan had his back to both of us. It was surreal. I was a vet in a wheelchair, while she belonged to one of the wealthiest families on the planet, and she was young and beautiful. 

I backed my wheelchair into a corner and tilted myself up, so I could look at the recruits properly. She came and stood next to me and I could smell her.

"Look at me," I whispered. 

She looked down at the high tech robot wheelchair, but she said nothing.

"It was a mistake. It's different with them, but with you, it's just not possible."

"I'm a grown woman. I make my own choices."

Gan pretended he couldn't hear a thing and checked his email or whatever it was he did on that computer screen.

I chuckled dryly. "You're a sheltered little girl that's never faced real adversity."

Gan gulped audibly and his shoulders tightened.

I was an invalid in a wheelchair, unable to move most of my body and she turned and slapped me across the face. It hurt. "You have no idea what I've faced," she said, and her eyes were brimming with tears.

"Ouch," I said. "Slap me on the leg next time. I felt that."

She blubbered a laugh and when the door slid open she wiped her eyes on her sleeve.

"Ah," Gan said. "You're here finally." He turned and approached them with tablet in hand. 

"Daiyu?" he said. A young woman stepped forward. "Run through your background and training."

"I'm a nurse and no special training. I love making floral arrangements and Origami."

"Ah, really?" Gan said.

"Perfect," I said. "Next."

There were three women and two men. A man stepped forward.

"My name is Barde and I'm a musician. It is both my profession and my love."

"Great. That's great too," I said.

Gan looked back at me with a confused look on his face.

"You think we're looking for warriors? No Gan. We're looking for people who can mould qi. They are great so far. Next."

Another young woman stepped forward. "Meili, I am a nurse also. I wanted to be a dancer, but it was not to be. I still dance, but for fun and fitness."

She had the rocking body of a dancer, both Gan and I believed her.

A young man stepped forward. "Dishi, I'm an army engineer. I love ancient bridges and cathedrals."

"Good," I said. "Always good to have someone with brains on the team."

The last woman stepped forward to join the others. "Song," she said. "I am also a nurse."

"Do you have any hobbies that you love?" Gan asked.

She pursed her lips. She was very beautiful. "I enjoy sex," she said, and she smiled demurely at him. I think Gan fell instantly in love.

"Why three nurses? Like I have nothing against nurses is it just a strange coincidence?"

"Blood," Jia said. "Their blood is on file and when tested for qi-count theirs was in the top ten from the latest round."

"How big?"

"Tens of millions," she said.

"We were rejected by the other group," Meili said. "They rejected the woman out of hand."

I laughed. "Dumbasses. Don't worry Meili, they have no fucking idea what they're doing. You lot are perfect."

The five considered me. I was a foreigner, black and an invalid. Yet I seemed to be in charge. It must have been confusing for them.

"You're to wait before entering the forest. Until then I want you to study a book. Not just read it. I want you to read it over and over until you can recite it. And the rest of the time you can practice Kung Fu. Gan will bring you in when we're ready for you."

Gan looked at me. "What book?"

"The one the nurse read to me." I didn't mention it was after my dream with the old Chinese man. "Daodejing by Lao Tzu."

We chatted for a time then Gan hired a Kung Fu instructor and Jia lectured them on rules and etiquette.

We headed to our pods and back into the Qi World. Or was it an island. There was one thing that was certain the directors from the labs were incompetent. They chose warriors over people who were more inclined to wield qi. I learned more in one hallucination than all their lectures.

When we woke we were back on the boat. I rolled off my hammock. "Ailen," I said.

"Let me sleep," he said.

I kicked him off the hammock. He groaned and whined.

"I'm going to pull another shift on the oars, you can at least wake up. Learn some useful skill like sailing or fishing."

"Fine," he said. "I'm up."

"There's something else," I said. "That group look great but … this is a perfect opportunity for those bastards to infiltrate us. You need to vet them thoroughly. In fact, I'm putting you in charge of them."

He smiled and then was lost in thought.

Before he could say anything I said, "Don't worry. I'll train them alongside you and Sakaala. But you'll handle the rest. You'll lead them on hunts to gather cores."

"I won't be with you?"

"It's time to spread your wings. Just start small and don't hesitate to lean on me or Talila for help."

He nodded. "Okay. I can do this." He smiled. "It'll be fun."

I laughed. "Yeah, especially Song. She looks like lots of fun."

He grinned. "And the dancer."

"You have a good eye my friend," I said, and we laughed. "Alright, the sun's coming up. I want to get in a good day on the oars. My skill at rowing is sky rocketing."

"You know even the sailors are impressed. They think you're a monster."

"I am a monster!"

He laughed. "Careful, they'll believe you. And Benzhi."

"Yeah?"

"Thanks. It means a lot coming from you. When my father gives me responsibility or a job it never feels deserved. It's because of who I am and not something I earned. But this. I feel like I earned this. I even died for it." He chuckled sadly at the remembrance.

"That you did." I grinned and left the cabin. I stretched my muscles, sipped on some fresh water and took a leak off the side of the deck. Demon bird was taking to the skies after resting during the night. He was far to the east and would follow the coastline.

"You're up," the captain said. He was on the tiller. It took an experienced hand to guide the ship at night.

"I'm going to do another shift on the oars," I said.

"Really? It's not necessary."

I shook my head. "No. I enjoy it."

He laughed. "I think in all my years that's the first time I heard those words about rowing below decks. You'll need a fast cadence to keep up with the wind."

I grinned. "I can do that. I was just getting the hang of it yesterday." I checked my skills surely I could get rowing over twenty before we reached the river.

.

-Skills-

.

-General-

Running, 48.89

Climbing, 48.52

Rowing, 12.69

Negotiation, 15.90

.

-Survival-

Navigation, 33.45

Forest, 35.32

Plains, 29.27

Mountains, 28.87

Foraging, 27.90

Skinning, 40.12

Tracking, 33.63

.

-Combat-

Spear, 40.15

Brawling, 42.12       

Dodge, 38.53

.

-Crafting-

Fabric, 4.22

.