Anti-Mage

Jessica Sifford, Jess to her friends, which seemed so far away now, held still until she heard the man, Anton he’d said his name was. She held very still until Anton stopped moving then grabbed the knife and leaned up off the table. Her legs were bound to the table legs, but the knife Anton had left made quick work of the ropes and she was free. She set the knife on the table and put the robe on. While she did so she glanced outside at all the men who had abused her and the other women here. If what Anton said was true, they were going to get theirs, sooner than later.

Jess picked up the knife and moved to the bathroom where she grabbed all the towels and robes she could. All of their clothes were in the room with Anton in one of the cupboards by the sink. Once she’d freed a few of the other women they’d go ask to get the clothes. With quick steps, she made her way to the kennel room, opened the door, stepped through, and closed the door.

“Jess, what’s going on?” Sarah whispered as the other eleven women sent questioning glances her way. After a pause as Jess made her way to Sarah’s cage she asked, “Is that blood all over you?”

Jess looked down and noted that the blood that had covered her had soaked through the white robe and then said, “Not my blood, it’s the City Lord’s, he’s dead.” She unlocked Sarah’s cage and continued unlocking all of the other cages. Before anyone could start asking more questions Sarah told everyone what had happened from her point of view.

She’d been taken into the other room and tied down. The City Lord had been making a show of what he was about to do to her for everyone in the stadium and slapped her ass a few times before she heard combat start behind her. She heard the City Lord get stabbed over and over. While he was stabbed, she’d felt liquid drop on her back and face but hadn’t thought anything of it. The next thing she’d know a man had covered her with the robe and moved to her eye level before he talked to her. When he was done, he’d cut her hands free and then went into the room with the weapons and all of their clothes.

“What’s he want with us?” one of the older women asked.

“He just said to get ourselves cleaned up and then to come to see him so that he could exempt us from the Safe Zone while we’re in these VIP rooms,” Jess said.

“Sounds like he’s trying to put us at ease and not push,” Annabelle said. When all the other women looked at her she continued, “He’s trying not to spook us because we’re all probably traumatized, or at least he thinks we are. You only have three more robes so only three of us are going to go ask if we can pick up our clothes and get dressed before the other women go in. First things first Jess, You need to go take a shower and get that blood off of you. Then You, me, and Sarah are going to go ask for our clothes,” Annabelle said.

“How are you taking this so well?” Jess asked.

“Because I have no choice, now go take a shower. Sarah, take a robe and follow her into the shower. Leave it on the sink. When she’s done the rest of you take turns getting a shower if you need to. While you're doing that, the three of us will go talk to Anton and get our clothes.” Annabelle said.

Jess walked over to the shower room dropped the bloodied robe to the floor and took a really quick shower. It was a quick shower because there was no hot water. She rinsed off, dried off with one of the towels, and put a clean robe on. When she walked out of the shower one of the other girls walked in and closed the door. Cold water sucked for showers. The other women should be done pretty quick, probably by the time they returned with their clothes.

Annabelle led the three of them out of the room and to the open door where Anton was seated in a chair on the opposite side of the room facing them. He took them in and then asked, “Just the three of you?”

Annabelle stepped forward a step and said, “Just the three of us for now. We came to ask if we could grab our clothes so that everyone could be dressed before we came to talk to you. Our clothes are in the cupboard over by the sink.”

Anton nodded before he answered, “That’s fine. Feel free to take any weapons you see that might make you feel more comfortable, just remember it’s a safe zone and until I add you to the exemption list if you attack someone you’ll be teleported to somewhere 25 miles away.”

“Understood,” Annabella said as Jess nodded along. The three of them grabbed the clothes and a handgun each and headed back to the other women.

It took another half-hour for all the women to get showered and clothed before they all headed back over to the room with Anton in it. Jess fell in behind Annabelle as they all shuffled into the room.

Before anyone could say a word, Anton said, “Before we get started let's see if this works, SYSTEM add all women in this room with me to the Safe Zone Exemption list while in the VIP section of this building.” Anton paused for a minute as he received a notification and did something before his eyes cleared and he smiled.

Jess's vision was filled with a SYSTEM Notification

SYSTEM Message. You are now exempt from the restrictions of the Town of Minneapolis Safe Zone while in the VIP rooms in the U.S Bank Stadium, you are standing in.

Jess watched Annabelle look around the room and then ask, “Did all of you get that message?”

“I did,” Jess offered as the others all voiced that they had also.

“If I could have your attention for a few moments ladies,” Anton said from where he was sitting. When they’d all settled down he continued, “Now that you can protect yourselves, I’m going to go take care of the tyrants of this little town. Feel free to watch the field below because that’s where I’m going to start. It looks like there are weapons and food up here so arm yourselves and I’ll be back in a bit. Finally, I don’t know if the Safe Zone will prevent you from being hurt so barricade the door and prepare to shoot anyone that forces their way in here until I get back.”

“How will you get back,” Annabelle asked.

“The same way I’m going to leave, though I’ll make sure to appear somewhere that doesn’t startle anyone. Also, while I’m gone, think of how you would like this city to be run and who you’d like to be the Primary Administrator out of the 13 of you. The rest of you will be able to help but I need one person to be the person I leave in charge. So, arm yourselves, get something to eat, and watch the show while being careful to protect yourselves. I’ll be back soon,” Anton said and then vanished from where he was sitting.

Jess rushed over to the window that looked down onto the Stadium and saw Anton appear right next to the SYSTEM Shop Node. She couldn’t hear him through the glass, but she watched as he flamboyantly struck a pose as he made some sort of proclamation. A moment later all the men and women with weapons that could see him trained their guns on him and fired.

Jess watched as Anton’s body was riddled with bullets. As she watched each person that attacked Anton vanished. Had he just sacrificed himself for them? Jess watched as Anton’s body which was now full of bullet holes impacted the ground and then dissolved before he reappeared right where he’d been standing. More people shot him, and those people also disappeared. Anton reappeared a third time, looked around when no one shot at him, and then went to the SYSTEM Shop Node and touched it. Both Anton and the Node disappeared. A couple of seconds later there was a pop behind her. She turned to see Anton stepping away from the SYSTEM Shop Node as he said, “I’ll be back in a while, just relax for a bit, I have a couple of things to take care of.

Jess just looked at the man flabbergasted. How had a man who was wearing tennis shoes, jeans, and a shirt with Deadpool on it that read “I’m with Stupid” get shot up and not even have bullet holes or blood stains in the shirt he was wearing? Jess put that out of her mind and went over to one of the few coolers that had iced drinks in it.

Still thinking about what she’d seen, Jess heard Annabelle call out and headed over to the lounge area where Annabelle settled in and said, “You all heard Anton, we need to decide who will be his direct assistant to the city…” Annabelle began. Jess knew this conversation was going to take a little bit and just hoped no one would want her to be 2nd in charge. She had every intention of helping Anton and if Annabelle was left in charge, her too. Anton had freed them after all, and it looked like the trash was being taken out of the city.

***

As Anton activated Specter, after dropping off the SYSTEM Shop Node, he rose through the walls and ceiling and headed toward the outskirts of the city. He had a couple of assholes to make sure died. 30 Seconds later, Anton was 25 miles out and realized he need not have worried. It looked like every monster inside the Minneapolis Safe Zone, a 10-mile diameter sphere, had been teleported 25 miles away, just like the SYSTEM had warned. There seemed to be enough monsters that as Anton flew around the circumference of the Safe Zone at the 25-mile limit he kept coming across groupings of monsters that were either attacking and killing everyone that had been sent out here when they violated the Safe Zone or he found the remains of someone who had already been killed.

In fact, as he watched, a naked man who was far too excited to be outside appeared in front of a monster type he’d never seen before. The monster was a cross between a bear and some sort and an arachnid. The man screamed and the monster chomped down. Anton was never going to be able to unseen that and shuddered. Anton had a good idea of what that man had been about to do to someone else. Even though karma had taken its toll, just ick. The fact that the SYSTEM considered what that man had been about to do as an attack in a Safe Zone was a good thing. Of course, that meant that the city had more victims that needed to be freed.

How could he get a message out to everyone in the city? Anton pulled up his City Tab and looked through it. Eventually, he found an Announcement button, but it was grayed out. When he concentrated on it a tool tip popped up.

This function is only available while touching the City Node. Alternatively, this function may be accessed while in a SYSTEM Shop, for a modest fee.

Anton altered his course and headed toward the City Node. Moving at just over a mile per second, Anton reached the City Node in 30 seconds. He quickly double-checked the area to make sure nothing had found the City Node and then materialized next to it. He reached out and touched the Node with his right hand as he mentally opened the City Tab and concentrated on making an Announcement.

Would you like to create a Virtual Video, Verbal Message, or SYSTEM Notification Announcement?

Anton chose “Virtual Video” and felt his perception shift as his Point Of View instantly shifted to a studio setting with blank light blue canvas behind him and a light source above and in front of him that illuminated his face. He couldn’t see any cameras or light sources, but he felt like he was being watched.

Talk normally. You will be able to edit the final product when done by saying Start Edit Phase when done.

Anton shrugged, rolled his shoulders, and then looked toward the light as he began to speak.

“Hello Everyone! I am Anton, the new City Lord for the Minneapolis Safe Zone. As most of you who were being abused by the previous leadership know, things weren’t going so well for the common folk of Minneapolis. I’m here to tell you that announcements will be coming and that you should be prepared for them. There are a couple of things I want to go over that require your immediate attention.

First, Minneapolis is a Safe Zone. If you attack anyone within 5 miles of the city center you will automatically be teleported to a random location 25 miles away. If you received the SYSTEM Warning, pay attention.

Second, All of the monsters that were within the Safe Zone have already been teleported out of the area. If you are teleported for the foreseeable future you will most likely be teleported to a location that contains monsters or has monsters nearby.

This brings me to the third and final point of this announcement. A lot of people that could abuse their power, did abuse that power, or tried to, even moments ago. They have been teleported out of the Safe Zone which has left their victims trapped. I need everyone to search everywhere within the safe zone and free any of the victims. Remember, if you find someone and try to abuse them too, you will automatically be teleported out of the Safe Zone and will most likely die. As an incentive, I will offer 100 credits to anyone who frees or saves someone for the next 72 hours. This award can be collected more than once. When you find a victim, escort them to the U.S. Bank Stadium where people will be waiting to help them.

The next City-Wide announcement will be made by the City Administrator. Who I will appoint within the next day.”

When he was done speaking Anton edited the announcement and then published it. As soon as he did a New Notification appeared.

You have offered a City-Wide Quest. As the reward is monetary it will be taken from City coffers first, then the City Lords SYSTEM Bank account, and finally the SYSTEM Lords personal funds. If at any time the City Lord cannot pay the reward the SYSTEM will pay out the reward which will accrue a 10% interest rate per day until paid off. The City Coffers and City Lords accounts will automatically pay back the SYSTEM as funds are deposited.

Anton quickly double-checked the settings and made sure that he was the only one who could create a quest that drew on his funds. He also set up an Administrator slot that could create quests for the city but made sure that the payouts would come from the City or the administrator accounts, not his.

When he was done, Anton activated Specter and ghosted back to the VIP rooms where the 13 women were waiting. He materialized by the front door where only two women with weapons were on guard which caused them to jump. They did not point their weapons at him though.

“Don’t shoot, it’s just me?” Anton said.

Neither woman spoke as they looked at Anton like he was some sort of snake, though their expressions didn’t show overt hostility which was a start.

“Anton, Welcome back!” one of the women who was stepping from the lounge room said as she came back into the room. “I’m Annabelle, and by group vote the defacto leader of our little group.”

“It’s nice to meet you, and everyone else now that you’re all fully clothed,” Anton said as he purposely didn’t look in the direction of the women he’d freed first.

“We all saw your announcement. While you were off checking on the fates of the people that killed,” she said hesitantly, “or tried to kill you, we talked about what we needed to do. While most of us were slaves, we all heard the various problems the leaders were having while they were, ahem, busy with us.”

“I’m all ears,” Anton said as he moved over to a seat and sat down.

“The first thing we need to worry about is food for everyone. I don’t know how many people are here but the food in the city has started to rot. We might be able to hunt monsters for food, but they’ll all be outside the 5-mile radius so we will need to get people to go out and hunt them and bring the carcass back then we’ll have to skin and process them. The only thing we have going for is that there is a river nearby.

Anton sat and listened to Annabelle for the next 30 minutes as she laid out the issues they had what they needed to do and the problems she foresaw. When she was done, Anton walked over to the SYSTEM Shop Node and put his hand on it. Without entering the shop, he pulled up his City Tab and a slew of new options populated his vision, including the renting and utility options for all the buildings within the Town of Minneapolis, which extended out past the 5-mile radius. How did that work? How would the SYSTEM only provide utilities to those buildings that were rented and paid for the utilities?

Anton put that thought to the side and chose to rent the Stadium for 10,000 credits a month, to be paid out from the City account, and for the utilities which were only a modest 1,000 credits. To facilitate that he set the Tax Rate for all goods sold or traded with the Safe Zone to 10% and a fee of 1 credit per day after the first day to remain in the Safe Zone for everyone over the age of 18. That last stipulation would be instituted in two weeks. That should give the city enough time to get established.

Anton transferred the initial payment from his SYSTEM Bank account. As soon as he accepted the transaction there was a shimmer and then the lights came on throughout the stadium. In a little bit, he’d be able to take a hot shower.

Next, he transferred 1.5 million credits from his account to the City account and Designated Annabelle as his Administrator with the authority to move the SYSTEM Shop Node. When he removed his hand from the SYSTEM Shop node he noticed Annabelle’s eyes refocus after reading a notification before she smiled at Anton.

Anton looked around the room and made eye contact with all 13 women before he said, “Okay, I’ve made Annabelle the Administrator for the City. I am going to alter your Safe Zone exemption status to the entire Safe Zone, but…” Anton said as he held up one finger, “But, this is not going to be a matriarchy. Over the next week, I want the 13 of you to be on the watch for twelve smart decent men that you would like to be on a council for the city that you can work with. Only 12. Annabelle is the Administrator and everything she mentioned is the first thing you need to work on. Finding 12 men for the council is secondary To help you get started, I’ve deposited 1.5 million credits into the City coffers and if necessary you can purchase food to keep people fed but I would suggest that we put people on the river and get them fishing, hunting, and surviving on their own. Any questions?”

“Why are you doing this for us?” one of the women who hadn’t said a thing until now asked timidly.

Anton paused, “Mostly because it’s the right thing to do, but also because someday, I hope to be able to call on any of you for a favor. What kind of favor? Not anything you’ve had to endure to this point. It could be training; I could need you to help a friend. I honestly have no idea what kind of favor it could be. But the simplest answer that you need to know right now,” Anton said as he paused to catch his breath, ”No one should have to endure what you and others in the city have endured. On that note, make sure anyone you think about bringing onto the council understands that the type of behavior that just ended the rule of the Minneapolis elite…permanently, will NOT be tolerated. I’m not all-powerful, but as you've seen, I tend to get right back up after you knock me down, unlike the idiots that were all just killed by monster hordes.”

“Monster hordes?” Annabelle asked.

“Yeah, “I would suggest that whatever plan you come up with, you keep people inside the safe zone for at least the first two weeks, maybe even a month. Give the monsters time to get hungry and fight each other before you send out hunting groups. Unless those groups have heavy weapons of course.”

Annabelle nodded and then asked, “Is there anything else you need from us?”

“Not right this second. I’m going to leave the 13 of you to set up Minneapolis. I need to head back to St. Cloud and check in with a man named Major Findal and let him know what happened down here. Eventually, the two cities are close enough that they could be trading partners but for now, Annabelle, you’ve got the key to the city, enough funds to get things started, and a lot of people to help. Think all of you can handle it?” Anton asked.

Annabelle stood which Anton did as well and stuck out her hand, “Thank you for helping us Anton, we’ll get this city up and running in no time.”

Anton shook her hand and released it. He activated Specter and started heading Northwest. It was time to go check and see if anything had happened in St. Cloud in the last 6 hours. Maybe he’d catch a nap in the vault first, it was the safest place he knew of currently and it was getting late.