Interlude: The Agent (Part 1).

Author's note: Today's chapter is a little shorter than the norm. Treat it as a warmup to get me back in the swing of writing after my time away, as I am aiming for at least one normal length chapter a day from tomorrow until Thursday. On a side note, the bombshell is remaining unaddressed (unexploded?) for today. I hope you accept my bribe of some jucy, jucy context instead. Happy reading! H.B.

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Location:???,???, Office of ‘The Agent’.

Time elapsed since the Hills’ extraction from earth: 1day.13hrs.03mins.41secs.

Time elapsed since the Hills arrived on Ifnirius: 00days.00hrs.02mins.53secs.

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The Being known by many as an Agent of the System, and soon to be known to the Hill family by their admin handle, AsSysCu006, watches with some amusement as their fresh charges take their first steps in their new world.

The Agent had presided over many such arrivals during their long lifetime, and the reaction to the initial barrage of notifications that each traveller received upon arrival was always interesting to watch. The reaction of this fresh group was promising, each party-member quickly getting a handle on their interface, before quickly reading through their notifications.

Nodding in satisfaction as the group decides to settle in for the evening rather than explore a new and potentially dangerous forest by night, the Agent sets up a subroutine to notify them of any important changes before changing feeds, intent on checking in on their two solo charges. However, instead of displaying the ebony-skinned man or the raven-haired woman, the viewpoint shifts to something else.

The Agent forces down a twinge of guilt as an aerial view of the Hill’s family home appears, the flashing blue lights of the local law enforcement vehicles parked out front of the building catching the Agent's eye. The alarm had probably been raised when one or more of the Hill family had failed to keep an appointment, and now local police were crawling all over the property, investigating the sudden and inexplicable disappearance of an entire family and a considerable amount of their possessions. Not that they would find anything.

Sighing in slight exasperation, the Agent closes the live stream. The lie was a necessary one, the Agent knew, but despite how much was at stake, it always left a foul taste in their mouth. Still, that was what the vetting process was for, narrowing the selection from each world down to the individuals (or in this case, groups) that had nothing to lose by leaving their old world, and had the potential to find fulfilment in their new one, at least for a time.

‘Not that we have half the staff required right now to run even half of the normal vetting process.’ Mood souring slightly, the Agent pushes away the unhelpful thought. Despite a critical lack of competent people in recruitment, the need for fresh blood never stopped. Corners were inevitably cut to meet the demand. Corners such as one of her traveller slots, originally meant for individuals or groups of two at the most, being taken up by a five-person team. The effects of the sudden and unexpected loss of a core world were still making themselves known all these years later.

Still, the Hills seemed to be keeping their shit together, and, whilst morality was only a minor concern at best during the vetting process (the villains, after all, could become just as strong, if not stronger, than the heroes), they seemed like good people. Everything would be fine.

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Location:???,???, Office of ‘The Agent’.

Time elapsed since the Hills arrived on Ifnirius: 00days.01hrs.22mins.34secs.

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Everything was not fine. The first hint of anything amiss was when Adam, the man acting as Party Leader, took Sasha Hill, his mother, off to one side for a chat about leadership. The Agent watched the live feed on one monitor, split two ways to show the interior of one of the tents and the campsite, eyes flicking to a second monitor displaying each of the Hill’s Attributes, even the hidden ones.

The Agent had initially watched, enjoying the touching display of trust, before a beeping alert had caught their attention. Bringing up a second display, the Agent frowned deeply when they uncovered the source of the alert. ‘That can’t be right...’

The System was a big fan of hidden mechanics, functions that were active the moment a being came under the sway of the system but could be unlocked for viewing through certain actions.

One such mechanic was the H-Attributes, two hidden attributes that governed things of a more… erotic nature. There were only two H-Attributes, Allure (Alr), which governed how sexually attractive a person was to other people (similar to Charisma, but more on a physical level), and Libido (Lib), which governed the strength of a person’s sex drive, as well as having a minor effect on many other sex-related statistics.

Normally, Travellers, as well as natives who gained access to the system, weren’t affected much by the H-Attributes. Most of the time, Alr and Lib increased extremely slowly, slowly enough that any changes were tempered by the increase of other Attributes (mainly Wisdom, the direct counter to Libido). That was why it came as such a shock to the Agent when, mid conversation, Sasha Hill’s Lib score had suddenly increased by not one, but two points.

The Agent takes a moment to frown at the display, then shrugs, honestly considering the H-System a little bit of a joke. With a myriad of other duties already demanding the vast majority of their time, they had never taken the time required to read up on that particular aspect of the system. They were therefore about to write off the increase as inconsequential when Sasha steps forward, eveloping Adam in a hug. The Agent’s frown of confusion deepens as, with another pling, both mother and son’s Lib score increase by another point each.

‘Okaaaaaaay, this is getting a little weird, I should probably…’ *PLING* ‘WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK IS GOING ON!?!’ The pair had gone to kiss the other on the cheek, only to freeze in shock as they accidentally kissed each other on the lips. The Agent would have probably found the gaff funny, if Sasha’s Lib score hadn’t jumped a whole 3 points and Adams by 2, bringing the H-Attribute above the first threshold for both people.

The Agent could only watch the display in silent horror. The first threshold was a hugely important step for anyone whose power levels were governed by the System, basically shaping how that person would develop in the future. For Libido of all things to be the Core Attribute of not one, but two people? This was unprecedented.

The two in the tent finally separated, unaware of the damage that had already been done. Eyes wide, the Agent activated their communicator. This needed to be reported to the higher-ups, immediately. Imputing the code for their direct superior, the Agent could only hope that they were in an understanding mood today.