Chaotic Slideshow - Chapter 03 (Patreon)

It took several long minutes of waiting, through which we sweated heavily, as we approached the alien mothership. Its bulk soon took up all the space in front of us, as the small details on its exterior became visible, allowing us to see channels dug deep into the black metal, as well as what one would think were defensive locations jutting out.

My hand was still on David’s and Steve’s shoulders, the Barrier of the Wind King enveloping all of us in a protective shell, while David was furiously typing away, trying to find an entry point for his virus.

Soon, the small spaceship leveled out, and we could finally see where the mothership was directing us. A small, upside-down, V-shaped hole in the craggy black surface of the bigger ship was open, glowing with an ominous green glow.

“Is that good?” Steve asked, his hands visibly twitching toward the joystick, clearly wanting to take over the flying.

“As long as you don’t see any probes, just let them do what they want…” David muttered distractedly.

I snorted while Steve’s eyes twitched, but he did calm down. I squeezed his shoulder in what I hoped was a supportive manner, but even my eyes were squarely on the giant hole that was becoming bigger and bigger.

I have seen this scene on movie screens and several times at home, but it doesn’t prepare you for the sheer size of the mothership. To us, this V-shaped hole on the spaceship’s side was gigantic, dwarfing our spaceship. Yet when we first looked at the mothership, I couldn’t even spot it from a distance.

It kinda redefined the word ‘big’ for me.

As they crossed the threshold and finally entered the inside of the mothership, a shadow covered their smaller ship, and both David and Steve sat back in quiet wonder mixed with fear as they observed the interior of the ship.

I had seen it before, but seeing it with my own eyes, from the small spaceship we had repurposed to transport a nuke into the mothership, was very different from watching it from the comfort of my couch.

Alien infrastructure covered every surface around us as the ship flew deeper and deeper into the belly of the beast. Even David looked up from his laptop, staring at everything, his exceptional brain already trying to figure out what each thing was for.

We spent the trip through the long V-shaped corridor in silence, but when the shadow broke and we saw the gigantic inner space of the mothership, every one of us gasped in shock.

“Oh my god…” David stared with astonishment as the strange greenish fog dispersed and they could see towering columns of alien technology as their ship maneuvered around them, heading for the central location. Under them, it was soon revealed that there were fields of black material where, like strange ants, hundreds of thousands, or even millions, of aliens stood with perfect military precision, embarking onto strange elongated ships, unlike the ones they had been fighting against.

“What the hell are they doing?” David asked as he looked out the windows. The only thing preventing him from mashing himself against the window was my hand on his shoulder, keeping us invisible.

Steve turned toward him and stated matter-of-factly what I’m sure we were all thinking.

“Looks like they’re preparing for an invasion…”

David looked back with quiet determination before quickly returning to his laptop, the clacking of the keys filling the cockpit.

Not knowing what to add to the conversation, I simply watched through the window at the circle-shaped area under us and wondered what would happen if I tried to rain some Light Grenades down. However, as our spaceship was fully closed, and the environment outside was probably not conducive to human health, I simply sat there in silence.

Soon, the spaceship carrying us began to slow down as we approached a spike of alien material jutting down like a stalactite from beyond the greenish fog. Up close, it had hundreds of berths on it, jutting out into the distance – sometimes for hundreds of meters, sometimes only a few dozen.

Our spaceship was directed to one of the bigger ones, with dozens of similar ships hanging from the top, unmoving and cold. At the very back of this berth was a small section where we could see a set of windows looking over the berth, illuminated with a weak blue light.

The moment our spaceship reached around three-quarters of the way into the berth, several spotlights lit up around the windowed compartment, illuminating us straight through the windows.

Steve froze and reached for the belt buckle instantly, before I stopped him.

“Remember, we are invisible…”

“Yes, but do they know that too?” he asked, visibly straining against his beliefs and knowledge that had, only a few hours earlier, made it clear that magic like this didn’t exist.

“We have full reclining seats, AM/FM radio, and power windows,” David declared cheerfully, not looking up from his work. “If you want, I can close the windows.”

“No, don’t,” I warned them. “That would look even more suspicious than an empty ship returning.”

As we discussed this, our spaceship flew toward the end of the berth, slowing down even further before it stopped and began moving upward until two clamps grabbed the top of it, shaking the entire ship.

It was at that moment that David clapped his hands. “We’re in,” he declared happily.

I looked over the screen in front of him and saw the loading bar slowly start to fill.

“Now what?” Steve asked, his hands visibly millimeters from the joysticks, ready to grab them.

“We wait…” David muttered as he seemed to be trying to hypnotize the loading bar to load faster. I just watched the painfully '90s computer screen and wished I had paid more attention to programming in the Before because it looked painfully clunky.

For almost a minute, Steve strained, his muscles taut with readiness, while David kept muttering under his breath.

“Do it… Do it… Do it…”

I just kept a hand on their shoulders and made sure the aliens couldn’t see us. On the other side of the window, one of the aliens appeared, clearly looking through the glass-equivalent, trying to see what was in the ship.

The three of us just stared at its bulbous head and tentacles flying everywhere, trying not to make a sound. Neither of us knew if they had some kind of directional microphone that picked up sounds, so we sat in our chairs rigidly, our eyes following the alien’s movement.

At least until David looked up from his laptop and turned toward us with a grin on his face.

“The virus is in,” he whispered, elated.

The blue light behind the windows where the alien was staring at their spaceship began to visibly flicker. The alien immediately turned away from them, seemingly more preoccupied with what was happening on the screens than with the empty spaceship.

“What now?” Steve grunted, visibly barely holding himself back from grabbing the joystick and driving the ship away. However, they all knew that this wasn’t the end of the mission. The moment the virus was uploaded, the shields on all ships, both on Earth and in space, would be eliminated for a short duration.

The surviving Earth forces would need to use that short duration to eliminate as many ships as possible before the aliens found the virus.

And our job was to wait a minute to allow the virus to propagate through the alien network, then launch the nuclear warhead that Area 51 scientists had affixed to the spaceship.

“All we can do now is pray…” David whispered before catching himself and looking at me. “Unless, of course, our resident wizard has something in his pocket?”

Steve followed David’s gaze and also stared at me as the countdown on David’s laptop started.

“I mean, I have a few things in my pocket, including a pretty nice turkey sandwich, but otherwise, we are shit out of luck, gentlemen,” I told them. “I said this before, but I’m not a warrior, just a traveler.”

David and Steve looked back at me with dubious expressions. Almost as if they were both remembering when I punched the alien’s head Steve captured into pulp.

“Come on… It’s like a soldier going to any war-torn country and finding a tourist to ask for directions. Yes, the tourist can probably protect themselves, and more than likely knows something about the local situation, but they can’t fight the war single-handedly.”

“Sounds like a copout to me…” Steve muttered.

I just shook my head. “If you knew what a warrior is capable of, you wouldn’t say the same thing. They seldom care for the opinion or comfort of those they protect or defend.”

“So, they are more like you out there?” David asked curiously.

“Infinite,” I replied.

David and Steve choked. “What?” they both exclaimed.

David stared at me uncomprehendingly. “What do you mean there are infinite of you? How?”

“Are you aware of the multiverse theory?” I asked, a bit bemused. Intellectually, I knew it was true, but I neither had the brainpower nor the intellect to fully comprehend what it meant. Not like I really wanted to…

“But that… oh, you mean… I see…” David muttered as he realized what I meant by infinite.

Steve just looked between the two of us with a confused expression. “Excuse me? Can you explain it in a way that someone without a doctorate in mystical mumbo-jumbo can also understand it?”

David and I exchanged a glance before he started explaining to Steve what the multiverse theory was and how nesting infinities influenced reality.

Not the most logical way to spend the last minutes of their lives, but better than nothing.

By the end, Steve looked halfway there, but then the small alarm on David’s laptop went off.

Our conversation forgotten, all of us snapped forward, staring at the small window-covered compartment, where now there were several aliens staring at the screens. My hands were cramping a little, as I had been holding them on their shoulders for almost an hour, but soon that would also end.

Hopefully, back on Earth, the good General followed my information and did a short work of the ships. I knew a lot of lives were going to be lost in the fight, but I hoped that with the knowledge of their weak spots, that number was going to be reduced compared to what had happened in the movie.

Nevertheless, I put the fate of Earth on the back burner, as currently my focus should be on personally surviving.

Soon, the sound of more spaceships flying could be heard as several of them surrounded their own ship, while the clamp holding them moved them closer to the windows. Apparently, the aliens realized that an old scout ship returning empty after such a long time was suspicious.

“Wow… that took them embarrassingly long to figure out,” Steve stated.

“The disadvantages of a hive mind,” I muttered. “Only one actual mind thinking about things.”

David began furiously typing on his laptop. “I can use the same signal to shut down the local infrastructure, but they are definitely going to notice, as I have no time to figure out where the off switch is.”

Steve nodded, checked the straps holding him in place, and flexed his fingers. “I’m ready, Chief. Say the word, and we are skedaddling out of here like there’s no tomorrow.”

David nodded. “Wizard, you’re on nuke duty.”

“Roger,” I replied, my eyes focused on the small number pad, looking out of place on the alien dashboard, with buttons lit up and cables leading to the tube under the spaceship’s wing containing the nuclear warhead. Meanwhile, my mind was awash with thoughts as I tried to distract myself from the very real possibility that this was going to be the end of my grand adventure.

David’s typing slowed down, and he looked up at us. “Ready?”

Steve smirked and pulled out his cigar, prompting David to mimic him. “Now we are!”

I watched as they lit up and took a deep breath, filling the cabin with the odor of the cigar. Wrinkling my nose, I let the invisibility drop as David hit the last Enter key.

I massaged my hands a little, but then reached for the small pad, my finger hovering over the launch button.

As David and Steve began to wave and give the bird to the aliens, who looked back with what I assumed were slack jaws, I reached out with the Barrier of the Wind King and enveloped the rocket under the spaceship. It wasn’t a traditional weapon, but as I was the one launching it, I thought I would give it an oomph.

At first, the power was reluctant to move that far away from me, but within seconds, as if recognition swept through it, it let loose, claiming the nuclear warhead for itself.

“Hey! Hey, look at us!”

“Take a look at the earthlings!”

“Goood Bye!”

“Now take care! Nothing but love for you!” Steve exclaimed as he held the cigar in the corner of his mouth, his hand returning to the joystick.

“Do you think they have any clue what’s going to happen to them?” he asked.

David just chuckled around his cigar. “Not a chance in hell.”

There was a quiet ding from his laptop, signaling that the virus had taken hold.

David grinned. “Good night!”

We all watched as the previously lit compartment, which was illuminated with flickering blue light, was plunged into pure blackness, while the Jolly Roger flashed on the screen of David’s laptop.

The moment the process began, I started chanting. It wouldn’t do anything, but I just felt like it was appropriate for the situation. I wasn’t the biggest fan of the Fate series, but even then, some things stick with a person. Especially if they are as big a nerd as I was in the Before.

“Sheathed in the breath of the planet… a torrent of shining life.”

My finger moved toward the button.

“Feel its wrath.”

I pushed it.

“Excalibur!”

The rocket may not have been the Noble Phantasm, but the moment the button was pushed, it erupted from its holding tube, the Barrier of the Wind King swirling around it with emerald wind like a cyclone, keeping it on track and heading directly toward the heart of the installation in front of them. The rocket was fast; I only saw it for a second, but I’m sure it was wreathed in holy light as it headed toward its target.

The warhead slammed into the windows and penetrated deep into the alien structure, the wind around it shredding everything before I lost my connection to it and the Barrier of the Wind King returned to rest around my shoulder, a satisfied and smug aura radiating from it.

At the same moment, the entire area went dark. The clamp sparked and let us go, the ship falling for a brief moment before its own engines caught it.

“We’re loose!” David yelled. “Get us out of here!”

Steve just grunted, grabbed the joystick, and the spaceship immediately began to turn. It spun, and within a second, they were flying toward the same way they came in.

The spaceship shook as green light flashed from behind us, with several other ships hot on our tails, trying to shoot us down. Steve was doing his best to go faster and faster while performing high-risk evasive maneuvers. They only survived because the ship came with built-in inertial cancellers.

Gripping the handle next to my chair, I closed my eyes and spread the Barrier of the Wind King over the back of the ship, using it to blunt some of the laser fire.

Every few seconds, I felt an impact, but I kept it up, knowing even one second of slowdown would spell our doom.

“They’re chasing us!” David yelled, panicked.

“Oh, really? You think?” was Steve’s sarcastic reply as he wrenched the joystick to the side, avoiding one of those sprawling towers at the last minute while simultaneously causing one of our pursuers to slam into it, erupting into flames.

“Oh god, we’re getting hit! We’re getting hit!” David yelled as he gripped his own chair, occasionally glancing back before realizing that there were no windows on the back of the ship.

Steve, of course, reacted to this gracefully and calmly.

“We’re not hit! We are not hit!” he yelled, spinning the ship into a corkscrew, eliminating another enemy ship as they couldn’t follow along and their wings were clipped by another strange alien structure. “Stop side-seat driving!”

Soon, the fog parted before us, and we saw the same V-shaped tunnel we had used to enter the mothership. Below us were dozens, maybe even hundreds, of elongated alien ships, all heading for the exit.

The invasion force.

“Left! Left! Tunnel! Tunnel!” David exclaimed, panic clearly coloring his voice as he pointed at the exit.

“Where the hell do you think I’m going?” Steve replied, his entire body taut as he focused on not hitting anything and avoiding the green lasers that continued to rain down on them in even greater numbers. My barrier kept a few from hitting, but my energy was not inexhaustible. I focused on the most important parts, not caring if it scorched the outer shell or not.

Otherwise, I stayed silent, letting the two of them discuss the issue.

“Okay! Okay! Just go!” David exclaimed, pressing himself back into his chair.

Steve flew us between the troop transports, expertly maneuvering in such a way that we always had an alien ship between us and the pursuers to stop them from blindly firing. There were still some shots, but thankfully, they decreased in number.

The next problem, however, was the gigantic gates that were slowly but surely closing down in front of them.

Steve pushed the throttle as far as he could go, and I felt the force of acceleration pushing me down as we approached the slowly closing doors, a fraction of the beautiful Earth visible beyond them.

“Oh-oh! They’re closing up on us!” David remarked.

“Thank you, genius! Now shut up!” Steve ground out as he focused on flying.

David seemingly didn’t care. He just began muttering, as if chanting. “Must go faster! Must go faster! Must go faster! Go! GO! GOOO!”

Steve just began screaming at the top of his lungs.

I watched, mesmerized, with the full knowledge that if we didn’t succeed in the next part, we would be vaporized, as Steve slightly turned the ship, still yelling at full volume, with David joining him, and headed for the almost closed gates.

I may have joined the screaming.

Though I would deny it if anyone asked.

I wasn’t screaming. Just yelling in a manly manner to show my support for Steve…

The doors closed, and we flew at full speed toward them. Behind us, who knew how many alien spaceships were chasing us, firing their deadly green lasers.

Then, with nary a sound, the ship was through the door, and it closed behind us. If we weren’t in space, I’m sure we would have heard the enormous clanging sound as the alien metal slammed shut.

The ship flew forward, and the mood inside turned from panic into celebration.

“Woohoo! Elvis has left the building!” Steve yelled, relief palpably rolling off him.

“Thank you very much,” David muttered, equally relieved, before reaching out and grabbing Steve’s shoulders. “I love you, man…”

I chuckled and reached out, grabbing Steve on the same shoulder. “Excellent flying!”

We were all laughing when the turbulence hit.

Then the blue light flooded the cabin, and the yelling started all over again.

The trip itself was dangerous, but in the end, we prevailed.

Surfing through the wave of explosions from the mothership, we entered Earth’s atmosphere at an angle that turned the front of the ship into superheated plasma, but with a bit of elbow grease, Steve managed to correct the trajectory in such a way that we wouldn’t burn up in the atmosphere, heading directly toward the desert surrounding Area 51, the prearranged landing location.

I was exhausted.

I had to fully use the barrier during our escape from the torrent of plasma and whatever else erupted from the ship, and it left my body in a complete mess.

I could only hold on and watch as David continued switching between panicked yelling and calculating reentry angles in his head, while Steve tried to keep the ship in one piece and on track.

“Brace yourselves!” Steve exclaimed, gripping the joystick in his hands like his life depended on it. Which, of course, it did. His voice could barely be heard thanks to the noise the ship was creating as it tore through the air.

“This is not going to be a smooth landing!”

I dredged the last remnants of energy from deep within and wrapped all of us in a cocoon of wind. It wouldn’t prevent disintegration via a terminal velocity crash into the Nevada desert, but it would at least prevent a broken neck due to turbulence.

I was pulled out of the wreck by Steve, who grabbed my hand as he stood on top of what was once a space-worthy vessel, but was now just a pile of ruins with historic significance. I emerged into the brutal heat of the desert, with black smoke swirling around us, rising from the wreck.

Looking around, I saw the deep furrow the ship had made upon landing before coming to a stop, right in the middle of nowhere.

David was already down, his laptop bag next to him as he tiredly rested in the shade under one of the wings of the ship that was jutting out of the ground.

I descended with his help, and he followed me after retrieving our emergency supplies.

He spent a few moments resting, seemingly gathering his wits and trying to process what had just happened, before pulling out a pair of sunglasses, putting them on, and looking around.

Ever the soldier, it took him only a moment to determine where they were, while David and I just watched him hopefully.

I stood in the sunlight, using Photosynthesis, absorbing every last vestige of light, already feeling my energy recharge and my exhaustion decrease.

“We need to go that way,” Steve finally declared, pointing in a direction that, to me, looked just like every other direction in this endless plain of desert.

“Are you sure?” David asked as he slowly got up, though he still swayed a little. I stepped close and grabbed him.

Steve nodded. “Pretty sure. I saw the maps before we started, and based on the sun, my compass, and the mountains over there, this is the correct direction.”

I exchanged a look with David, then we both shrugged. He finally gathered his strength and gently shook my hand off him with a quiet thank you before stepping next to Steve.

“Shouldn’t we stay here and wait for rescue?” he asked.

Steve, however, shook his head. “We don’t know if they saw us on the radar. They may think we’re dead. Our emergency supplies only have enough food and water for a day or two if we ration.”

David let out a disappointed sigh. “I was afraid you were going to say that.”

“Look on the bright side…” I told him as I stepped forward and began walking in the indicated direction while glancing back at them. “We won.”

David visibly perked up, and Steve also smirked. Their cigars, surprisingly still intact and not lost, were relit, and our small team began to walk.

Like the badasses we were.

Then David tripped, and we began to laugh.

The reunion was great. Everybody hugged everybody. Steve, his new wife and son, and David, his ex-wife. And even Whitmore was there, who actually saluted us.

We were quickly bundled into several jeeps and taken back to Area 51, where a joyous mood awaited us. Our operation was somewhat secret, but based on how people, from refugees to high-ranking soldiers, looked at us, everybody knew what we had done.

After countless handshakes, hugs, kisses, and whatnot, we were taken to the infirmary, where we had to go through a barrage of pretty invasive checks, while several scientists and soldiers stood nearby and peppered us with questions about what had happened on the mothership.

I even got a visit from a visibly still-hurting First Lady, who thanked me with tears in her eyes for saving her. Patricia, her and the President’s daughter, stood next to her legs, gripping them as if afraid that if she let go, her mother would vanish, while staring up at me in awe.

Finally, hours later, I was led to a private room on one of the upper floors, where most of the personnel lived, and told to rest for now, as there would be a proper debriefing and after-action report as soon as possible.

I took a long shower, letting the hot water wash over my body, cleaning out sand where sand should have never been, my mind in turmoil.

The aliens were technically defeated. There were still pockets of them on the surface, so the fight would be going on for a while, but the majority of their forces were gone.

The queen on the mothership probably sent out an SOS signal, so in twenty years they would be returning, but I wasn’t worried.

As long as I told them not to shoot down the Sphere, or whatever it was called, and Bob’s your uncle.

Finished with the shower, I exited the steam-filled bathroom, dressed in some basic boxers and a shirt that the guy who brought me here had given me, and fell onto the bed with an exhausted sigh.

For now, I would let people celebrate; there was enough time to fill them in on the possibility of the Harvesters returning.

Apparently, Chaos agreed with that, because finally, a partially see-through blue screen appeared before me. The writing was still unreadable, yet somehow I could understand it.

[Infiltrated an alien spaceship with your friends! 1 x Bronze Familiar Ticket]

[Detonated a nuke! 1 x Gold Random Ticket]

[Helped to kill several million enemy combatants! 1 x Random Platinum Ticket]

[Survived reentry! 1 x Random Silver Ticket]

[Brought hope to an entire planet with your actions and saved countless lives! 1 x Random Advantage Platinum Ticket]

I stared at the list for a moment before I pumped my hand in the air several times. Reaching into my pocket, I pulled out the bronze ticket and tore it without a thought.

The ephemeral wheel spun beyond the edges of my mind, and soon, new information was loaded into my mind.

[Snow Tiger (Common Familiar): A ferocious snow tiger companion as a familiar. They are snow tigers with excellent genetics and near-human intellect, and as rare snow tigers, they are considerably larger than normal tigers and can be ridden. By default, they are female.]

I felt a new space form, attached to my soul, where a beautiful snow tiger was now sleeping. I considered summoning it to cuddle with, as the Healthy trait eliminated my allergies, but I didn’t really want to deal with explaining to people where it came from. So, for now, I left it as it was.

Next, the silver ticket.

Another wheel, another cosmic whirlwind.

[Makeup (Common Skill): You are very skilled at applying makeup and enhancing natural beauty with products.]

“Well, they can’t all be winners…” I muttered as I felt the skill download itself into my mind. Still, I’m sure it will come in handy in the future.

Done with the small tickets, I turned my attention to the gold one. I had great hopes for this one and those following it.

Infinite wheels spun in infinite directions, and soon, I had a new ability.

[Capture Token (Elite Ability): You are able to capture anything you have defeated inside capture tokens, which are 5x5 rooms they cannot exit nor use their abilities in. You can instantly capture someone instead of killing them with this ability in an active spot. The target must not be able to resist. You can also transport people with tokens.]

I quickly switched out Light Grenade for Capture Token and instantly summoned the token to my hand. It was a hexagonal piece of metal the size of a silver dollar, with a segmented wheel on it. I spent a minute just turning it over in my hand before dismissing it and letting the ability sit in the ability slot next to the Barrier of the Wind King.

Excitement bubbled in me as I took out the first platinum ticket.

The wheel spun fast enough that galaxies orbited it instantly after I tore the ticket, and my body was filled with a new power.

[Battle Continuation (Elite Trait): You are an unstoppable machine. You can power through wounds, exhaustion, and injuries and still keep fighting. This does not dull the pain, but the chances are that if the wound isn’t lethal and you can still stand, you will be fine.]

An endless well of power filled me, which in turn caused the Barrier of the Wind King to swell, causing a small storm to sweep through the room, sending anything loose flying a bit before it died down. I also felt the exhaustion filling my body fade into the background, allowing me, if I so wished, to leave and do something tiring.

Finally, it was the last ticket’s turn. An advantage platinum ticket. I couldn’t wait to see what it would give me. Though, based on my luck, I expected it would be the most useless power ever…

I tore the ticket with gusto and watched with my mind’s eye as the theoretical wheel spun in all sorts of theoretical directions.

[Master Driving (Epic Skill): You are a true master at driving any kind of vehicle; if it has steering, you can ride any vehicle or mount as if they were extensions of your body. Ranging from rollerblades to star-sized spacecraft.]

[Tinker – Robotics (II) (Rare Ability): Allows you to design, modify, and build technology and technological constructs related to robotics. Allowing you to build a variety of simple robots, such as gun-using robots and robots that are generally as capable as the average man. You could probably get away with building a B-1 Droid, maybe even a B-2 if you train enough.]

I stared between the two of them. The first one would have been amazing just a few hours ago, but arguably, Steven Hiller was already at that level, as he was seemingly flying an alien spaceship better than the aliens who had created it.

However, the second one would be amazing for reconstructing Earth. With a little cribbing from the aliens, I would have the perfect power source to power an almost inexhaustible workforce.

I stared at the screen for a while, thinking about the possibilities.

However, in the end, it came down to helping just myself or every other person on Earth. Put that way, the choice was obvious. I gently tapped the screen and instantly switched in the power, putting the Capture Token away.

Immediately, information and skills flowed into my body, and even as I lay on the bed, I got several ideas on how I could repurpose several common items around the room to build a small robot that could do all of that, plus walk around.

Smiling softly, I stretched, pulled the blanket over myself, and snuggled into the bed.

Time to sleep.

The next day, I woke up and walked around for half an hour before I found somebody who could direct me to the cafeteria. Technically, I didn’t need to eat because of Photosynthesis, but it was hard to get rid of the urge.

Shoveling in the slop the American government called food, I felt marginally better. Another shower, and dressed in a change of clothes I hid in my deep, deep pockets, I felt ready for the day, ignoring the obvious Secret Service people trailing me from a distance and greeting those who came up to me with smiles on their faces, thanking me for saving the world.

A few hours later, I was approached by a nervous military aide, who requested that I follow him to a meeting with the President.

I simply smiled and followed the nervous young man, ignoring the fact that he was barely older than me.

The room was almost at the top, based on how much the elevator had traveled. Sadly, it still didn’t have any natural lighting.

It looked like a standard meeting room, with a large oval table in the middle, surrounded by uncomfortable chairs. At the head sat Whitmore, with General Grey on his right, and somebody I didn’t know on his left. But based on his age, he was probably some advisor who survived and was flown in. Dr. Okun was also there with his friend, next to David, who looked very uncomfortable. The rest were men and women I also didn’t recognize. But based on how they dressed, they were probably from some kind of branch of the military.

I bet at least one of them is a spook here to replace Nimziki…

I scanned them, trying to figure out who the new head spook was, when the President called out. “Mr. Walker, please join us.”

I nodded and pulled out a seat next to David, nodded at him, which he returned, then looked around the room, where everyone was eyeing me.

Whitmore continued, his hands on the table, his fingers intertwined. “Mr. Walker, I can state without any ambiguity that we and the planet Earth can thank you for our survival.”

I waved my hand, ignoring the red dusting my cheeks. “Psssh. I’m sure you would have solved the issue without me.”

Which I knew was true. I saw the movie made about it.

Whitmore nodded politely. “Hopefully, yes. But your contribution allowed us to do it with far fewer deaths and destruction.”

“Well, it’s nice to hear that I’m appreciated,” I told him with a small grin before looking around. “However, this doesn’t look like a place where you thank people for what they have done…”

“Indeed,” the president nodded as I felt David shift nervously beside me. “I called you here to ask if you have anything else to share with us about these… Harvesters.”

At the mention of the aliens’ name, everyone in the room shifted, aside from General Grey, who sat there like he had been carved from rock.

I nodded.

Nice to see he has his priorities right…

“Alright. Never let it be said I was frugal with information…” I told the room. “Though, fair warning, you may not like what you hear.”

The restlessness in the room grew as people exchanged looks, but President Whitmore didn’t care. “I appreciate the warning, but we need more information.”

“Fair enough,” I replied. Ordinarily, I wouldn’t do this without a promise of payment of some kind, as I felt most political leaders were inherently untrustworthy, but with Whitmore that suspicion never surfaced. The man was a walking political unicorn.

Then I leaned back in the uncomfortable chair a little, ignored the tiny voice in my head that suggested how I could make a better robot chair that would ensure every sitting position was comfortable, and turned to the room.

“So, to pull the band-aid off immediately, they’re coming back.”

Several gasps and groans rang through the room, but Whitmore just stared back, stone-faced.

I continued. “Did you really think a species as advanced as they were didn’t have a way to communicate across the galaxy?”

“The upside of that is it’s going to take them at least fifteen to twenty years to get here. Earth is a bit out in the ass end of nowhere from a galactic perspective,” I continued explaining. “So we have a bit of time to prepare.”

A relieved breath swept through the room as they realized they wouldn’t have to fight another war the next week.

“Good news!” I declared cheerfully. One or two people flinched. “You have allies. Well, potential allies.”

Whitmore blinked. “Are you saying there are more aliens out there?”

“Pretty much, yeah. And surprise, surprise, they categorically don’t like the Harvesters.”

“Is this one of those enemy-of-my-enemy situations?” General Grey asked.

I shook my head. “Thankfully not. There is an actual coalition whose aim is to fully destroy the Harvesters.”

“Any way to contact them?”

“They are in hiding as the Harvesters are actively hunting them down,” I told the older man, watching as he scowled at the news. “But more than likely they also saw the communication the mothership sent back, so if you’re lucky, they will arrive before the Harvesters.”

I stood up and walked to the wall where a conveniently placed whiteboard stood. I picked up one of the markers and began drawing, Calligraphy coming in handy, keeping my hand steady even if I wasn’t writing.

First, I drew a flat half-circle with a piece jutting out from the middle. Then a circle next to it with a line going through it.

“It’s very simple, gentlemen.” I used the marker to point at the first drawing. “Disk baaad.” Then I pointed at the circle. “Sphere gooood.”

A few people sent me dirty looks, but I just smiled. A few other people, including Dr. Okun, were taking notes. Whitmore himself was watching me with a serious expression.

“There is truly no way to get in contact with them?” he finally asked after a few moments of thought.

I sadly shook my head. “If there was, I don’t know. It’s a galaxy-sized hidden alliance. They don’t really hand out business cards…”

Murmurs broke out in the room as people started discussing it among themselves, before Whitmore held up a hand, silencing everyone.

“So, to summarize. The Harvesters are coming back in an estimated fifteen to twenty years. There are potential allies out there, but we can only wait for them to contact us. For now, we’re free to rebuild and prepare. Did I get everything right?”

I nodded. “Twenty years is the longest I would put it, but there is a chance they could arrive earlier.”

“Understood. I appreciate your candor,” Whitmore replied. “Anything else you can tell us?”

I continued standing in front of the whiteboard, tapping the marker against my head. “Don’t expect the same tactic to work again. They are scavengers, always consuming and evolving. No doubt the burst of data packets the mothership sent back contains at least the bare bones of what had happened here, not unlike a black box, and they will definitely use that to bait you into a trap.”

“Which is a pity, because this was a really great plan,” I commented.

David snorted with derision, clearly communicating what he thought about how great the plan had been.

From there on, the meeting devolved into a standard meeting, with people discussing options and occasionally asking my opinion on certain things. I mostly took a few sheets of paper from the middle of the table and began sketching out plans for construction and recycling robots.

David instantly saw them, pulled his laptop out, and began typing away, occasionally glancing at the plans. Looking over, I now understood what he was doing, as Tinker – Robotics had given me the programming skills needed to program my robots. He was writing a new encryption protocol that would allow the robots to communicate without interference.

I grinned at him and gave him a thumbs-up. Soon, Dr. Okun, bored with the highly detailed political and economic discussion, migrated over with his assistant and joined our small session of inventing the future. Despite being the poster boy for the eccentric shady scientist, the man was truly a genius, able to understand my plans almost at a glance, suggesting improvements and changes to make them more efficient.

Granted, there was a brief whispered argument about affixing lasers to their hands. However, in the end, I managed to convince him that it was a useless expenditure of resources. He was a bit let down by that, but I promised that if we had free time, we could work on a robot with lasers.

Months went by.

After two weeks, we were moved out of Area 51. Or at least the civilians were. What the government people did was not shared. I was flown to Everett, Washington, where the Boeing factory was repurposed according to our plans, almost transforming overnight from an airplane assembly facility into a robotics factory.

The first two weeks were spent by me flitting around, using Battle Continuation and Photosynthesis to apply my Tinker knowledge and repurpose the factory. Building machines that built other machines that rebuilt the facility until it was almost unrecognizable.

Boeing was not happy, but with the President leaning on them and promising a few plans to take for themselves, they assisted with smiles on their faces.

Almost two months later, we were creating giant robots that could be used to clean up rubble, collect contaminated materials, and safely transport them. They were also easily refurbished into construction robots with a few parts changed. They were a bit boxy and lacked any decorations, basically pure functionality.

But they worked, so everybody was happy.

It took a bit of finagling, but Whitmore managed to convince his people to share the plans for the robots all across the world in the name of international cooperation. There was some rumbling about Russia and China, but with Whitmore riding the wave of victory, the opposition didn’t put up too large a fight.

Then, I was moved to the Ford River Rouge Complex in Michigan, which was over the next month, with the help of the same construction robots, repurposed into another robotics factory. The first thing we did, with the help of Ford’s engineers, was create new mobile medical vehicles that could be stationed around the country near the camps where people had gathered after the destruction of the cities where they had lived before.

Already having a set of tools, it only took a month to transform the complex, and the first mobile medical unit – the size of a semi-truck with a trailer – rolled off the heavily automated production line. Soon, they were all around the country, staffed with thankful medical personnel.

Another car assembly plant in Kentucky was repurposed into a dedicated recycling facility, where I had to use all my Tinker knowledge to create a machine that could recycle materials without sorting them. Metal, stone, rock, plastics, and everything else were poured into them, spitting out all sorts of ingots after traveling through the almost hundred-meter-long machine.

As I stood on the walkways above the recycling machine, with several engineers standing around me and a small group of government agents in the distance watching me, I couldn’t help but feel proud.

If I had to do the same thing on my own, it would have taken maybe years to achieve the same volume and scale of production. Yet, with the absolute support of the United States government, anything I asked for was mine. I needed a rare metal? It was in my warehouse within a day. I needed more people to work the machines? A hundred perfectly qualified people were there the next day, looking eager to work.

It was amazing…

“Anything else for today?” I asked the nearest guy.

He looked down at his list and shook his head. “No, sir. The line is working perfectly, and the second line is already being put together. We estimate it will be done by next week. You would only need to do a final walkthrough.”

I let out a sigh. Despite enjoying building robots, I was still tired as fuck. Battle Continuation allowed me to work longer and harder, but the exhaustion, both physical and mental, accumulated in the background, and even Photosynthesis couldn’t fill my energy reserves.

“That’s some great news…” I told him.

I never even learned his name. He just showed up when I started pulling apart the factory, watching everything with a small smile. And now that same small smile was directed at me.

“Don’t worry, sir. Make sure to take a few days to rest…”

“Thanks…”

I left the group with my government agent entourage and walked out of the factory, where a black car waited for me.

I had the driver take me back to the hotel where I had been staying. The US government was at least nice enough to spring for a luxury suite.

After a shower, I accepted the food I had ordered and took it to the balcony, enjoying the view while I ate my supper.

As I took my first bite, another screen popped up. I didn’t even read it, just swiped it away and continued to eat.

Finally finished with the meal, and after a bit of cloud watching, missing the ability to browse the internet whenever I wanted, I spoke up to nobody in particular.

“Alright, show me the screen…”

The screen, as if it had just been waiting for those words, sprang into existence in front of me like an eager puppy. Eldritch signs crawled across it, forming into sentences I could somehow understand.

[You catapulted the word into the age of robotics! 1 x Silver Item Ticket]

[You saved countless lives with your mobile medical vehicles! 1 x Advantage Silver Item Ticket]

Not much, but it was better than nothing. I was afraid that after the battle with the aliens, it would be almost impossible to perform feats worthy of getting tickets, but it seemed that if I couldn’t go for quality, I could go for quantity…

I took out the first one and tore it.

A wheel of galactic proportions spun in my mind, and my soul gained a new item.

[Gold Apple (Uncommon Item): Minecraft - A magical apple with skin resembling gold. Eating it gives the eater uncommon-level regeneration for one hour. Restock Timer: 120 Hours.]

I grinned.

Finally something that heals…

Already happy, I tore the advantage ticket. Another wheel spun so fast I was almost seeing double, and I had a choice to make.

[XX – Judgement (Common Item): Tarot Card - Allows you to compel someone to tell what they believe is the truth without being able to intentionally trick you. 120 Hour Cooldown.]

[Darkmoon Bow (Uncommon Item): Dark Souls - A bow wielded by the god of the Darkmoon, Gwyndolin. Wielding the bow empowers the arrows shot with your magical energy and grants them a slight sliver of moon energy. It comes paired with special moonlight arrows that receive further benefits from these effects. You get 24 in a quiver that restocks every 48 hours.]

It was a hard decision, but as I had no training with bows, aside from a few times I used them at fairs I attended, in the end, I chose the tarot card. The screen went away, and I had one more small hole in my ever-expanding soul, holding a small tarot card from the Major Arcana.

Letting out a contented sigh, I leaned back in the chair, already thinking about my future plans. There were talks about upgrading the telescopes and listening stations aimed at space, but I told them I only knew robotics. They still wanted my opinion, so I was thinking about possible solutions when I was interrupted by another screen appearing in front of me, accompanied by jubilant music.

[Congratulations! You have solved this dimension’s problem (for the time being). To prevent you from getting bored and taking over the world, the Universal Wheel of Chaos offers you the opportunity to visit another dimension.

Returning to this dimension is only possible after solving the travel destination’s problem. However, as the user had called himself a traveler, the Wheel of Chaos doesn’t see any problems with challenging them.

Traveling to another dimension doesn’t come with any reward, so it is entirely up to the user’s decisions.

Naturally, the nature and identity of the travel destination is completely random (though around the power level of the user)!]

[Would you like to roll?]

I eyed the screen and let out a sigh. “What happens if I choose to stay?” I had admittedly grown a bit attached to the people here. Plus, I had already started uplifting the world; it would be a shame to stop right at the beginning.

[C – H – A – O – S]

The reply was one word, but it was enough to send shivers down my spine.

“Got it…” I answered, nervously swallowing.

So, if I stayed, I would probably have to say goodbye to my future knowledge and begin preparing for a full-on Cylon invasion by morning. Or a secret werewolf organization using the destruction to try to take over.

“Can I at least take a week to rest and prep?”

As an answer, a countdown appeared in front of me.

[Forced roll in 167:59:43]

Letting out a sigh, my rest completely ruined, I dismissed the screen, noted down the time I needed to be ready for, and walked over and fell into the bed face-first, screaming into the luxurious pillow.

The week flew by rapidly.

I visited Whitmore in Oklahoma City, where the government had temporarily set up the capital until Washington D.C. was rebuilt. I told the man I was going on a ‘trip’ and that I would be away for some time. I couldn’t really say how this dimension travel would work. Maybe I would leave, spend months or even years there, and return here the moment I left.

Or return here a hundred years from now.

My travel was facilitated by Chaos, so I couldn’t really plan with any certainty.

He was obviously worried that a national security asset would leave, but he realized that he couldn’t really stop me.

In return for his understanding, I dumped a pile of plans I had worked on in my free time. They were mostly designs for more factories, but they also contained plans for assembly in space, as well as a few robots that worked in zero-G or on other planetary or moon surfaces. There were also a few medical robot arms designed to perform operations and assist with medical work.

That would give them enough things to work through if I was absent for a long time.

Then, I used government resources to fill a backpack with supplies for the trip, mostly food, water, medicine, tools, clothing, and anything else I would need. I even got a few knives from the military. For some reason, they refused to hand over any guns.

I put on a pair of comfortable pants and a nice black T-shirt, because I was original as fuck, with a comfortable jacket and the backpack on my back. My pockets were also filled with emergency resources and tools in case my backpack got lost along the way.

I sat on a chair in my hotel room and watched as the countdown reached zero.

[Forced roll in 00:00:03]

[Forced roll in 00:00:02]

[Forced roll in 00:00:01]

[Forced roll in 00:00:00]

The screen instantly shifted, the countdown vanishing and displaying a wheel spinning with countless small slices whizzing past. I couldn’t read any of them and just watched with anxious anticipation, wondering where it would land and what would determine my next destination.

Finally, after a full minute of spinning, the wheel began to slow down, the marker ticking by until it was only passing a slice every second. Then it slowed further, with a slice going by every few seconds.

I gripped the armrest of my chair as I watched the wheel tick by until it stopped on…

A/N: Well, here it is. The end of the Independence Day section. Next target is up to the readers! :)Fun thing: I rolled Godzilla as familiar for one of the Platinum tickets so I rerolled that one as having Godzilla as a familiar would be a "bit" OP. Though, now that I think about it, throwing Godzilla at problems could be fun...

Next travel destination. Feel free to comment if you think something would be better.