Reincarnation Trials: A LitRPG Apocalypse (Systems of Salvation Book 1) Read online

  “The scorching temperatures of the planet created vast deserts, drought, and death. That destruction turned into a miracle with the advent of one device. Across the globe, pumps emptied the oceans, Savo devices removed the salt, and vast regions were seeded while freshwater-created roots for life to grab hold.

  “The sprinkler initiative to save the world was a resounding success. Suddenly, deserts bloomed grass, the decline of trees became a surplus, and with the planet cooling, all hope in humanity was restored. Or so the wise scientists and world leaders at the time thought.

  “With each success, a new opportunity arose. Who claimed the land, who owned the Sahara Desert and its sudden fertile fields? A war brewed, with force once again being used to draw lines. Each nation sought an edge over the others, and in Africa, there never was a doubt that there’d be disputes.

  “This time, military scientists decided to not focus on machines, and rightfully so - Rustor Mites would just degrade their expensive weapons. Instead of a piece of metal, they altered genetics to build killing machines that breathed, bred, and could be put down only by the controller.

  “The outbreak's exact location and the creator is unknown. The region is known, though. The Sahara Utopia as it was renamed. As the Sahara Utopia became fertile, with the wealthy nations fixing the warming crisis, armies positioned to claim the new land.

  “The first sighting was recorded in 2085. I vividly remember watching the video over and over. A small child ran into the brush chasing a ball. He never came out. The saha’narock leaped into view; the beast had six legs, was bigger than a shuttle, had the agility of a tiger, the sight of an eagle, the carapace of a scorpion, and a hunger for human flesh. Oh, and it was able to reproduce at a rate that makes bunnies jealous.

  “It’s horrifying what humanity unleashed upon itself. Unforgivable, really. The scene was over in an instant, the saha’narock brazenly stole the father and retreated. A new species, never before seen, and extremely deadly.

  “The thought process behind the creature's creation was simple. Deploy a bioweapon, cleanse an area, pretend to fight off the infestation, trigger the kill switch, and claim the land as heroes.

  “Of course, this notion was fallacy. The mightiest militaries squashed the saha’narock at every nest and hideout they had. New foreign bases dominated Africa. Instead of the creators winning the day… Invaders stole the glory, cleaned up the mess without the need for a kill switch, and for a while, the world knew happiness again. Except the proverbial cat was out of the bag.

  “Genetically engineered monsters became the future of warfare. Humanity entered a new arms race - who could create the most diabolical creature to do a nation’s bidding while being stern enough to kill the bad guys' creations? None of the major nations were known to have participated, but a whole lot of underground bunkers spawned horrendous creatures.

  “Science and history would say that if the United Nations had left Africa alone, the Creature Wars would have never reached the crescendo they did. I disagree. Humans are inherently shortsighted. Greed, lust, anger, revenge: they all lead to conflict.

  “Only a common goal of survival tends to unite. Which I will come back to at the end of my report. The webo’narock - the amphibious cousin to the saha’narock - arrived in 2087. This variation had gills, and the deep oceans hid its reproduction.

  “The daro’narock arrived in 2088, a lighter, smaller cousin of the saha’narock, capable of camouflage, and impossible to find in thick trees. The teto’narock was revealed in the fall of 2088, capable of flight and nested in mountains where humans struggled to go.

  “As more and more of the creatures were birthed out of laboratories, with the idea to repel the invaders, the world itself entered a period of over correction. If you’re too hot, get in the shade, stay hydrated, and turn up your air conditioner.

  “In 2090, while the world’s militaries fought off the spread of the ever-increasing variations of narocks, the global temperature corrected back to 1800 levels. Then it got colder. I believe there’s a cover-up involved at this point in our history, and it rotates back to my core point about my report. Humans are shortsighted and driven by devious motivations.

  “I believe the rich nations had already found a fix to correct climate change. They reduced emissions, changed habits, and altered the very way they lived. Secretly, I think they created plants to lower the carbons in the air via science instead of nature.

  “These secret sites, which remained on, combined with the sudden explosion of vegetative life all over the planet in a few short years, led to a spike in oxygen and a drastic short-term cooling.

  “The few degrees difference was never expected. When it snowed on the equator in 2092, everyone realized humanity had overcorrected. No problem. It’s easy enough to pollute the planet and raise temperatures, and the snow was transitory, merely a balancing swing.

  “The long-term issue was never the climate at this point. When the world dealt with a blanket of snow, its militaries slowed the fight against the narocks and all their variations. The infestation spread to South America, Asia, the outback in Australia, the Poles, and most importantly, Canada.

  “The fight to cleanse the expansive wilderness of Canada proved futile. The narocks, in all variations, proved too elusive, quick to breed, and resilient to most weapons. The militaries of the advanced nations had enough. No stone went unturned to find any and all kill switches.

  “They discovered some, eradicating whole species that hadn’t mutated, but failed to make a dent in the wild populations down the generational line. Something had to be done. Walls… towering walls sealed off humanity from the creatures. A hundred foot tall, and you were safe.

  “Outside of solid defenses, across the globe, humans found themselves as prey. It didn’t take long for the first nuclear device to be fired by the Chinese. The Russians followed suit, and even the American’s turned northern Canada into a wasteland.

  “These were acts of desperation, an attempt to stop a foregone conclusion. Humanity no longer was the dominant species on Earth. The food supplies dwindled, and people starved. Technology helped, and part of why our three ships escaped is because of turning… undesirable waste into fresh vegetation.

  “The ten ships became three to rush production. The dwindling days of humanity’s grip on Earth only reveals more and more of the point about my report. The panic set in, and the desperate made reckless decisions based on self-preservation and shortsightedness.

  “History repeated itself when the Russians invaded the Ukrainian outpost of Kyiv, also known as Kiev. The bran’narock became the worst of all the variations. A burrowing monster who could sense tremors from above. The creatures dug under the walls, letting in the other species, and when the dust settled, the Russian Commandos stole all the supplies and resources.

  “Survival. They claimed the Ukrainians died so they could live. A fate ordained by God. The established governments tracked the bran’narock’s origins to Moscow and as imagined, this didn’t go over well. In retaliation, all means of trade and air traffic were cut off from the Russians.

  “They countered back by attacking Poland, then Germany. Humans no longer fought the monsters outside their walls, or the ones digging in their midst, they turned on each other instead. The rest of the world conceded, realizing that the end was near.

  “South Korea helped Japan. The United States worked with Canada and Mexico. The EU teamed up with Australia, New Zealand, the Nordic nations, and whomever else they could convince to spare resources. Three ships shot into the sky. The Meadow, The Hope, and The Tranquility launched for Alpha Centauri and the Salvation Fleet raced across the stars.

  “We lost contact with humanity some four hundred years ago. Alpha Centauri proved too inhospitable even with our technological advances. The council, with the help of Darcy, the AI, decided that our best bet was a mixed strategy: live in ships and establish colonies back on Earth. Now, we approach an eerily silent Earth in need of a home.”


  I paused, grabbing a final chug of my water. I knew Mrs. Jern would press me on my report, so I quickly dragged a sleeve across my lips to dry them.

  “Humanity needs an outlet for deviances. For a long while, this was done by war, thievery, manipulation, and so forth. When society became… proper, perfection was demanded for an imperfect species.

  “Greed, lust, anger, and revenge all lead to conflict. Based on my two years of advanced studies, I would say that I unequivocally support the Reincarnation Trials,” I said with a big smile for the vid-screen. “Without our current system of governance, and our way of life rooted in the strong and capable ruling, we would have died aboard these ships years ago.”

  “You think they’ll save our species?” Mrs. Jern asked. “The Reincarnation Trials. As you say, and some others will agree to, they already have. But as we study the Earth for landing colonies, there are rumblings that the new expansions should be ruled by democracy, instead of a competition.”

  I hesitated, even though I knew my answer. I said, “Yes. The Reincarnation Trials have preserved the Salvation Fleet. Without them, we’d have torn each other to pieces, and the largest ship, Tranquility, would have merged us into one giant ball.”

  “Size does not always dictate winners,” Mrs. Jern said.

  I opened my mouth, wisely closing it. We both knew that I knew this. She had said this line to scold me for overstepping on a hypothetical. We were on The Hope after all, and ship pride ran strong among the residents.

  Mrs. Jern smiled at my silence. She said, “A few more questions. I see an abnormally low login time for the Reincarnation Trials and an abnormally high time in training simulations.”

  I smiled and said, “Like many of the fine citizens who select pleasure mode, and the youth aboard our wonderful ships, I can only observe and interact. I attain no points. Hmm…”

  Mrs. Jern said, “This portion is not timed, Mr. Karo.”

  “I like being me - Theodore Karo - even with my cybernetic modifications. That and the inhibitors in the Reincarnation Trials leave me unable to feel alive inside the realms. I ask for a beer and get water. I stab a goblin, or shoot a deer, or blow up a spaceship, and it just changes into loot without any of the real work required. The gory steps, while not fun, are removed.

  “Of course, I have to spend time in my cryopods. The air handlers struggle as is. Instead of cycling into the Trials to enjoy the themes in their limited glory, I enter the training simulators to prepare for the day it all counts. I train a lot. Winning matters and I agree with the premise of the Reincarnation Trials – the capable should lead.”

  Mrs. Jern tapped at her linker device, likely retrieving my training data.

  I decided to add, “I have mastered all the themes. I know how to survive, thrive, and succeed in all of the available settings.”

  “You think you are ready?” Mrs. Jern asked.

  “Absolutely.”

  “Becoming a full citizen would be a big step for you, one that many even choose to reject because of the responsibilities. Your inputs in the Reincarnation Trials will send echoes through time in the real world.”

  This was a bit dramatic and certainly theatrics for the camera. However, this was how humanity - in its last vestiges of society - operated.

  The Reincarnation Trials were an event all three ships competed in and something I had avoided. Humanity was traveling the stars on a two-hundred-year journey to Alpha Centauri and then two hundred years back. All while overcrowding wreaked havoc on life support systems.

  Part of this answer was competitions to award leadership roles and since nanites extended life, we needed something to pass the time. Especially since cryopods preserved humans at the age they went in while their minds stayed functioning.

  Every baby that became an adult meant one more person had to go into storage. There simply wasn’t any other way. Thankfully, raw materials mined, and an excess of supplies from the original launches, allowed us to build more cryopods.

  To aid humans with their sanity, Darcy, the sole AI and manager of Salvation Fleet, created not only a system for pleasure, but one for government as well. The rules were diverse, yet simple in their basic nature.

  You spawned into a game, no one could connect the real you to the digital you, and you competed, or you simply enjoyed life. Because of the crowding issues, more than half the living people aboard the three ships lived in full-time suspension while pretending to be someone new inside the trials.

  Every five years, the theme changed with a twist. Those with citizen status who scored the highest were given positions of power aboard the ships.

  If I wanted to be the person in charge of population, navigation, or recycling - I would compete in the trials. The results spoke for themselves. The cunning tended to remain on top, even when they had to assume a new identity in a new scenario.

  That was part of the appeal. The reality was that only the strong ruled humanity. Being a con, a cheat, or a liar would likely never get you in the top ten unless the heist was huge and beyond astonishing. Darcy made sure the system would reward deceit the least.

  To be part of the ruling class, I would need to achieve success, dominate with hard work, negotiate with diplomacy, and strive for excellence – all at the same time.

  That worried me. I was the go-getter type in real life but never in the digital world. I wanted to be a part of the colonies, though, and that was my mission in life.

  Only citizens could help determine how a colony was ruled, and the last thing I wanted was a person who hated the real world telling me what to do.

  I brushed my slick palms against my pants with an eager nod.

  “Mrs. Jern, I’d like nothing more than to step foot onto Earth. I fully intend to compete for a spot on the colonies and prove my worth in the Reincarnation Trials,” I said with a winning smile.

  Mrs. Jern smiled. “I have great news, Theodore Karo. You passed based on your scores, and once you visit medical, you will be a full citizen. This doesn’t mean your schooling should stop. There are far more tiers to advance through.”

  I wanted to remind her that I had completed the only free tier of college, but I held in my retort. I respectfully bowed, a tradition of my Japanese father. She awkwardly returned the gesture before signaling to the door.

  I stepped out a happy man, wondering when the new theme would be when the reset hit in four days.

  Starship Hope

  4 days away from Earth

  A ping reverberated up my arm. At first, I ignored the linker device on my wrist.

  For the remainder of humanity, all communication was done through a wireless touchpad on the back of the left wrist. That spot, directly between your protruding wrist bones, contained a square interface.

  A projection would display from the device, adjust to meet the user's eyes, and in my case, I gazed down my nose, expecting to see another delay.

  The screen spun a loading sign, stuck as it processed something, which was rare, telling me it was likely a warning for a coming announcement.

  “Is yours working, Taiyo?” I asked with a frown.

  She shook her head, adding, “Loading. I bet it’s another delay on the reset. The current ruling council are still dealing with the fallout from the last event. The three-way tie for fourth has sent the ships into a tizzy.”

  I grunted in agreement. “You can say that again. I’m going to grab another water. Want one?”

  “Yes please.”

  The raven-haired beauty tucked a loose lock behind her ear shyly. She had told me she loved the fact I would do simple things for her like grab a water.

  As most of the humans left alive, Taiyo was complicated. She was three-hundred years old, but her nanites and time in storage resulted in her not looking a day over thirty.

  Her porcelain skin, soft hands, and sparkling eyes left me yearning for her company even if I kept things platonic.

  To further entangle matters, I didn’t know what she saw in
me. Sure, I was handsome, charming, and charismatic, but I was also young, inexperienced, and a hybrid. My father’s Asian traits clashed with my white mother’s towering height. Dating on any of the ships led to issues.

  The Hope had ceased all new births about a hundred years ago. Unless someone died naturally, or from other means, no one could be born. Having a baby was based on a lottery that my parent’s unexpectedly won.

  Their whirlwind love ended like most relationships that stretched for centuries. My parents had divorced when I was sixteen, and my mother swapped ships with someone from Tranquility when I turned eighteen. I winced at the thought that she hadn’t even congratulated me on reaching citizenship status.

  I closed off my wandering mind as I finished filling up Taiyo’s cup. A quick check of my wrist still showed a loading sign, causing me to sigh.

  “It’s cute to see you so nervous,” Taiyo said with a widening smile.

  I blushed, sliding into the seat across from her.

  “Are you sure about this?” I asked. “It’s a big commitment.”

  She nodded assertively. “I am. Before your ego explodes, I have some things to tell you. Me going to Earth and wanting to be in the same colony is not just about you. This is not a love thing. I’d just rather leave the ship for an outpost with someone I can socialize with. You’re not someone I fawn over, and I’m not going to place myself in danger for a... friend.”

  “Ouch,” I said.

  She laid a hand on my forearm, leaned across the table, and softly kissed my cheek.

  “That had to be said that way. I need to make it clear that I’m capable of making rational decisions and not just emotional ones. We’ve been having real-life lunch dates for months. You’re always a gentleman, always able to make me smile, and my heart flutters when I'm near you. There, I said it. I’m interested.

  “But I may not be when I see how you are outside of these dates. There’s so much we don’t know about each other, but I am willing to get to know more. I just don’t want you to get the wrong idea. Besides, none of it matters if we don’t end up in the same colony,” Taiyo said.