Otter knew she should’ve been watching the fight. Or maybe watching out for Svomir, after. But the entire time, she was checking Rua’s neck, making sure there wasn’t any sting damage. Rua took the examination with a quiet, annoyed calm, but still allowed it just for Otter’s sake.

  “What you did was stupid,” Sami said. “Incomprehensible.”

  “It was needed,” Rua answered. “I didn’t see any of the rest of you going against his game, or trying to figure a way out of your situation.”

  “You learned one thing! That’s up to interpretation! And you risked your life over it.”

  Sami rarely raised her voice. She was normally all about maintaining her composure. Otter hadn’t seen her this angry since… well, since the breakup, and even then she hadn’t borne the full brunt of it.

  Advantage of ghosting, even if it’d been a shitty thing to do.

  “Hey, ease down,” Everett said, trying to py the peacemaker as always. “No need to be so angry, eh?”

  Rua was giving him a look, and Otter realized no one had expined why there was a nearly seven foot tall dragon man. She gave her a quick rundown on character creation, and it was why some of their number looked so… odd.

  “Normally, when people look like that, it’s a result of a Pact,” Rua said. “But I knew something was off since none of you know Pact magic. Of course it retes to your game.”

  “We get to be whatever we want to be. Everett here just happens to enjoy being a dragon man. Just like Pandemona seems to like having horns. Hey, wait, where did she go?”

  “Wandered off over there,” Sami said, waving at a point in the back seats. “Got a message and suddenly that was more important than this.”

  “What is this ‘Pact magic’ you keep mentioning?” Everett asked.

  “Yes,” Sami said. “Let’s focus on that. Is that how you’ve been doing those golden wires?”

  “Uh…” Otter looked between Sami and Rua. She couldn’t recall if she’d been specifically forbidden from mentioning how Pact magic worked, but Otter definitely got the impression Rua didn’t want that information being spread. “Maybe?”

  “It is,” Rua said. “Someone makes a deal with a Dreamer, and in return they get power.”

  “A deal?” Sami asked. “What kind of deal? And does everyone get wires?”

  “No. When you make your Pact, you gain a title. There’s thousands of recorded titles. Every Dreamer has a set they can pull from. Some overp. Some are unique to specific Dreamers. Each title has its own set of powers, but just because two people share a title, doesn’t mean they’ll have the same powers, but it also doesn’t mean they won’t. For example, I’m a Lieseeker. I know of one other Lieseeker in the Siyan Isnds. My base ability is that I can tell when someone is lying, whereas the other one can make someone else speak untrue things.

  “No one knows for sure what the Dreamers get out of the Pact, but the theory is that they guide events to outcomes they desire. And as you get closer to fulfilling the destiny they set out for you, your Pact abilities can either evolve, or you can gain more powers.”

  “And these Dreamers are, what? Gods?”

  Rua made a low, angry sound. “You people need to stop saying that word. Tales, what is wrong with you?”

  “Not religious here?” Everett asked, an amused tone to his voice.

  “We don’t talk about it. For good reason. Just… stop saying that word. And tell others of your kind to also not say it.”

  Otter gave them both a helpless shrug. “She won’t expin it to me either.”

  “So, can you tell us how to make a Pact?” Sami asked.

  “No,” Rua said.

  Sami leaned closer. “I thought you said you took care of your possessions.”

  “It’s not about wanting. You’re in the Sass Wastes. I can tell you how to do the ritual to perform a Pact on the Siyan Isnds, but I have no idea how it works there. I don’t know the Sassian Dreamer’s titles, or the wards to protect you from it. And not everyone who tries to form a Pact gets one. The Dreamer sometimes isn’t interested and just doesn’t respond to some people.”

  “So, we just need to find someone who does know the ritual?” Sami asked. “Where can we find someone like that?”

  “In the Sass Wastes? I have no idea. If it were the Siyan Isnds, I could do it. If it were Mikovia, I’d point you to one of their Great Fathers. Criobani, ask any soldier. All I know about the Sass Wastes is that it's hot, desote, and its people are nomadic.”

  “Can we just come to the Siyan Isnds and get a Pact there then?”

  “Probably not,” Otter said. “When I spoke with the Dreamer, she made it sound like she only deals with people born on the Isnds. Or in the case of pyers, people who spawn there. I don’t think you’ll have any luck here.”

  “Ugh, NPCs and their silly quest requirements,” Everett said.

  “Yeah… that’s another thing we need to talk about.”

  “What? Quest requirements?”

  “No. NPCs. And the fact that this game doesn’t have them.”

  Rua looked a little grateful at that remark, but said nothing.

  “What do you mean by that?” Everett asked.

  “She means that Rua is an NPC,” Sami said.

  “No shit? But… she’s so life-like.”

  “Exactly,” Otter said. “I don’t know how to expin her, except that she’s real. She doesn’t just pass the Turing test, she beat the shit out of it in a 7-11 parking lot and went through its pockets for loose change and cognitive function.”

  “Maybe Holt cracked some kind of AI code?”

  Sami kicked him in the shin, and he let out a howl of pain, hopping up and down on one leg.

  “Felt real, didn’t it?” Sami asked. “I’ve had… thoughts… since I had my first fight here. Everything is too much. Graphics are too good, pain is too real, people make mistakes in combat, and not just AI-generated openings. Either Ingram Holt made the most advanced game in every possible field ever made, or something else is going on.”

  “What?” Pandemona said, joining them from wherever she’d absconded herself to.

  “Game isn’t a game, everything is too real, keep up,” Otter said.

  “Who what now?”

  Otter decided to give her the same demonstration Sami had given Everett and kicked her in the shin. She let out a sharp exhation of pain, and rubbed at the hurt area.

  “Caught up now? Good. Wait, why do shin kicks go through Tenacity? And flicks and stuff.”

  Rua rolled her eyes, “Because it has to do with intent. You’re not actually trying to injure the person, so the defender’s Tenacity doesn’t react. If you were trying to do damage, you would’ve hit her shield. I was really hoping you’d figure that one out on your own.”

  “Wait, how much stuff are you expecting me to figure out on my own that I’ve just been blundering through?”

  “Experience is the best teacher.”

  “That sounded like an ‘everything’ to me.”

  “We’re getting a little far afield,” Sami interrupted. “And we have a time limit. For some reason Holt is letting us just sit here, talking amongst ourselves after we all tried to kill him. Soon, he’s going to realize that’s a mistake. We need a pn. Like, trying to figure out how we’re going to get out of this game, or whatever it is.”

  “Il-Su’s got that handled,” Pandemona said. “He told me to get on his stream and screenshot a bunch of stuff from Holt’s room.”

  “Holt’s what?” Sami said, her voice gone icy.

  “He broke into Holt’s pce. I assume while we were all fighting. Didn’t he tell you guys? I thought you were tight.”

  “That stupid son of a bitch. He never communicates. Ever. Always goes and does the most asinine things, and never communicates. This is your fault, you know.” She jabbed a finger at Otter. “He learned it from you.”

  “Why would he have learned it from some newbie?” Everett said. “We all know he learned it from May… ah.”

  His gaze settled on Otter, recognition dawning on him. She gave a polite wave, and he ruefully shook his head in return.

  “You knew about this?” he asked Sami. “Of course you did. So, that’s why you’ve been so hot and cold about her.”

  “I was going to tell you. Just… when I sorted my feelings for it out.”

  Everett gave out a single barked ugh. “The day you sort out your feelings for Mayumi. So, the heat death of the universe? But no, no time for this discussion now. Tell me what my idiot ex-boyfriend has gone and risked his life for.”

  Pandemona reyed what little she knew, sending them copies of the information that she’d uncovered.

  “What even is this?” Sami asked, looking at her menu. “It looks like gibberish.”

  “It’s Criobani,” Rua said. “I don’t know what it says, but I recognize the text.”

  Otter smiled, feeling a little bit of hope. “Well, luckily, we might have someone who can transte whatever this is. It might give us a pn.”

  “You might?” Sami asked.

  “It’s complicated. She’s stuck in an armour in a death swamp and might be permanently bound to it and I might be able to free her from a curse or something.”

  Everett whistled. How, Otter had no idea, considering his mouth and lips were definitely nonhuman.

  “You always get yourself into the stupidest things,” Sami said, shaking her head. “You and Il-Su.”

  “Hey, but at least our stupid helps. You know. Sometimes.”

  They went over some logistical details. Sami was sure she was only a week’s travel from Everett, and Pandemona was apparently in the Jiridion Belt, in a fishing vilge. She wasn’t sure how she was going to get passage, but she promised that as soon as she figured out how to perform a Pact, she’d do her best to get to the Siyan Isnds. They would all meet up in the capitol, Ri Oa, once they were able.

  The entire time, they avoided the topic of Il-Su. He hadn’t come out of Holt’s office, and hadn’t messaged Pandemona. They all knew none of them possessed the skills or equipment to get onto Holt’s balcony without being spotted. Any attempt at rescue was tantamount to suicide.

  “I think we should invite Chinchil,” Everett said.

  “Good idea,” Otter agreed. “Did you see how she ganked Paul? It’s not great he’s dead, but fuck I did not want that guy anywhere near me.”

  “I don’t know her,” Rua said. “But… won’t she want revenge? Do we want to be pulled into that?”

  Everett shook his head. “Doesn’t matter. She needs a helping hand right now. We offer it. If she chooses revenge, we can revisit.”

  Sami agreed, “STI and Beast Infection weren’t going to be our allies anyway. Not after Paul started conflict with us.”

  Otter wasn’t sure she liked it. Chinchil was a good friend, but something nagged at her. She wasn’t sure what it was. Probably nothing. But she felt like she should say something, while they were all gathered.

  So of course, in that moment, reality blurred once again, scattering them back to their old locations.

  DorenWinslowe