The last time there was a big group announcement Stratos had us all gather in the arena, but this time was different.

  Since we’d started using the arena for settling disputes people were used to seeing Annabelle more, although a fifty foot tall hologram of her floating in the sky was new. I’d seen her so much in other capacities I’d almost forgotten her side gig as ring announcer for big game events. For the umpteenth time it made me question again who she really was and the exact nature of her real role here.

  This time Annabelle’s violet hair was done up in a tight bun and she wore what I can only describe as an airline hostess’s uniform, circa 1970. It was a navy blue dress, well fitted, with three-quarter length sleeves. Its skirt was scandalously short with a single pleat over each thigh, cinched at the waist by a vibrant red belt with a big round buckle the same navy color as the dress. A matching red scarf flounced jauntily at her throat, and on her head perched a navy and red pillbox hat. Her infectious smile lit the sky almost as brightly as the afternoon sun.

  I said all of us stopped and looked at her, but that’s not strictly accurate: all of us except Shannon, who kept on tending the gardens as though nothing was happening, as well as Shashu and Farrah, who continued sparring until they happened to notice us all looking up. They stopped what they were doing, turned their attention skyward to see what we were looking at, shrugged at each other, then went back to what they were doing. They clearly couldn’t see what we were seeing up there.

  That was another difference between named and unnamed NPCs: the vanilla ones have a blindness to Players’ business that prevented them from reacting to Player meta-game behavior, while the named ones noticed but disregarded it. Maybe they thought we were praying to our god, or maybe they brushed it off as more weird stuff those outsiders do, but at least they noticed.

  I’d heard about Players who’d tried to convince the NPCs they were in a game, but no matter who they tried to talk to even the named ones refused to believe such a ludicrous story.

  There was also another difference between the sisters and other NPCs. The way they talked about gifts, powers, and skills told me they knew about System and Statuses. The very fact that Annabelle was appearing to all Players at the same time no matter where they were as a big floating hologram also seemed to confirm that she had a different kind of relationship with the game.

  After spending so much time with Ruka as well, I was starting to think there was more to my demonic friend than met the eye too. She had more in common with Annabelle and Akari than she did with other named NPCs like Shashu and Shannon, or even someone like Petal.

  It had long been my suspicion that many of the things that happened here were not by coincidence, and it seemed to me much too coincidental that all three of them became my new named NPC pals at around the same time I began growing into my abilities.

  When the giant holographic Annabelle spoke, the NPCs around us showed no signs of hearing her any more than they could see her.

  “Yahello Players!” the big Annabelle said as it waved to us. “It’s Annabelle here with some veeeery exciting news!”

  “This can’t be good,” Byron said. Nina hushed him.

  “It has been a while since we all got together for a big quest and this time it’s a doozy, the biggest one yet!” Annabelle’s eyes narrowed and her grin took on a wicked gleam. “We like to call it the Citadel Quest, and trust me, you’re gonna die for it.”

  “Told you,” Byron said.

  “This grand new quest will be introduced in a few days but I’m not gonna tell you when exactly yet.” She winked at us and held up three fingers, counting down on them as she spoke. “I will tell you this much: one, this quest will involve all teams competing for an amazing prize; two, it won’t happen for at least two days; and three, you’ll be given exactly six hours notice before everyone who’s on a team must gather in the arena to get briefed on the quest details.”

  “Hey Sensei,” Chika said, “looks like you get to have a real team quest finally.”

  “Yeah,” I said. “Finally.”

  I sympathized with everyone who wasn’t on a team. Being left out sucked. The next thing Annabelle said would have given them some hope, though.

  “Now, I know a lot of you aren’t on a team yet but don’t worry, that’s about to change,” she said. “Over the next forty-eight hours, existing teams may recruit enough new members to exactly double their current size. So teams, take this as an opportunity to fill any gaps you might have, and unaffiliated Players, take this chance to prove your worth and get yourself onto a team.”

  “The next forty-eight hours are going to be a gong show,” Wayne’s deep voice rumbled.

  “One more thing,” Annabelle said. “Each team must also name an official Captain and Vice-Captain. Do that by the time we all meet in the arena, m-kay? That’s all for now! So get out there and grow your teams, pick your Captains, and I’ll see you sometime after the next two days. Annabelle out!”

  The holograph winked at us then flickered away leaving us all staring at the empty sky. Our attention was then drawn by the quest screens that popped up summarizing what Annabelle had just told us. We had two days to double the size of our teams, which in my case shouldn’t be too hard. It only meant finding one more person to join Team Player with me.

  Sigrid wasted no time. She was beside me in a flash.

  “Recruit me, Daniel,” she said, bouncing on her toes and tapping her chest. “Put me on your team.”

  “But you’re already on Maple Leaf,” I said. “They need you.”

  If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  “You need me more. Partners, remember?”

  Jane ambled up. “She’s right. And besides, we’ll never hear the end of it if you don’t pick her.”

  I laughed. “If you’re sure. System, add Sigrid Sorrensen to Team Player.”

  System: Error – Only team Captains may add new members

  “Okay, how do I make myself Captain?”

  System: Team Captains are elected by by majority vote from all members

  “Fine. I vote for myself to be the Captain of Team Player.”

  System: The rules state that team votes are taken through secret ballot

  A new screen popped up in front of me, a voting screen asking me to vote for Daniel Lamont to be Captain of Team Player, with Yes/No buttons. My eye roll wasn’t in Jane’s league, but I gave it my best and tapped yes.

  System: Congratulations, you have been elected the first Captain of Team Player by unanimous decision – Reward Tokens +10 (42); Team Management interface now available

  Along with that message, a new kind of notification appeared. It was that team management interface. There wasn’t much there, just a roster of team members listing only my name and an indicator that one of two available spots was filled.

  “Thanks, System,” I laughed. “Now can you please add Sigrid Sorrensen as a member of Team Player?”

  System: Error – Player Sigrid Sorrensen is already affiliated with a team

  “System, remove me from Team Maple Leaf,” Sigrid said.

  System: Error – Players may not leave teams at this time

  “Well crap,” she said.

  “Okay, let’s try this...Command Line prompt: when will Players be able to leave teams?”

  >>> Changes to team composition happen when game progress waypoints have been reached

  “And what are—”

  >>> Access denied – insufficient user level to access game waypoint data

  “Denied!” Jane said.

  “Sorry,” I said.

  “Looks like you need to find someone new,” Jane said. “How exciting.”

  “And you need to find ten more, too,” I said.

  “Nine,” Chika said, and an awkward silence followed.

  Crap. I couldn’t believe I’d forgotten about Andy. All of a sudden, all I could think about was how much a piece of garbage I was.

  “So who’s gonna be Team Maple Leaf’s Captain?” Wayne said, breaking the tension.

  “The first thing we need to do is get the Round Table on the team,” Nina said, “and finally make it official.”

  No matter where they’d been, every Player had seen Annabelle’s announcement and the missing members of Team Maple Leaf and the Round Table had already started joining us.

  “No dice, Nina,” I said. “Only team Captains may add new members.”

  “Then I nominate Jane as Captain,” Sigrid said.

  “I’ll second that,” Sam said.

  Jane shook her head. “Hard pass.”

  “Think about it,” Sam said. “People listen to you. You’re always the first to take the initiative and you’re a natural leader.”

  Jane patted his arm. “I think what you just described is more of an impetuous loudmouth, but I appreciate the intent.”

  “Sam’s right, you know,” I said. “I know I don’t get a vote, but—”

  Jane smiled but her voice had a sharp edge. “I thought I made myself clear: hard pass.”

  “Keeping your options open in case an opening appears in another team in the future?” Nina said, glancing at me.

  “My therapist calls it an aversion to commitment,” Jane said.

  “So who do you suggest to lead us, Jane?” Byron said.

  “What about Arthur?” Jane said, studiously avoiding looking at me. A number of the others cast quizzical looks at Jane. Huh. The fluctuating nature of her relationship with Arthur must have been as much a mystery to them as it was to me.

  “Have you already forgotten he can’t be a member until we have a Captain?” Sigrid said.

  “Surely we can change Captains once he’s in,” Jane said. “Yo, System.”

  System: Yo, Player

  “Cheeky. Is it possible to change Captains?”

  System: Team Captains may be changed at any time though a simple majority vote

  All it took was half the team plus one to change Captains, eh? I could see that causing some in-fighting down the line in teams that lacked cohesion. Captains would need to work to keep enough support to maintain their position. Even team politics was a game, and not one at which I expected to excel. Should’ve named my gift Good At Most Things.

  “Thanks, System,” Jane said. “Okay you guys, how about we elect one of us temporarily until we get the others on the team, then have another vote to pick a real Captain?”

  The team voiced their general agreement, and once again Jane was nominated to be temporary Captain, which she once again vehemently declined.

  “Pick someone else,” she said. “I don’t trust you guys not to turn around and leave me as Captain.”

  “Wow, you really do not want the job,” Sam said. “Fine. Elect me for now.”

  A quick vote was taken, and after everyone had tapped their election screen Sam was unanimously elected the first Captain of Team Maple Leaf.

  “Oh cool,” he said. “I just nabbed ten reward tokens for that.”

  “What?” Jane said. “I changed my mind, I’ll do it.”

  “Too late, sweetie,” Sam said, then immediately added the members of the Round Table to Team Maple Leaf.

  Another vote was taken to make Arthur the new Captain, but much to my surprise — and Arthur’s — he failed to get a majority.

  Awkward. Guess some people still held a grudge about the whole excluding me from the dungeon raid thing. Is it bad that I wasn’t unhappy about that?

  But the real question is: who tapped no? If I had Jane or Sigrid’s social skills I probably would’ve been able to suss it out simply by looking at people, but that was another thing I was underskilled at.

  “Well shit,” Sam said.

  Up next: Gong show