“What do we do from here?” Shadow asked once we were back in the van.

  “The obvious. We find it, assemble enough firepower and defense, then we kill it. The usual.”

  “The usual?” She paused, her eyes squinting, before she laughed. “With you, I guess it is. How do we find it?”

  “I know about where it is. Or at least the neighborhood where it lives. I, or we, head out there, look around for something suspicious, find it, then run like hell away from it…and hope it doesn’t do anything to us.”

  “How do those plans usually work in the movies?” she asked, eyes squinting like she was suppressing a laugh.

  “Uh, as long as the cat hasn’t run away, we should be safe,” I answered.

  “Do you have a cat? I don’t,” she said.

  “Uh, no. It ran away a long time ago and didn’t come back the very next day.”

  She groaned, burying her face in her hands and shaking her head. “Don’t know which is worse…how big a nerd you are or that I got that one?”

  Together, we sang, “…and the cat came back the very next day,” before breaking into laughter that we couldn’t stop. We didn’t care that people in other cars were staring like we’d lost it

  “You’re not going out there alone. You need a lot of backup,” she said firmly once she caught her breath.

  “I know. Neither of us is much good in the woods. But we know people who are, and if we get enough of them to watch each other, some of us will make it back.”

  “I think this should be a guild thing. Can it wait until tomorrow? I’ll see if I can take the day off. I’ve covered for the other cooks often enough. They owe me.”

  “I’ll talk to people and see who we can round up. If Everett is awake, I need to talk to him too.”

  [LPetersISDA:] [William of Brinsford] [Mr. Bannister. Please stop by the GRA location and see me as soon as you can.]

  [William of Brinsford:] [LPetersISDA] [Will be there within the hour.]

  “I just got a message from the guy in charge of the Eddington GRA. He wants to see me right away. Didn’t say what it was about.”

  “OK. Can you drop me at the restaurant? I want to see if I can take some time off on short notice.”

  “No problem. It won’t clue them in to who you are?”

  “They already know we know each other. Two or three of them, including the manager, think they know who I really am. I want to keep it unofficial as long as I can. I’m pretty sure he does. He gave me a raise starting next week. A dollar an hour isn’t much, but it adds up and helps.”

  “I’ve been there. Every little bit counts. Let’s get going…I’ll see what he wants.”

  Shadow had changed clothes in the van, then I dropped her at the restaurant. She took her bag with her this time.

  Driving to the convention center, it looked like spring was becoming summer and the smell of flowers was receding. As soon as I stepped into the convention center’s main hall, the smell shifted to coffee, and bodies packed together.

  The GRA section had grown. More civilians crowded the floor, and it looked like fewer soldiers were manning desks. I hadn’t changed clothes. I was still wearing my doublet and sword, so I fit the picture people expected.

  “Dr. Peters. What did you want to see me about?” I asked when I found him.

  “Ah, Mr. Bannister. I have some good news for you…and some questions. Let’s start with the good news.”

  “Please do. I can use some.”

  “The federal office approved stipends for, uh, players who cooperate closely with us.”

  “That is good news. How much? And what do we have to do to earn it?”

  “$500 a week for up to ten people. The grant runs three months, subject to renewal by Congress. Standard paperwork filled out, direct deposit required…the usual.”

  If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

  I nodded. “Expected as much. It’s not a fortune, but it’ll help some of our people.”

  “Uh, yes, but there are stipulations.”

  “What are they?” My gut tightened.

  “You have to maintain a certain level of, uh, game activity. You also have to turn over whatever you find for examination. That includes items from the STORE, anything about the Rules you discover, and your insights on what may be coming.”

  “That’s a problem. Not for low-level stuff…you already have most of that, and you’re welcome to more. But high-level items we need to stay alive? We can’t hand those over. Showing you what we get, probably. Giving them up? No. At least not until we replace them…if we even can.”

  I thought a moment. “In some games, items are bind on pickup, or bind on equip. If that’s true here, we couldn’t trade them even if we wanted to. We’ll have to test it.”

  Peters frowned, but then nodded. “You’re right. We hadn’t considered that. Let’s test it today. Do you have something?”

  “I’ve got spares for handing out. Anything I haven’t equipped, I know I can trade. And STORE items can be tried on before buying. Haven’t tested equipped ones.”

  He slumped, as though the air had gone out of him. I pulled the shirt I’d bought from my INVENTORY and handed it over. “See what you make of this. I equipped it after I bought it at the STORE.”

  He turned it over in his hands. “Obviously a white pullover shirt with button cuffs. What does it do?”

  “It covers the upper half of my body and keeps my armor from chaffing if I sweat through it.”

  “No… I mean, what stats?”

  “It doesn’t have any. It’s just a shirt.”

  His sigh said it all. “Then why buy it? I’m sure you have one or more like it.”

  “I do.” I opened my armor a bit and showed him the shirt under it. “I’m wearing it.”

  My doublet opens in the front and it’s held together by Velcro strips. It’s not historical, but much easier to put on and take off.

  His sigh said it all. “Then why buy it?”

  “Speed,” I said.

  “Speed? Does it give you extra speed?”

  “No. It’s faster to put on. I can equip it straight from my INVENTORY. I’ve got pants and boots too. I can armor up in under 60 seconds now. A fifth of the time it used to take. Means when spawns appear, I’m not running out in just a T-shirt, shorts, and slippers. Again.”

  “That’s… something we hadn’t realized. It’ll change how people prepare.”

  “Shouldn’t hurt manufacturers much. STORE only stocks what they have. You can’t change things freely, except to fit you.”

  He brightened. “Actually, you can. The Tailoring Profession. It lets you alter fabric items. If it applies to STORE or drops, you can change them. Looks like I know something you don’t.”

  He actually smiled about that.

  I laughed. “Had to happen sometime. Congratulations. I saw the profession listed but never looked further into it. I thought about taking it as my second Profession but I never got around to it.”

  “Maybe that’s what the TAILORING sign at the back of the clothing area meant?”

  Peters waved over a young staffer and handed him the shirt. “Record its stats. See if you can equip it.”

  The kid turned it over. “White Peasant Shirt. No stats. Doesn’t count as armor.” He tried again. “Won’t equip. Won’t go into my INVENTORY either.” He handed it back. “Came from the STORE?”

  “Yes. Just bought it,” I confirmed.

  “Thanks. That helps,” he said before walking back to his computer.

  Peters frowned. “I had to try.”

  “Anything else?”

  “We want all five of you in the program. You’re the top group in Eddington. The higher-ups say we need you.”

  “There’s no question we’ll help. I’ll talk to the others. But right now, we’ve got a bigger problem.”

  “Problem? What sort?”

  “Look up World Boss in the Rules. It might be there now. Wasn’t yesterday. The Rules expand when someone qualifies or something appears. We think one’s nearby. We’re trying to find it…and figure out what to do with it.”

  “That sounds dangerous.”

  “It is. We don’t know how dangerous. We’ll find out soon.”

  “Please have your team sign up. My specialty is information systems. The Rules are… fascinating. Interlocking systems…elegant design. It, it's fascinating. From an academic perspective of course.”

  “Of course.” I grinned and quickly turned to get out of there as fast as I could.

  Before leaving the parking lot, I messaged Shadow, Blaze, Ingrid, and Bhaarrt about the stipend and the possible World Boss. No one thought I should scout it alone. Ingrid added that Everett was doing well. Awake, and still human in daylight.

  Driving home, I tried to work out next steps. No work emails, thankfully. Reporters had flooded my inbox again. I blocked them as usual. At least the staked-out news vans had stopped showing up. A few calls to the police had helped.

  They’d learned.

  A few days ago, I’d set up emails and social handles like firstmanamage. thefirstmanamage, and realmanamage to block impostors. Couldn’t catch them all, but I nailed most of the main domains.

  If I wanted to monetize fame, I’d need to do more. For now, survival mattered. After stripping off my washable gear, I threw in another laundry load. Practice what you preach. I wore the STORE-bought shirt, pants, and sandals in the meantime.

  Back on my computer, an email from the IP lawyer waited. Documents for filing, plus a retainer agreement. I skimmed it once, enough to understand, then set it aside. I wanted to check Google Earth. Historical view mode sometimes showed hidden things.

  The quarry came up. The imagery only went back a decade, with big gaps. The land barely changed. Trees and brush grew. Tire tracks came and went. One image showed an opening beneath an outcrop of stone. Someone had cleared an open area above it, close to the quarry edge.

  Zooming back out, I caught something I’d missed. In one view, near the rim, maybe a dozen animals grazed. Sheep. Strange. I didn’t know anyone who kept sheep out there, but no reason they couldn’t.

  I scribbled notes on a pad, copied them online. The sheep had been there two years ago. Nothing urgent beyond that. I leaned back, pulled up the GameLit book I was reading, and allowed myself sink into it. I let my mind think about it while I thought about something else.

  Musical Interlude:

  Harry S. Miller - The Cat Came Back

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