Almost four hours later, I woke up. This time, I felt rested. Rested and hungry. Best of all, the nagging background feeling of those things waiting for me in the woods was gone. My note with the GPS coordinates was still in my pouch.

  “Should it stay there?” That was the big question. I could just forget the location and never try to find them again. If that Boss came back, they were miles away from him…or it. Whatever’s appropriate for an evil sheep.

  It didn’t matter. Not now. The foremost thing on my mind was food. And coffee. For the first time since this whole thing started, it was in that order. I got up, went through my usual morning routine, and dressed in the Game robes and sandals.

  A couple of ham and cheese sandwiches and a steaming mug of coffee were enough for now. I carried them into the office, the familiar smell of the roast coffee making me sigh in relief. Surprisingly, I hadn’t even checked Game Chat yet.

  It felt almost like two weeks ago, back before all this started…when mornings meant email, coffee, and quiet. To make it complete, I even opened my inbox. Still nothing from the university. But there was a query from my online editing site. I skimmed it, shot back a reply with a price and rough timeline, and figured it wouldn’t go anywhere. Most didn’t.

  [SandB:] [William of Brinsford] [May I ask you a question?]

  The message surprised me. She’d never contacted me first before.

  [William of Brinsford:] [SandB] [Of course. I’m always here for…now I can say, guildies. What’s up?]

  [SandB:] [William of Brinsford] [I just wanted to thank you for letting me use your house yesterday. Blaze said it was OK to use your tea, and she made us food. She’s so nice.]

  My smile grew. She was right. She is.

  [William of Brinsford:] [SandB] [Not a problem. I should’ve told you to help yourself. I wasn’t thinking straight. If you ever need to again, you’re welcome to use my home. I heard people saying good things about what you did at the quarry. Well done.]

  [SandB:] [William of Brinsford] [I didn’t think they’d let me take your place.]

  [William of Brinsford:] [SandB] [That’s what I heard. You stepped in as a Mana Mage. They made me do the Warchief thing…calling targets, telling people when to move. Nothing much to it. Mostly I just made some shit up that sounded right and it worked.]

  If she could have seen my grin when I sent that, would she jump away or just throw up a MANA SHIELD between us? I laughed at the thought.

  [SandB:] [William of Brinsford] [You know I have a problem with men. I haven’t been near that many at once in years. I stay home mostly. Don’t go out in crowds. Even the soldiers were nice to me. And the ones whose gear I enchanted. They were super polite. Bhaarrt’s scary to look at, but he’s so nice.]

  [William of Brinsford:] [SandB] [Yes, he is. Like a big, gray, not furry teddy bear. :)]

  [SandB:] [William of Brinsford] [Yeah. He is. He said he’d take care of any problems I had with anyone. There wasn’t much. People asked where you were and I told them. Then they heard you on the live feed, and it all worked out.]

  [William of Brinsford:] [SandB] [Yeah. Blaze thought of that. It worked. People in the convention center who could join groups leveled up too. Some for the first time, I think. I also heard you made a good impression on PokerRun. That’s not easy.]

  [SandB:] [William of Brinsford] [Oh God! I was so scared of him. And riding on his bike. That was almost worse than having to hang on to him.]

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  [William of Brinsford:] [SandB] [But you did it. I heard about that from him. He told me he’d give you lessons if you ever want your own bike. He knew you were scared. He still got you to the recharge point and back. That’s the way he is. If he sees you’ve got something inside worth respecting, he’ll stand with you. If you want to learn to shoot, he’d probably help with that too.]

  [SandB:] [William of Brinsford] [No no no. Not that. But I don’t know how to drive. Does that matter?]

  [William of Brinsford:] [SandB] [People have learned to ride before driving. You can legally do that. The written test’s mostly the same. Road signs apply to everyone.]

  [SandB:] [William of Brinsford] [I guess they must. It’s all so different now.]

  [William of Brinsford:] [SandB] [The road signs are different? Or your life is different?]

  [SandB:] [William of Brinsford] [Life. Bailey said the Game’s changing me. I think she’s right.]

  [William of Brinsford:] [SandB] [So do I. It changes all of us. You’re level six now. That’s where I started. You’re already better than I was when I first walked out my door, wondering what casting magic would feel like. You know what you’re doing. I didn’t. Sure, I knew more about games, but you’ve got the skills. I was just makin’ shit up and hoping it worked. You can tell ahead of time what’ll work most of the time.]

  [SandB:] [William of Brinsford] [If you say so. It doesn’t feel like it.]

  Right then, my email icon flashed with a new message, from the same person I’d just sent a quote to. Maybe I’ve got some work after all.

  [William of Brinsford:] [SandB] [No, it doesn’t. I still struggle believing this is real. But it is. Don’t worry about what I’d do. Just do what YOU think will work. You’ll probably be right, and if you’re not, you’ll learn. Don’t fear mistakes.]

  [SandB:] [William of Brinsford] [That’s what Bailey keeps telling me. Maybe it’s getting through to me?]

  [William of Brinsford:] [SandB] [Maybe. Or maybe you’re changing. I’m guessing here, but maybe our stats affect us outside the Game. We raised INTELLIGENCE, so we think sharper in life, not just casting. Same with WISDOM and EGO. EGO helps you handle things with more certainty and helps protect against Mentalists.]

  [SandB:] [William of Brinsford] [I didn’t know that. You sure?]

  [William of Brinsford:] [SandB] [My extra EGO says I’m right. I work faster and better now. I pushed INTELLIGENCE, WISDOM, and EGO. Always build the first two and some EGO. And keep a point or two free for emergencies.]

  [SandB:] [William of Brinsford] [Falstaff told me that too. We’re going into the dungeon tonight.]

  [William of Brinsford:] [SandB] [Good. Keep your shields up and you’ll keep your party healthy.]

  [SandB:] [William of Brinsford] [I’ll do that. What do you like on pizza?]

  [William of Brinsford:] [SandB] [Pizza? I eat most anything. Don’t care for sardines or hot peppers. Why?]

  [SandB:] [William of Brinsford] [I make pizzas where I work. We get free ones. I want to make one for you and Blaze and deliver it tonight, if that’s alright.]

  [William of Brinsford:] [SandB] [It’s supposed to be my night to cook, so I love it. Just ask Blaze what she likes and pile it on.]

  [SandB:] [William of Brinsford] [I’ll talk to her now. Thank you. See you tonight.]

  [William of Brinsford:] [SandB] [Looking forward to it. Bye.]

  “That was interesting,” I said to myself. “Almost like a normal conversation. She has changed.” I took a sip of cooling coffee. “And if I want some spare change, maybe I’ve got some work.” I opened the email.

  “I should talk to the GRA guys. Have them test mages with IQ tests starting out, and as they level. I think real strength goes up with game STRENGTH. They should measure all the stats they can.”

  Jotting the idea on my notepad, I added a couple of stars next to it.

  The email was from a small press I’d never heard of. Their chief editor had died in a car accident at the start of all this, and they were scrambling to replace him. They complained their other editors and proofreaders were off playing…and by that, I think they meant adventuring.

  “Thank you, thank you,” I muttered at the screen. “Should I take you up on that, or stay away?”

  Their website showed them as a general publisher, not specializing in anything. They’d tack fees on top of my rates, sure, it’s expected. They even threw in some freebies other vanity presses nickel-and-dimed for. Their average prices weren’t cheap, but they weren’t what I’d call gouging their writers either.

  Didn’t take long to decide. Looking at my options, I sent back a short reply: I’d do piece work, and we could hash out details. I offered three to four cents a word depending on volume and type.

  I explained I already had a main client in nonfiction and had thirty years’ experience. Then I fired off a Game Chat message…this one to the local GRA…about testing character stat changes.

  “I might regret that one,” I thought, mentally hitting send.

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