Val woke up disoriented for only a moment. She was in a game! Yesterday had been full of adventure and new people with a cute, rustic farmhouse to come home to. While some people had been cranky and suspicious, she still preferred them over the customers at her cashier’s job. Her earthly life could stay away. She didn’t have to deal with noisy cars or beeping machines. Fantastic.

  Val nodded, sat up, and glared at the Guardian mirror as she swung her legs out of bed, as if it might grab her and pull her through if she wasn’t careful. She patted her face and hair, which was in a smooth ponytail. Her hands showed no traced of yesterday’s smudges. Her overalls and green shirt were clean and untorn.

  Airaba really does refresh me. Val glanced at the mirror and wondered if Airaba’s aether ocean still swirled on the other side.

  There was nothing to do in the shack-like farmhouse. Calling it cute spoke to Val’s cheerfulness, not reality. Val stepped outside, swinging her backpack onto her shoulders.

  Cattail Farm.

  What do I do first?

  Healer Fen’s dry advice from yesterday came back. If you’re a farmer, maybe you should plant seeds.

  Val would be the best farmer possible. The first thing to do was prepare the soil.

  The farmland was just a little patch before the forest took over, a square acre with half of it overgrown, with firs and hemlocks encroaching as well as weeds.

  Val retrieved the scythe from her backpack, stepped into the field, approached the green thistle-soft waist-high weed, and hacked away. With her lack of skill plus her lack of coordination, the work took more time than expected, but her energy meter didn’t go down since she wasn’t building any skill. Thank you, Airaba, for the little things.

  Moving on, she weeded and hoed a five-by-five space. The quiet, repetitive work soothed her. The chronic stress of her earthly job, which she had surely lost by now if time moved at the same pace, unwinded.

  The five-by-five space already held the five seeds she’d planted yesterday. With the weeds disposed of, more sunlight poured onto the crops. The ignisbulb, bloodstone radish, and peridot peas were little sprouts, which made Val smile with success. The charo-cabbage and asparagustine were still seeds.

  “Farmer, farmer, farmerrr. I’m a farmer,” Val sang as she watered each of the twenty-five spots. When she reached the last one and tipped the watering can, nothing came out. Empty! “I should have realized that would happen eventually. Silly can.”

  Val looked up and around for a water source, stretching her arms back. First thing she noticed was her energy level. “Oops. Too low to work. Time to move to the next task.”

  Seeds.

  Next stop: Olive’s general store. Val checked her pocket. She still had the handful of coins from Airaba. Looking closer, she had bright and dull silver and copper coins with various amounts of “abundos” printed on them. 470 abundos total. Was 100 abundos considered wealthy or more like 100 pennies?

  Yesterday, Charon had left at the northern entrance, but there was a western entrance, too. Was that another way to town? Val wanted to try, and left the farm, cheerfully trotting out of the western entrance.

  As Val walked around a bend in the path, the surrounding air turned stifling hot, much warmer than a regular spring day would suggest. Her walking momentum propelled her forward, and the air turned back to normal. Val looked back; the hot spot she had walked through shimmered with heat. The ground below this heat glowed. Translucent flames were shooting into the air, but nothing caught fire. Some smaller plants nearby, perhaps herbs, glowed with an ember red color. Was the red glow a signal that she ought to harvest them, maybe for her foraging skill? For now, Val put that idea to the side. She kept walking to town, noticing a few similar spots.

  As Val arrived at Cascadance’s colorful town square, one of the closest doors opened.

  A curvy young woman with mahogany colored skin and a crown of black braids propped open the aqua-blue shop door. She wore a dress of deeper blue with a cream apron. Bakery smells of dough and cinnamon wafted out. What a perfect, idyllic scene. Val was never leaving.

  “Hi, I’m Val. I’m new to town.” Val slowed down, not wanting to jog right up to the stranger’s face but definitely wanting to check out this exciting fresh development of baked goods.

  “Hello. I’m Isabelle. Welcome. This is my bakery.” The young woman gave a polite little bow and then disappeared into the shop. Val followed her right in.

  The warm shop was delightful with cinnamon and nutmeg smells. The walls gently fluxed in color from cream to coral to deep red. A display of baked goods included sweet scones, savory breads, and ram-shaped cookies. The cheapest price was fifty abundos. If seeds were as expensive as the cookies, she didn’t have much money.

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  “Wow,” Val said, her heart aching with happiness at the wholesomeness. “This is one of the most wonderful things I’ve seen since I’ve arrived!”

  Isabelle nodded absently while arranging buns on a tray. “The lavendishe scones will make your hair glow. The chalcedony-raisin bread gives a heartiness buff. The Aries cookies will stay warm all day. The coquelicot cinnamon buns will be done soon. They’ll have a charisma boost.”

  “Charisma boost! Nice! Do you have anything for five abundos?” Val asked, jiggling her pocket coins. She had to weigh having a treat against affording seeds.

  “Five abundos could get you a cheap piece of candy at the general store. Since you’re new, I won’t take it as an insult,” Isabelle said coolly. “My castoff goods are free. Today it’s croissants. The magic didn’t stick, so I can’t sell them.”

  “I’ll take it. Thank you!” Energy problem solved. Hopefully, the town would solve all her problems like that. The ruined shrine popped into Val’s head. That was indeed the real problem that the town hadn’t been able to solve. Val would take the easy wins, like free food, whenever possible.

  Isabelle, Val’s new favorite person, wrapped three croissants in paper and handed them to Val, who unwrapped one and crunched down on it. Overly sweet chocolate mousse filled the croissant.

  “Wow! This is delicious!” Val said after swallowing the first bite. “As soon as I can afford it, I’ll be a daily customer. Oh look!” Val pointed above her own head. “My energy meter improved! I’ll be able to water that last spot!”

  Isabelle looked up sharply. “I know some people are comfortable talking about such things, but I find it so embarrassing. It’s like talking about underwear or something. I can’t see it anyway.”

  “Oh, sorry,” Val said. “I’ll be more discreet. Charon helped me out the best he could yesterday, but I’m still learning.” She stuffed the other two croissants into her backpack. While the croissant she ate improved her energy meter, she didn’t feel any physical improvements, which must be part of the body stasis.

  Isabelle shrugged. “I need to focus on my work.” Was Isabelle just a baker meant to assist Val with energy-rich food? Val could respect that.

  Isabelle made a shooing motion to Val, focusing behind her.

  A young man stood right behind Val’s shoulder.

  “Oh, another town resident!” Val said, turning. “I’m Val and new to town.”

  “I’m Nate,” said a ruddy-faced, freckled young man. “I heard what you said about your energy meter. You should just hide it, so you’re not always thinking of it.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Your interface.”

  Val shook her head.

  “So if you blink twice, nothing happens?” Nate asked. “Is it broken?”

  “No. Sorry. Airaba processed me into the System just yesterday. She didn’t mention any interface.”

  “Airaba!” Isabelle said, leaning forward across the counter. “You were outside the System and she helped you? Did she give you anything? She’s not my Guardian, but I like to know which ones are interfering in Cascadance.”

  “Airaba didn’t come into Cascadance. She just sent me. All she gave me were some seeds and money.”

  “Seeds! So you’re at Cattail Farm,” Isabelle deduced.

  “No tablet?” Nate asked.

  “No, if your tablets are like what I’m used to.” Val patted at all her pockets to make sure nothing had slipped past her notice. “Maybe I should re-check the storage at the farm.”

  “There isn’t anything in the farm storage,” Nate said. “My brother and I checked recently.” When Val looked at him in surprise, he added defensively, “We didn’t take anything. We couldn’t even break the seals open. We just scanned to see what was inside them.”

  “Here,” Isabelle said. “I’ll give you my old one.” She waved a finger. Blue concentric circles appeared out of the air.

  “Are you using magic?” Val asked.

  Isabelle and Nate stared at Val.

  “I don’t know where Airaba found you,” Isabelle said. “But every person I’ve ever met from anywhere has had some kind of magic.” Isabelle’s attention was pulled to something in the air that Val couldn’t see. A small, thin object appeared in Isabelle’s hand, which she held out to Val.

  “Isabelle, we just met! Are you sure?” Val asked. She was happy to receive free stuff, but this was a surprise.

  Isabelle and Nate gave her a look.

  “I don’t know where you’re from, but if someone needs something, you give it to them,” Nate said officiously. “Airaba processed you into the Guardian System, but didn’t give you an interface. Can you ask her?”

  “No,” Val said. She didn’t want to go through the Guardian mirror in case she wouldn’t be allowed back.

  “Besides,” Isabelle said, “I was saving it as a backup for my sister and she doesn’t need it. I’m serious.”

  When Isabelle held the object out again, Val took it.

  Isabelle showed Val a metallic surface. “Place your thumb there.”

  Val placed her thumb. The object unfolded to twice the size of her palm. A tablet, the first piece of modern technology she’d seen in Cascadance.

  “Kids use these,” Nate smirked. “Once you’re more established, you might get a regular System interface.” He gestured to his eyes.

  “Thank you, Isabelle!” Val said. “Is this running on your magic? Do you have electricity?”

  The two friends stared at Val again.

  “What a weird word,” Nate said. “The tablet runs on regular air magic.”

  “I don’t need to recharge it?” Val asked, tapping her fingernails against the screen. It felt like any regular tablet.

  “It needs to be renewed under the Aquarian full moon, which I did,” Isabelle said. “You’re good for the year.”

  “I have a lot to learn about magic in Cascadance.” Val tapped at the screen. All her stats scrolled by. The right tab and toggle turned off her energy meter. She left it on. The energy level screen showed that the croissant she’d eaten had raised her energy meter by twenty points out of one hundred points.

  “Izzy,” Nate said. “I told Harry I’d have you to him in ten minutes. It’s about some Aries magic at the rhody tree. We need to hurry.” Nate’s officiousness was annoying, but when he focused on Isabelle, his smile lit up his face. Cascadance was fun.

  “Let me get the buns. Val, we’ll have to talk another time. I’m closing up,” Isabelle said, removing her apron and twirling her finger, which made the color on the walls hold still and light flick off. Ovens in the back chimed.

  “Nice to meet you,” Val said faintly, clutching the tablet in one hand and waving goodbye with the other as she left. Time to buy seeds and then do her farming thing with the fresh energy.