It sounded good to me, other than the getting hit part. I knew what I was going to take. I wasn’t sure how I was going to justify it to the girls, but I figured that once the saw the reason, they’d understand. For my first class, I took Monk. I wasn’t sure how to do it, so I just announced it to the world, “I take Monk as my first class”. On my status sheet, the question mark that followed the Class disappeared and the word, Monk appeared. Just as I started to choose my second class, Tanya said, “Stop! DON”T YOU DO IT!”

“What?” I asked. “What shouldn’t I do?”

“Don’t take Rickshaw Driver as your second class!”

‘How in the hell did she figure out that I was going to do that,’ I wondered. “Why not?” I asked. “Look we’ve got between 16 and 24 miles to travel to get to my mom’s place. By the way, Janet, you’re welcome to come. Actually, you’re expected, alright? Anyway, we’ve got a rickshaw and I thought it just made sense, plus believe it or not, there are some pretty significant class attribute bonuses. +2 Strength, +1 Constitution, Vitality stats per level and, for instance, I’d gain the skills to cross things that you wouldn’t expect, like at level 5 I can cross streams or creeks without a bridge. Plus each level, I go faster.

“I don’t care,” she said. “It’s more important that you get some magic. Healing or Damage. Probably Damage, since you seem to have figured out healing ‘cause I don’t see your leg bleeding anymore. Pulling a rickshaw is a skill, one that you can get by doing it. All you’d get from that class is some fairly unexceptional stat bonuses and some skills that I hope you’ll either not need by the time you get to the levels that you’d acquire them as a Rickshaw Driver or have figured out another way to get an equivalent skill or spell. Probably a better skill or spell than the ones you’d get from the class!

“Darn!” I thought. “She’s right! And she sounds like my mother. Is it wrong that I’m attracted to her? No, she’s hot. But that doesn’t explain how she knew I was going to do it,” I thought. But when I looked at her kind of red, grouchy face, I decided to postpone that line of questioning, for a long time, maybe forever.”

“Ok,” I said. “For my second class, I choose, Wizard.”

Stop trying to step to the head of the line. Do you see Wizard in the classes offered? Let me give you a hint. No, you don’t. If you want magic, take Mage like a good little apprentice.

“Ok,” I said. “For my second class, I choose, Mage.”

“Turns out the system is pretty literal,” I told both of the girls. “ If it says these are the classes you can take, then those are the classes you can take. Evidently, Wizard is a different class than Mage. And, you know what I said about calling The Collective, They or Them. Well, I changed my mind, I’m just going to call it The System or, if talking to it, System.”

“Thank you for that,” Tanya said. “Ok, for my class, System, I’d like to take “Mage.” From the pleased look on her face, I’m pretty sure that her class was changed to Mage.”

Just then, Janet spoke up and said, “System, I’d like to take as my first class, Cleric.”

‘Huh,’ I thought. ‘Didn’t see that one coming.’ Judging by her face she must have recognized that Tanya and I both were a little puzzled by that. “I figure that the System starts you off with basic classes. As we level up, the options get more customized. Remember, the Mage, Wizard/Necromancer/Summoner bit? Well, I want to be either a Druid or a Shaman or something nature-ish and I figure that the best way to do that would be to start as I want to proceed. Cleric seems closer to Shaman or Druid than Mage does, you know?”

“Uh, are you Indian, I mean Native American, you know what I mean? Well, I guess what I’m asking is what’s with the clothes?”

Tanya punched me, hard, it actually hurt my arm where she hit me. “Ow!” I yelled.

“No, it’s alright,” Janet said. “I grew up on a reservation. I am a Blackfoot Indian. My mom was a hippy that fell in love with an Indian man and stuck with him. He was a sheriff on the reservation up near Glacier National Park. Anyway, one night he and my mom were shot by some meth heads that he stopped to help alongside the road and I moved back to live with my rich grandparents in Hollywood. I was thirteen and an orphan and trying to recover from losing my folks. Obviously, it didn’t go well. Anyway, I loved nature, part of the reason that things went so wrong for me was just the change in environments. But looks like that’s not going to be a problem anymore, is it?” she said as she pointed to the newly changed land that used to be a parking lot, but now wasn’t. The clothes were because I was on my way back from a Powwow and on the way back to the motel the guy I was with started carrying on, so I just got out of the car and said ‘see ya’ to him. After my grands died I started going to Powwows to reclaim some of the bits of me I left behind. Anyway, I figured I’d Uber back to the motel and get my car and stuff and take off. Now, I’m not worried about it. I’ll let someone else have the rickshaw,” she said and smiled.

Still holding my arm where Tanya had hit me, I said, “Wow,” I feel like I’m getting told everything about you, but am not sharing back. Is there anything that you need to know about me or Tanya? I get the feeling that we might be depending on each other a lot, so I’m willing to dish if necessary?”

“No, I’m good,” she said. “I’ve been listening to you too and Tanya and I have been talking. You’re both good people, I can tell. What I’d like to know is the plan, if we’ve got one? I’m going to say us because I feel like there is an us here. Like I said, I trust you two.”

“Thanks,” I said. “What about it, Tanya? Are you in or are you making other plans?”

“I’m in,” she said. “You know my history or as much of it as anybody does. Just in case though, orphan, high school graduate, college applicant, the only family (if you could call it that, that I have) is a pervert for a step-father, so I don’t really have anyone else to turn too.”

“Ok,” I said. “I’m in too. I do have someone and that’s where I’d like us to go. My mom was on her way to ruling the world, it sounds like I’m kidding, but I’m really not. She knew Warren Buffett personally. Met Jeff Bezos. Said he kept trying to look down her dress. Now I need to go make sure she’s alright. She married young, had me, lost her husband (my dad) and started making a huge fortune based on some serious seed capital that my dad won in the lottery.

“I spoke with her just before the Apocalypse happened. Funny that I always thought that the Apocalypse would be Russia or China lobbing nukes at us, but I guess that’s not the way that it happened. But I guess old St. John got the time about right.” I looked up and noticed that both women were looking vaguely annoyed.

“Sorry, sorry!” I said. “I tend to ramble. Anyway, before the Apocalypse, we spoke. She was still alright. She has a place just down the road from here about 16 miles - at least it used to be about 16 miles. I’m not sure if our geography stayed the same. I expect not. Anyway, it was just on the other side of Sand Springs. It’s up on a hill there, she owns most of the land for miles around. She kept quietly buying it up whenever anything came on the market. Even making offers on stuff that wasn’t. Anyway, she’s got servants, security guards, maids, even greenhouses. Plus she’s my mom. I figure we can make it there and figure out what we’re going to do next. She’s a planner. Plus, you know where The System said “we’ll be converting all real monetary wealth to a gold standard” well if that’s the case, my mom’s going to be sitting on a dragon’s hoard. I figure I got a couple of gold for a trailer and a twenty-year-old Cadillac. She must have really raked it in. But believe me, though, it’s not about the money. It’s about her. She can plan like nobody’s business. When I called her, she listened, then got off the phone to start trying to adapt. I bet by now she’s literally the “Wizard of Wall Street” and has thought up at least three plans for the future with each one having a couple of contingency plans. Plus, well, I told her I’d see her soon, that I was on the way. If I don’t show, she’ll be coming after me. What do you two think?”

Tanya said, “I told you before, I was in. I’ve literally got nowhere to go except back to a run-down trailer that I’m renting about three blocks from here. Assuming it’s even still there and not some gold coins in the Land Lord’s pocket. I don’t own it or the furniture in it. Going to your mom’s place sounds like a plan. Plus I want to meet her. She sounds boss.”