Rule 15

Game Mechanics Are Weird & Art is Fancy

Statement: Leon’s abilities are perhaps the oddest among us. Not his shield or stun hammer, but the way he labels everything as a game. As we traveled I asked about the ability, and despite his hatred for me as a monster, he seemed eager to share game stats with anyone.

Now, this isn’t to say that Allegra and Callisto didn’t see events the same. They used terms like adds, enrage moves, stuns, and so on. Those made sense in the terms of a world where combat thrived but were clearly more about scripted actions and responses. As if monsters only performed a set number of moves. What then, if I attacked with an enrage fist, changed the move midstream, and performed something else? Would they call my moves a glitch?

The woods were utterly still, save for the four of us. I kept an eye out for monsters and watched my party. As Hawthorn, we were on the same side. As Mister Underwood, our truce was one of mutual convenience, likely followed by vicious backstabbing. They still had uses. I would face eventual betrayal.

From Little Shade, I didn’t mind the pain upon separation. She often helped me gain far more than the cost of healing. Long term gains were worth a little pain. Traveling with these three might well go in the other direction, especially since part of deal included navigating out of the park, dropping off the trash can, and going back in.

I wanted to be ready in case Callisto or Leon valued the golden thread I’d taken from the dead monster. Knowing my luck, Leon’s video game views would let him see a dollar sign or some item checkbox. Getting myself quality clothes was far more important than providing him a toupee or giving Callisto a golden lasso.

“Tell me more about this game you see,” I said to Leon.

He glared.

My shoulders lifted. “We’ve got to fill time somehow.”

Even if he annoyed me, he also took his duty seriously. I had sort of taken over his role as a tank. He normally got beat on while I did damage. As Mister Underwood, I could easily take both positions. Being upset over that, me being an inhuman monster, and having unfair advantages, would all be enough to set anyone on edge. I didn’t want to be friends but knowledge had value.

“Tell him about the party windows. That should make him lose his mind.” Callisto took the lead while I carried the large trash can. Allegra stood between us.

“Fine. I see party windows with everyone’s face, health, mana, rage. That kind of thing. I also see damage charts. And they glow different colors depending on who’s doing what.”

“That—” I paused and tried to picture it a few times. It made no sense with the world’s setting. Unless one accounted for magic. Maybe one of the shopkeepers at the mall had a video game store. “How would you even purchase an item like that? I myself purchased strength, as you can see. Toughness. So I could travel this world without relying on others. I did not take note of anything that made this world a game.”

“This part’s the best,” Callisto muttered. She didn’t sound excited in the least. Her head shook and every few steps she’d stop to pick at her hole filled clothes.

Leon deflated and hung his head. “When I… was in that place. I had just finished my shift and parked the bus. That’s what I do—did. I drove buses, and I had my keys in one hand and wanted to go home and play this game I’d been waiting for all week. Then they showed up.” The ‘they’ in this story felt obvious. It did help to know we’d all seen the same stewardesseses. “And it was like my game world had come to life. Like in those stories, or mangas. Do you know?”

My eyebrow lifted.

Leon shook his head again. “Of course not. You probably weren’t a geek. You were probably popular and worked out a bunch. Sports and football. Go team! Right?” His arm clanked as he gave a halfhearted fist pump

“Negative. I do like throwing centered activities, but not football.”

It was weird to be talking this much to them. Normally we barely spoke. When I was Hawthorn, we were all business. Go here, murder all the monsters. Go there, accomplish this task. I almost enjoyed conversing like a normal person.

Otherwise the only thing I’d be left with in this world was silence. At times it was valuable, but I would have probably died ages ago without assistance. Part of me questioned the assumption. I could have gone from house to house and survived off canned goods.

“So, I used contacts before. For my eyes.” He huffed and started again. “I asked for them to be turned magical. To make me see all the game stats of this world. Like in the stories I used to read. They gave me drops, from a toad with wings, and put them onto the contacts as a spell.”

“And we’ve been looking for another one,” Callisto added. “No luck so far. Apparently toads with wings aren’t that common. Or even toads. Or wings.” Her voice lowered as she continued talking. “Fuck, I would kill for some good barbecued wings.”

“Anyway it was gross, but they let me see the world with a lot more information. Like who’s being focused by monsters. Different colors to tell me how dangerous the attention is, or numbers for health. After working with these guys for a while I figured out this was perfect for tanking. I could actually help people by making sure monsters focused on me.”

“Masochist,” Callisto responded.

Leon hit his boiling point and lashed out at Callisto. “I’m trying to keep people safe! It’s the same thing you do!”

She spun. “You do it wrong.” Callisto pointed at Leon using her sword tip.

“You let me do it. You said it would be best. You helped me find this damn armor! Your stupid ability made it all happen.”

“Because it will save the most lives. I know it will. But people still die!” She whirled back and hacked at branches. We were near the park exit but were returning by a different path. The overgrowth out here was incredible.

They both quieted. I leaned over to Allegra and whispered, “What?”

She took a moment to answer. “When we first… came out. There were hundreds of us. We fought for days about who should lead. We made one group, and a man calling himself Coach Madison formed another. I went with Callisto, since her power allows her see the best decisions to reach the goal. But out of the few hundred we started with there were still losses.”

“Not another word, Allie!” Callisto said.

I frowned. From the brief explanation, I could infer a few different pieces of information. The idea that there had been a lot more survivors fit with my own world view. Someone close to Callisto had died. Leon had performed the role of tank but failed to keep monsters off someone. That someone had probably been closely tied to her. A boyfriend or relative.

My teeth ground. The idea that Callisto might have had a boyfriend in this world aggravated me for a number of screwed up reasons. First, it meant she’d gone out with someone after me. The reverse had not been true. We’d broken up shortly after the accident and I hadn’t dated a soul since then. It also meant she was hung up on whoever this first person was that died, more so than Hawthorn’s passing.

Post Note: It is one thing to be tossed aside. It’s another to be replaced. The worst knife of all is to learn you never mattered in the first place. In that, Callisto did more damage to me than any of my misguided lies could possibly do to her. And she did so unknowingly.

Callisto broke through the latest wall of wilderness. She stepped onto a rocky path, looked both ways, and strode off to the right somewhere. “Come on. Drop your stupid webbing off and let’s be gone!”

I could have confirmed my suspicions with either Leon or Allegra, but I didn’t want to. My chest remained tight from the sudden rush of implications. It was strange, how I could knife monsters without a second thought, make plans to betray my own allies if something went sour, and distrust my own father’s existence. Yet, relationships still cut to the core.

Post Note: I didn’t like feeling emotions. If there had been a mental switch to turn them off as easily as I did pain, I would have pressed it in a second. In many ways, this small admission hurt worse than the betrayal to come.

Arson and his cart sat in the same spot. Callisto dug through the back for replacement clothes. I wanted pants as well but after our last headache over garments, it seemed like a poor topic to bring up. Besides, they’d simply get ruined again. As long as my privates were covered I’d be okay.

I dropped off the trashcan. Arson jumped and shot me a dirty look through the edge of the fog. He stayed in the back of the cart and I lumbered to the park entrance. It gave me time to try to process all the stuff I’d been told.

There were still concerns. Leon shared with me some of his secrets to power. He did so, even after having tried to kill me earlier. That led to several possibilities. Either he had to tell when someone asked, he didn’t care enough to hide it, he didn’t hate me, or he offered information to me in hopes of getting some in return.

I thought about the information I’d given away. None of it had been false, though obviously they could misinterpret it. I hadn’t bought strength or toughness when in the line, I’d asked for something to help me survive. Strength was purchased from Mister Yuck Yuck. Toughness was simply a bonus.

This last day had certainly showed a new side to the people I tentatively called companions. They were closer to companions in this form, an admittedly scarier form in my mind, than they were to a normal-looking me. It might be the near human nature of being Hawthorn. It might be this “dryad” ability clouding the women’s minds. They might not like having felt drugged by my presence.

“This time we’ll lead.” Callisto brushed by with the other two following in a tight group. Allegra at least gave me a slightly sympathetic smile.

There were still spiders. With the big boss out of the way, the small ones were simply annoying. Leon in plate ensured Allegra barely had to heal any poisons. Web amounts shrank as we veered right at the park entrance.

“So, where’s this rock?” I asked.

Allegra fell back a step and held up a map. Markings filled in on their own, displaying small wavy bits for bushes and a dotted line showing our path. There was a symbol by some cartoon feet which represented us. I liked my own feet, large and shoeless.

The markings changed and seemed to zoom out. They didn’t actually zoom, but the small bushes and other notations danced closer together.

“We were over here.” She pointed to the left side of an area. Small drawings of spiders were all over and webs between trees. We’d been wandering in a range spanning an eighth of the overall park.

“And we’re headed here.”

I followed her finger back to our position, then out to another drawn in area. We headed along a new route slightly off the main road. I couldn’t see any obvious landmarks. It might be six hours or so before we reached the rock.

“Why not utilize the primary thoroughfare?” There had to be a good reason for not taking the main road I’d noted.

“A pack of wolves use it to travel quickly. I—oh here.” She tapped the piece of paper. Dots formed. “These aren’t perfect. It uses a lot of mana to keep them updated. Between healing, mapping, and simply keeping my armor in place, I don’t have a lot to spare.”

“She’s at about half mana constantly,” Leon said.

Allegra tapped the paper again. It shifted to pictures of our faces with a bunch of penciled in bars. Most were full. Mine had a blocked-out portion near the end. “I can sort of see it how Leon does if I concentrate. But see, windows, bars. Mana. Health. I don’t like this view of the group though. The full body pictures are easier for me to use. People are art, not bars.”

If I inferred her picture right, the blocked portion on the end of my health was kind of a cap on my status. It probably had to do with my body’s ongoing recovery from the blown apart limbs. It had only been a few days since that event and I noticed that one arm was weaker than the other when surviving the explosive fist.

Ahead of us Callisto stopped her baby spider murder to whisper, “We’ll need to rest before we break through the rock. Something bad always happens we when go through barriers. Plus you’ll need to recover. Those attacks seem to be hurting you as a backlash, right?”

I nodded. I was also beyond tired. I’d been going non-stop since leaving Mister Yuck Yuck’s sewage kingdom.

“I keep telling you, this place is exactly like a game. Break down the rock blocking the entrance, and we’ll get a battle event,” Leon said.

“Whatever.” Callisto sighed and cleaned her sword on her pants. “But you’re probably right. The cave gives me a creepy feeling, but that’s got to be where the item is, right Allegra?”

She tapped her map again. More dots were scattered all around the park. Some bigger than others. The feet that had been on the map were replaced by thick, solid dots. She pointed at the spot we traveled to. Beyond it was a series of small dots that could mean anything.

“There’s something powerful there. I can’t tell what. We haven’t explored the back half of the park either. It’s outside my range.” It was also completely unmarked on her map.

I hadn’t ever taken note of how versatile her abilities were. Most days, I’d simply accepted that Allegra did “a lot of stuff” and life went on. Clearly she could use the piece of paper and her powers to replicate almost any type of data she wished. Without paper, she’d probably be useless.

“That’s some ability.”

“Thanks.” She glanced around and waited to make sure the other two were distracted before continuing. “You never showed this much interest… before. You know.”

I shrugged. There was no good way to tell the truth and not give away too much information. Even misleading her felt a bit rude. Allegra had been nothing but kind to me since day one. It was she who crawled back into the market and worked to rescue me. It was Allegra who healed our broken bodies. She had a more mature body in every sense of the word, but it was easy to put aside any sense of lust. It was more like she was an attractive nurse—in bathrobes.

“Why the sudden change? Is it a compulsion?” she asked.

I nodded. That was a clear enough answer. With every form I felt different. The lust factor was a compulsion. Mister Underwood’s speech was an unexpected side effect. There were obviously clear differences caused by the bodies.

Post Note: I feel—at times—I’ve recounted these differences a lot in this journal. Part of it was realizing the ways my life had changed with each new situation. Then there was a simple weighing of pros and cons. That is ongoing—especially when my life is on the line.

She smiled. “I kind of like you more this way.”

I snorted.

“It’s the muscles. They have deep pockets to them. The shadows do more. And it’s easier to see you. You know, right?”

I nodded to her question. This form didn’t stealth like my other two. I wondered why Hawthorn and Lance were so alike compared to this body. “Maybe when we get back, you can show me those muscles some more? In a private setting?”

“Oh dear.” My blood pressure shot up and face heated. That didn’t sound like Callisto’s normally aggressive moves. She’d always been extremely forthright. Older women, though calling her old was clearly misleading, might have a different approach.

The nurse having the hots for me was not an issue I’d been prepared to tackle. Sure she’d shot Hawthorn a glance or twenty over the last month. I attributed that to being in my other form.

“Oh, god. No. For art. Purely for art. I want to try sketching you. Not with this magic. With my own supplies.” Her hands fluttered causing the bag to bounce and her robe to part slightly at the top. I winced and averted my eyes to be polite. If nothing else, I could control this form as long as there was no perfume around.

“Ah.” I flushed even harder. Now she knew I’d been thinking other thoughts.

“It would be amazing. There’s very few people with such insane muscle definition. It might be a bit comical to draw but I love a challenge. I mean. It’s that or dead people. Or the monsters that try to kill us. It’s not the same as having an up-close model, and I miss that.”

“You were an art student?”

“Partially. It feels like a lifetime ago now.”

Our words had picked up in volume. Callisto and Leon still fought small packs of monsters while we stayed behind. None of the orbs went to me, which was fine. I’d gained too many from the last boss anyway, and still hadn’t established their value. Maybe on the way back I’d ask Leon more about experience and how that worked into our skills.

The small bits I’d picked up about everyone were certainly interesting. As with everything else, it brought more questions than answers.

We continued and I stayed in the back happily chatting with Allegra. She showed me more of how they viewed the world and their strengths. I filed away the information. Leon’s abilities were useful but narrow. Allegra said she could tap into them a bit with her pages and started pulling up our “character sheets” as Leon saw them. They had brawn, coordination, and a bunch of other names for measuring people.

Post Note: I found it rather stupid. On a cold day, flexibility would obviously go down. Why bother tracking all that information? Apparently, Leon even saw rankings for people within the same levels. We each got a frame, which Allegra admitted she couldn’t copy exactly. We were given rarity rankings in his mind.

“It’s very intriguing but I can’t see how this helps.”

“It keeps me away from monsters that are too strong.” Leon shuddered.

“Have you met a monster you can’t kill?” I asked. “Because I have not. Based on Allegra’s fascinating depiction of our malty quartet, our powers roughly average out. Monsters grow increasingly tough but so do transformed humans who still survive. Yourselves providing a prime example. No sensible game would be designed this way.”

Leon stopped his escort and paused to yell at me. “People have died! Not everyone finds it easy. There’s someone fucking with us, making it seem like a game and feeding us levels with those damn orbs. If it’s not a game then why do we gain levels?”

Callisto pinched her nose and closed her eyes tightly.

“Perhaps a form of energy filtration,” I offered.

“For what? Why do we get them? Why do they go into our items? What is happening to the people around us? Why are there endless monsters? There’s got to be a big boss. There’s got to be some goal to reach. Levels matter. Skills matter. Finding better items matter. We need all the strength we can get to simply survive this world.”

Callisto stepped up and put a hand on Leon’s shoulder. Despite their constant bickering, the way she glared at me while frowning said I’d been wrong to ask. “Why does it matter how he sees things? We’re all doing the best we can to survive. If his view helps us live to fight another day, then so be it.”

Leon’s eyes tightened and he looked wounded. “I see what I see. There’s more monsters than humans. It’s the end of days and I’m doing my best.”

And with that simple statement, they were no longer talking to me. Leon and Callisto locked eyes briefly.

“I know. I still think you’re a tool and Mayor Kent is up to something. But you’re doing your best. Just keep trying.”

“Are you telling me that because you’ve forgiven me or is your ability telling you I need to be coddled?” he asked.

Callisto looked down and tightened her face into a resolute glare. “It doesn’t matter.” She stepped away and pulled a tree branch to the side. A small cliff face greeted us. In the cliff face, a large bolder blocked a cave entrance. The rock’s coloring was dark and it almost looked like a scene from some video game.

I eyed the two ahead of me. Maybe their strange views on the world had rubbed off. The discoloration reminded me of those old puzzle games from years ago. If we planted a bomb by the entrance it would surely open while musical notes jangled to indicate success.

Callisto thumbed to the huge bolder. “Here’s the rock. We’re taking a break, when everyone’s at one hundred percent, we smash it and loot whatever’s inside.”