Terrible Fucking Timing should be my middle name. I’m not sure if you’re allowed to have a middle name with spaces in it, but I used to know a guy with two middle names, so I’m sure that I could make it work, from a legal perspective. Or maybe I could hyphenate, the coward’s way out of shortening complex ideas.

All of this was a roundabout way of saying that I’d forced a reset last night so that I could test out some new Cards. [Journey And Destination] went in, so did [Forge In Flames], along with a couple of others that I just hadn’t tried yet. I’d opted not to risk [Smiling Lunge] for now, since I was really still trying to figure out what my capabilities even were, and relying on luck to get me out of tricky situations seemed… well, actually, like exactly my thing. Still, I’d made my choices for experimentation, which actually left me pretty spread out in terms of different mana pools I’d need to keep filled. But it got me closer to the Task of using a bunch of different cards, so I wasn’t complaining.

Immediately after that was when I’d decided to check what Tasks I had available, and found that (Investiture) was prepared to reward me for using Cards that cost ten or more of something, which was going to be a problem now that I’d cleared away all my resource pools. Also that (Infiltrator) would have given me something if I’d snuck into somewhere I wasn’t supposed to be, a job that would have been a lot easier if I’d bothered to notice it last night, and put [Aura Of Unconcern] back into rotation. Still, no use whining now, I wasn’t going to undo what little progress my mana had made.

See, the way my main Deck worked, my shitty , that is, was that every four hours, I got to choose one of those resources to raise the maximum value of. And those banked, too, so I didn’t lose any while sleeping; unlike my draws. So, when I woke up this morning, I’d had a few bits of magic to pour into expanding my options, and I’d promptly upped my Curiosity to two, so that I could test out [Journey And Destination] before I’d even had breakfast.

Personally, I’d hoped it was a teleport of some kind. I was wrong, as you probably guessed by the past tense of “hoped”, there, but what it actually was turned out to be kind of interesting anyway. A small flickering flame sprite in the shape of a card popped into my vision, marking a new status effect as the spell finished taking my Curiosity and doing something with it. I’d seen these before for other effects, and normally I could sort of guess how much time or energy was left in one of them by how bright and erratic the fire was. But in this case, it was just a solid, steady blue. So I focused on it for a second to let the details pour into my mind, and see exactly what kind of weird blessing I’d hit myself with.

“On foot, two and a half kilometers.” I read aloud to myself as I raided my fridge for leftover curry. A pretty confusing statement, but that was generally par for the course these days in my life. While I sat at my kitchen counter and tried to pretend my tongue was tough enough for the spice level I’d ordered last night, I pulled out my phone and started looking at local area maps.

Turns out it’s really hard to get the standard map app to just show you an exact circle around your location. But after five minutes of trying and failing to make my job easier, I just gave up and started guessing at what I was being pointed to.

“Park. Neighborhood. Taco Bell. Gas Station. Oh hell, that’s a main road, there’s a dozen things there.” I grumbled as I finished my food. If it was trying to send me to a specific place, then I’d basically have to go and walk a fifteen kilometer circle to figure out which one it was. Or, rely on accurate and constantly updating information from my little HUD here, to help me triangulate where I was supposed to be. I’d have to use *math*. It was already making me think in math, and that was just rude.

The other problem was that, for some reason, it specifically said “on foot”. My current theory was that this was some kind of karmic response to my leaving the house yesterday. I’d done it once, and was being punished for it by being asked to do it again. That was actually just silly, of course, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that I didn’t actually know anything about this spectral interface overlaid on my eyes and the literal arcane acts it permitted. I didn’t know if it actually *did* want me out of the house, or if it was encouraging me to exercise more, or if it secretly hoped I was hit by a bus. I didn’t even know if it could ‘want’ things, though if it did, that was pretty worrying for its own reasons.

Of course, it didn’t stop me from putting on my shoes and going out into the bright, chilly afternoon. It didn’t motivate me to do it quickly, either, and I ended up lounging around in sweatpants for an hour, using the excuse of drawing up to a max hand size again to browse Youtube before actually leaving.

The last thing I did on the way out the door as I psyched myself up for this short walk was to fire off [Potential]. My Curiosity always refreshed quickly these days, as there was always at least one thought boiling in my brain, wondering about what I can try out the next time I draw something specific. So I never felt bad about using the one-Curiosity-cost spell. The feeling of it was always interesting, too. [Potential], targeting myself because I’d never figured out if it *could* do anything to another person or thing, felt like a cup of hot chocolate on a rainy day. A thick blanket on a cold night. A good book, a quiet room, and a low yellowed light burning in the dark. It was comfort, and peace, and satisfaction.

It also gave me a point to improve a resource pool, which I immediately put into Spite.

I wasn’t sure if ‘dramatic irony’ was a stat, but if it was, I looked forward to never having to worry about resource management for *that* one.

Seriously, though. Growing my max Spite up to four was usually a priority for me after a reset, these days. Because it got me to my favorite and most instantly useful Card, [Under Cover Of Fortune]. It turns out, people deal with hostile actions on a constant basis. And ever since I’d been able to shut down some of them seemingly at random, it was like the feeling of having a tooth fixed that had been bothering you for months. A sudden absence of pain, that I sure as hell wasn’t giving up if I could help it.

I hummed to myself as I walked, half-vocalizing lyrics to a song I didn’t really remember the words to as I strolled through the end of summer. The seasons changed fast around here, and this was probably going to be the last day of sunlight, if not warmth, before the rain started for a while. I kept my interface closed, just generally thinking to myself as I walked, in no particular hurry to get where I was going.

Not that I knew where I was going anyway.

I actually usually kept the interface closed in public. Ever since the Great Google Glass Extinction Event back in the ancient days of 2015, it looked pretty out of place for someone to be frantically gesturing to themselves while walking alone down a sidewalk. And I was, if nothing else, extremely self-conscious of how random strangers passing by in their cars saw me. So the only thing I really had visible was the draw timer. I took advantage of that at a crosswalk to pull another Card into my hand, and got myself a [Wanderer’s Step] for my trouble. I should, at some point, up Grace so that I can actually try that one out, though since I’m not out for a hike in the middle of the wilderness, I kind of question how useful it could be.

I mean, I’m not stupid. It’s literal magic, so I know it’s going to do *something*. But it feels like it might be better suited to exploring the great outdoors, rather than sneaking around the suburbs.

Lost in my thoughts, I kind of drifted through the walk to the main road I was aiming for to start with, to try to find my destination. My plan, initially, was to start here, and check the status periodically to try to triangulate where I was meant to go. Maybe take a turn down the street, and just look over every business and fast food place for, I dunno, some kind of crisis that I was being guided to.

So I was a bit surprised when I opened up my interface to see that I’d closed almost all of the distance to whatever target it had set me on.

Instinctively panicking that I was missing something, I jerked my head around to try to spot whatever I was supposed to be looking for, only calming down once it became clear nothing was on fire. So, taking a breath and going against my better judgement, I kept the interface open so I could keep an eye on the status effect, flipped a mental coin, and went left.

Turned out that was the right direction. The distance kept ticking down as I went, and it was only a few blocks before it neared zero. “So, where the hell am I supposed to be here?” I asked out loud, following it up with a, “Sorry, not you.” To a passing man in a coat and tie.

There was nothing here. A car dealership, my favorite thai restaurant, a side street that just looped back around to closer to my apartment again. A few trees, leaves starting to turn colors, but fundamentally unthreatening. Nothing. Nothing of note, anyway. Unless the self serve car wash was somehow my destination.

Hell, maybe it was. I shrugged, and started walking toward it, and in just a few steps, the distance counter ticked down to zero. The status icon burned up, sudden and bright in my vision, and I flinched back from it. Hope nobody saw that.

What also caught me off guard was the immediate feeling afterward. It was a rush of energy, similar in texture to [Potential], but a lot more vibrant, and awake. I focused on it while it ran down my arms and into my fingers, and found that I was being offered a similar choice on what resource cap to increase. The feeling faded quickly, but the points still sat there in my interface, waiting to be used. All three of them.

So that’s what [Journey And Destination] did. Basically a self-assigned Task that rewarded stat increases in exchange for taking a short trip. A good deal, if one that was frustrating to someone like me who preferred not to walk everywhere like some kind of healthy human being.

I suddenly felt exhausted. Standing there on the sidewalk, leaning on the fence outside a car lot, watching traffic go by. It wasn’t the walk, that wasn’t enough to tire me out no matter how out of shape I’d let myself get. No, it was more just being existentially tired, down to my bones. Everything from the last week catching up to me. I briefly considered testing to see if [Forge In Flames] could manifest a cigarette and a lighter. The habit I’d kicked out of apathy and lack of cash a year ago suddenly feeling like a comfort that I could really use.

Ah, hell with it. I dumped another point into Grace so I could play with [Wanderer’s Step] later, one into Spite, and the last one into Determination, which brought me up to three.

Unfurling my Hand, I snagged [Forge In Flames] out of the row of Cards, and tried to feel what the Card wanted from me, rather that relying on the text it showed. I pushed the shape of the tool I wanted at it, showed it what it needed to be, tried to hold the image of a decent smoke in my head. And then, the Determination drained from my mana pool, and a blob of orange light folded itself into existence over my open palm. A second later, it resolved into a sleek metal box, and the lighter dropped into my hand.

I waited for a second, but no similar effect materialized a cigarette between the fingers of my left hand. “...Okay, fine. Only one thing at a time.” I fidgeted with the lighter for a while, smiling tiredly at the small flame. It certainly felt real, solid and cold steel even though it had only existed for a few seconds. I lowered myself down to take a seat on the curb, and watched the traffic go by while I tried to get a feel for how long this was going to last.

It was a nice afternoon. Just sitting, watching the cars and occasional pedestrian go by, enjoying the last breath of summer air. Even without restarting my tobacco addiction, it felt... not good, but peaceful, to just sit for a while. Not worry about moving around too much.

Of course, then I had the worrying thought that the longer I was outside, the more likely it was that a building caught on fire or a car crashed, and I’d be morally called upon to try to save someone or fix a thing. Sighing, I got up, shaking some feeling back into my legs. Time to head home, before anything went horribly wrong.

I got about one block toward home before I passed by a problem. On the other side of the street, a couple of dumbass teenagers yelling at each other, looking like the dumbest street fight ever brewing. I didn’t want to listen, I really didn’t. I didn’t care. Not today. I wasn’t feeling it, I just wanted to go home.

Then one of the boys shouted something about being owed twenty bucks, and slugged the other one.

Ugh. Okay. This was going to be happening.

I started flicking my hands around like a nutjob as I crossed the street casually toward them. Once for [Potential] again, pouring it into Spite. Then using all four of that Spite, which refilled nearly at once, for the [Under Cover Of Fortune] that had been sitting in my hand all day waiting to be deployed. Then to draw, picking up an [Archive Moment] that I didn’t have the time or inclination to use right now. And finally, to fling my still-existent lighter at the aggressor's head.

“Stop that.” I said, in the most bored and commanding tone I could, when I was halfway across the road and standing in the little island of dirt and trees.

It didn’t work, and the guy who wasn’t currently sprawled on the sidewalk yelled something offensive and probably sexist (I wasn’t really paying attention), lunged out into the street like he was going to try to punch me too, and promptly got hit by a car.

Even *I* didn’t see that one coming. But as [Under Cover Of Fortune] burned itself out, I grimly realized that ‘failed due to luck’ could, and *did* apparently mean a whole lot of possible failure conditions. Up to and including not noticing speeding vehicles.

Okay, so, the car was only going about twenty; this was a school zone after all. But still, fucking hell, that scared the shit out of me. And I kinda felt bad for the guy - I’d just wanted to stop a small fight, not hit someone with a Subaru.

Also, shit, I needed to get out of here. Maybe it was selfish of me, but I refused to be that one person that was always around when the police showed up to deal with a situation. I’d seen enough episodes of Supernatural to know how much of a bad idea it was to be noticed like that, especially if I wanted to keep my powers a secret until I was good enough with them to not need to anymore.

So I turned and ran. Just fucking booked it down the middle of the street. There actually weren’t a lot of cars, so after a half block, I cut over to the sidewalk and took a side street. And made the mistake of looking back, to see jackass’s buddy chasing me. He shouted after me to wait up, and I just straight up ignored that request. Heart pounding, I tried to put some distance between us, but as mentioned, I maybe wasn’t the best at running.

Taking the second best option, I ducked into one of the seemingly omnipresent car lots around this area, and started weaving between parked vehicles out on their asphalt desert. Still not responding to the angry “get the fuck back here” from my heels, I tried to keep steady enough to fan out my Hand while sprinting.

Hoping, *begging*, that this worked the way I needed it to, I burned off my pool of Grace, and swept my arm out in a wide swing in front of me. [Wanderer’s Step] blurred out into reality, a thin bubble of a color that wasn’t quite grey forming in the air between me and the structure of the dealership that I was rapidly approaching.

The the bubble rippled, and the air and warmth and sunlight around me seemed to stand still for a second, until the center of the strange distortion *popped*, and I hit the ground, legs pumping, with the building behind me.

I came out, slightly shaken but not totally unprepared, in the middle of their little maintenance bay at the back of the building. I caught an employee out of the corner of my eye as I ran back to a different connecting street to try to casually make my way home before my legs gave out, but he’d only seen me run past, not warp in. Hell, I wondered what that even looked like, from the outside.

When I arrived home, it was out of breath, covered in grimy sweat, and with my legs burning and strained like I’d just run a marathon. So, what I was getting out of this was that I needed either more exercise, or less time outside. I basically collapsed into my shower, letting the hot water do its job while I sprawled myself out in the tub, and reopened my interface.

One more draw to make, which got me [Blast]. A day late on that one, though I guess I’d never be using that on a human anyway. One more point, which went into Compassion. I was sure the guy was fine, but I needed to push myself up to twelve to just have access to [Triage And Stabilize] if-and-or-when it was needed. And then, out of habit, check Tasks.

And holy shit, if that wasn’t a surprise. I’d been hoping that jumping into the back of the dealership’s building would have given me (Infiltrator), and it did, though I was informed *now* that the security and degree of exclusion actually mattered to the reward, and all I got was a copy of a Card called [Eight Step], which consumed Determination over time to negate the energy cost of every eight step taken. That was actually really cool, and more persistent effects were welcome, but as far as Cards went, this was actually one of my lower powered options now.

But the other thing that caught my eye was that at some point (Escape Artist) had shown up again. I’d never gotten it the first time around, or bothered with it, since it was a low level. But much like (Infiltrator), that proved to be a clever ruse, and it scaled up with danger and cunning used.

Apparently, I’d used basically no cunning at all. It gave me no Cards as a reward, instead paying out with one additional Grace regenerated per hour. That was actually sweet, since, and let me tell you something secret, I am a *total fucking klutz* most of the time. Pretty much every dramatic victory I’ve had has come at either using a movement Card, or else falling on my ass while doing something cool. Grace was never going to be regenerating on its own. It was only until the next reset, though, but maybe I could find a way to make use of it until then.

And finally, (New Horizons). It wanted me to use fifteen different unique Cards. I was actually worried it was going to rotate out before I could get to it, because the Tasks that I’d locked in were both what I assumed were ‘easy’ repeats that I hadn’t been able to clear yet. But my little burst of testing today had pushed it over the edge, and I’d gotten the payout before it went away.

The payout came in the form of one {Beginner Locale Pack}. I’d never seen something like this show up before, but the meaning was instantly clear, and reinforced by the minor definition given. A booster pack, a bunch of extra cards. New *toys*. Hell, I’d hit someone with a car on purpose for this.

“No, not really. Don’t get any ideas.” I spoke aloud, just in case my maybe-sentient magical card game was listening.

The one caveat of this prize was that it came with the note “Contents dependent on local area.” Well hell, that could mean a lot of things. Should I go on another hike up a volcano and hope to get lava Cards? If I cracked it at my job, was I going to get spells that made data entry easier? That was so vague as to be unbelievably anti-helpful.

I knew there must be a way to maximize benefit from it, obviously. There was probably somewhere out there that was brimming with conceptual power, that would net me mighty spells beyond the ken of mankind. And all I’d have to do was seek it out and use this there to gain access to them.

That ain’t me. In case that’s not clear. So here’s what I got from the pack when I metaphorically ripped the wrapper off, sitting there under the cascade of my shower, and pulled five new prizes out.

[Bite Of The Water Wolf]. Costs Spite, lots of redacted words, something about hard water. Creepy, but useful if I need to take over a nuclear power plant. [Soothing Cloud]. Costs a fuck ton of Compassion, and again, has most things redacted, but ‘manipulates local weather’ seems awesome, even if it’s only manipulating it toward rain, instead of away from it. Next up was [Once Unnoticed], which let me spend Deceit to *blank one short term memory of my existence*?! *That* wasn’t even close to okay!

And yet, without really meaning to, I was already considering how I could Jedi-mind-trick my way to probably never having to work again. Inversely, it would be almost impossible to fire me if my boss could never remember me being late. This might actually be worth exploring for ethical reasons, too; seeing if I could expand it to maybe target other people and offer my services as a trauma therapist.

Fourth in the line was [Tears Of The Maiden], which didn’t say what it did, or even what it cost, but made me feel personally slighted somehow. And finally… another copy of [Potential].

It was weird how something could feel new, when it was the one Card you had the most of. But it was the first repeat I’d seen, ever, so it stood out.

Ever. Sheesh. It’d been a month, tops. And between work, constant crises, and my own moping attitude half the time, the days had just flown by. I couldn’t even tell you how many days I’d wasted, downplaying how useful the Cards were, or just wanting things to go back to being grey and boring so I could lose myself in it. One week of solid rewards had broken me out of that, quite nicely.

At this point, I was almost looking forward to the Tasks refreshing, just to see what my next adventure could be. Lounged there in the shower, I felt like queen of the world as I drew my next card to start refilling my hand with options and solutions.

[Journey And Destination].

I scowled at it and closed my Hand. I’d have an adventure tomorrow.