As we're walking towards the Xylphys gates, I look over at Baby again. I don't understand most of what he was saying, but there was one thing I did want to ask about.

[What did you mean when you said you died?]

He jumps slightly at the question, grinning shamefacedly. "Yeah, I didn't mean to say that. It just sort of slipped out in the heat of the moment."

[So what did you mean by it?]

Walking a little closer to me, he whispers, "Fine, I'll tell you, but keep it down."

I wait patiently as we continue walking towards the gates, reducing the range of my telepathy to just me and him.

A moment later, he rubs the back of his head nervously, then says, "Uh, actually, could you just... I don't know, read my mind or something? Can you do that?"

Joule snorts. [Of course not. I may not have a clue how Null's telepathy works, but I know that he can't read minds. That wouldn't make sense at all.]

He seems disappointed. "Oh. I guess that makes sense. Well, no reason to hide it anymore."

Squaring his shoulders, he takes a deep breath. "I died on a different planet called Earth. Somehow, I-"

Joule cuts him off. [Oh, you're a carnie!]

Grinding to a halt, he stares at me, clearly trying to look at Joule. "I'm a what?"

[A carnie! You know, a reincarnator? Noah deals with you guys all the time. You died on some alternate universe Earth, usually in Japan for some reason, and then you talk to some big powerful entity, get some sort of cheaty ability that no one else has, then eventually get corrupted by power and take over the world. Is that more or less accurate?]

Baby's mouth is hanging open. "That's... it's happened to more people than just me? And I'm not going to take over the world. That'd be dumb for a lot of reasons."

The other humans look at us a little strangely, as it looks like a rather one-sided conversation, but they seem to understand that it's private.

[Well, yeah. It seriously happens all the time. I mean, come on, if you're going to make a hero who's supposed to save the world, at least pick one of your own residents.]

Baby stares at the ground while walking, a little dazed. "I thought I was the only one..."

[So, what's your broken-as-crap ability? Every carnie has one.]

He seems a little annoyed, but answers regardless. "I gain experience and skill points twice as fast. Aside from that, I can survive a fatal hit once a week, which was how I survived when that giant shell-monster hit me. My health points dropped faster than an anvil off a building." He chuckles at his joke.

I'm still wondering about one thing. [What do you mean by experience and skill points, and what are health points?]

As I ask the question, I spread the blanket of telepathy back out so everyone can hear it. Everyone looks at me strangely. Surprisingly, Katrina is the first to speak. "Wait, do you not follow the System?"

[What system?]

Alice flips her left hand upward and presses the center of her wrist with her right thumb. Baby whistles in surprise, staring at a point above her left hand. "Crap, you got some good stats. Weaponless Fighting level nine? Mine is still at eight."

[...What are you looking at? There's nothing there.]

They stare at me again, and then Dylan says in surprise, "You can't see it?"

[See what?]

Alice shakes her head in shock, returning her arm to her side. "You... you're not part of the System. Whatever Noah did to you, you can't access the System's abilities."

Joule sounds very curious. [What do you mean? I've detected a system several times, but it's never tried to interact with Null or anything. I assumed it was just some universal law that didn't exist in-] She cuts off her sentence abruptly. [Wait, so you can get powers with the System? I thought it only worked with carnies!]

Dylan nods, thinks about it, then shakes his head. "They're not powers, although where they come from has been a topic of debate for so long it was almost banned a while back. They're called Skills, and the System also lets us improve our stats, the measurement of our physical abilities. I didn't know it was possible to be excluded from the system."

I'm suitably annoyed. [Why would I be excluded?]

He shrugs, stumped. "I don't know. I can't really think of anything except that Noah had something to do with it. It's a real shame. You'd probably be pretty powerful if you could use Skills."

I think about it for a moment. [Maybe I can.]

Joule sounds interested. [What are you thinking?]

[We figured out how to use the Flamethrower from that anteater. We made Frost Bite from that pig. Are those Skills?]

She's intrigued, I can feel it. [That... is a very good point.]

Turning her attention to Dylan, she asks, [Is there a skill called Flamethrower used by a type of anteater in the Hiding Forest?]

He thinks about it for a moment. "Well, yeah, actually. Why do you ask?"

Joule focuses on me, shortening her telepathy to just me. [Null, don't tell them that you can acquire their Skills by eating creatures that use them. They'd probably think that you were planning on eating them. I'll try and figure out more about this System, but in the meantime, just be a tourist.]

[What's a tourist?]