Roy leaned back against the cash register as he contemplated the blue screen in front of him. It had popped out a few minutes ago just as they had been preparing to serve breakfast, its appearance had thrown a wrench into things and the rest of their breakfast crew had rushed off in every which way.

The delay had been greeted with grumbles by those lined up and awaiting their ration of canned tuna, peas, and crackers. A few within the crowd who had more initiative than the rest had stepped up to fill in the roles left open by the disappearance of the ‘staff’. Roy wasn’t inclined to stop them.

Gazing past the blue screen sprawled out in his vision, Roy took in the view from outside the panes of glass that framed the front of the store. It was light out now, or as light as it could with the obscuring mist. The night now seemed like a distant dream, with his trance like journey and the odd fervor that had possessed him and the others in the search for Madelyn.

Night was supposed to be peaceful and nurturing, but his night had been restless and fuelled by some unknown energy. He couldn’t sleep and so he moved through the twilight hours as if it were noon. Now it was morning and the melancholic sun put a light on the weariness that the darkness buried away. He was tired, not physically so, but mentally.

He could keep his eyes open, and his arms darting back and forth to grab and deposit the cans of food he was responsible for. Then someone would say something and he would struggle to piece the words into a sentence.

Roy’s hands grasped at air, and he realized he was done, all the cans had been distributed.

Sitting down, Roy could finally direct his attention back to the message on the blue screen. His first read through had culminated in nothing, the information floated off him like steam and had no purchase, except that condensing feeling that whatever was written here was probably important.

Roy looked over the screen again and his mind registered nothing, this wasn’t going to work, he needed some rest. Sidling up against the furniture around him, Roy closed his eyes and took in a few deep breaths, just as things were about to clear up the earth began to quake and Roy felt his bones rattle and shake with abandon.

Roy’s arms fumbled,, looking for purchase, as his eyes snapped open. It took a moment for him to reorient himself, and allow the face of a middle aged man materialized in front of him.

“Hey, you alright buddy?”

“Oh, yeah uhh… I’m fine, just taking a break,” Roy sat up and let his hands unclench around the edge of the conveyer belt.

“Cool, you’ve been sitting here for a few hours so I wanted to check to see if things were alright,” the man lifted his hands off Roy’s shoulders.

“I’m good, thanks though,” he replied half-heartedly, what was with him and falling asleep in the middle of the day? It was an alright strategy for getting some down time during his English classes, but it was looking less spectacular now that everything had been thrown into a fantastical blender.

“I’ll see you around then,” the man waved and then scratched at his stubble before walking away.

Woken up by strangers after falling asleep in a public area, Roy felt like a vagrant. On the bright side, the nap had pulled open the curtain shrouding his thoughts and things zoomed into focus again. Restored of his English literacy, Roy directed his attention towards the blue screen again.

Hi Everyone!

I’m SUPER excited to be talking with everyone! My friends don’t think I can handle this, but I’m totally going to prove them wrong and show them how bright I am!

From now on I’m going to be talking about REALLY important stuff so you should definitely listen!

You know how you had that super helpful box appear every time you looked at someone else? It had their level, and HP, and even what they were! Those were made just for you! Cool right?

Buuuuut, from now on those won’t appear anymore. I don’t know why, Omi tried to explain it to me but it was super complicated and really boring! There are plenty of way more interesting things to do! I mean, you guys have so much cool stuff! Like brownies, and chocolates, and marshmallows!

Where was I… I think I’m done?

…

That was tons of fun everyone! Guess I'll see you later ~~☆

Every message seemed to have a different flavor to it, some were monotonous and robotic, and others were bizarre and eccentric. It was almost as if different people had been in charge of composing them, if that was the case, who were they, and how did they come to know so much? His own ignorance was truly as deep and as wide as the Atlantic!

For now, the greatest concern was not the style of the message or the identity of its sender, rather it was the content of it. Roy looked over at a passerby and tried to bring out the panel that would inevitable violate their personal privacy. However, his efforts were in vain, just as the message had said, it was no longer possible for him to inspect the basic information of others.

Did that extend to monsters as well? If so, he would no longer be clued in on their overall power, and that did not bode well for any of the survivors. It would hamstring their efforts to secure supplies and gain levels, since now they would have to err on the side of caution whenever something new popped up. In a world with magic, appearance could be deceiving; at least that was what the gaming obsession with killer rabbits had taught him.

That was a problem - of course it would be - but more so now than ever. He had worked up the conviction to go and pay the goblins another visit so he could get some questions answered, but with this new piece of news he was hesitant to carry through with his plans.

Then again, he had never planned to fight anything on his way to the goblin camp, so the change meant nothing. Running away would be just as effective regardless of whether or not he could identify the level of a monster. Of course there was always that nagging compulsion to fight stuff and level up, both for the positive benefits of greater strength and the precautionary benefit of slowing down his ever eroding CON score.

Thinking on the issue, it occurred to Roy that he could always ask the goblins for information regarding how powerful everything was. They were natives of that fantastical land and information of nearby flora and fauna would surely be important, especially since the goblins relied on gaining levels as much as Roy and everyone else did.

Roy stood up and shook his legs awake, they had been immersed in the water for hours now and a funny sensation was beginning to set in. He had flunked biology, but even then, he was sure that if he kept everything wet and soggy for too long he would have a different sort of fungal infection to deal with.

Maybe he could Defile a corpse or two for the heat and dry off his clothing; without the sun they were unlikely to dry by themselves anytime soon. But he wasn’t that desperate yet, the idea of using corpses as a source of light and warmth was outright disgusting.

Hurrying so that his conviction wouldn’t fray, Roy jogged to his room and donned his equipment. Pitchfork, dagger, pistol, and the odd trinkets in bag, Roy headed for the front of the store. He probably had all of the morning and most of the early afternoon for himself, if yesterday’s schedule was consistent.

Looking at it in light of his responsibilities, it was probably a good idea for him to tell someone he was heading out, leaving without a trace was probably unwise. It was better for the group, and better for him in case he were to get himself stranded somewhere.

Turning around again, Roy made his way to Lestrat’s office and knocked on the door.

“Hold on a second, I need to get dressed,” no sound of movement followed the girl’s words.

“Dress, dress, dress… I believe Mrs. Casper turned in a request yesterday for clothing on behalf of the women in her care,” mused Lestrat, followed by the quick shuffling of paper.

“Panties, bras, and stockings,” replied Madelyn in a matter of fact tone.

“Right, undergarments. Let’s see…”

Roy shuffled in place in front of the door, had he been forgotten? Once he had skipped a whole month of school without the school calling home, the fact that he slept in class and never turned in his work probably worked as camouflage in that instance.

Suddenly the door was swept open and Madelyn ushered him in. She still dressed in a somber black suit more fitting for a corporate dinner than the end of the world.

“That was quick,” his mother, when she was home, often took half an hour to get dressed and ready.

“I was joking; anyways, what warrants this sudden, but pleasant, visit?”

“Oh, I’m just here to say that I’ll be heading out, so yeah,” it felt weird having to sign out whenever he wanted to leave, even if he was doing so at his own volition.

“For some good old monster hunting?” she inquired as she took a seat on the ledge of Lestrat's desk.

“Ah, no. I need to go visit a few places.”

“By yourself? In this weather? With the local fauna as it is?” now that she had put it that way, heading out alone was probably ill-advised.

“Not the best plan huh? It’s important though and I’m not sure there’s anyone that’s willing to go with me.”

“Fear not Roy, I’d be more than happy to escort you!” Madelyn announced as she pulled at the lapels of her suit in a self-assured manner.

“Really? You don’t even know where I’m going,” not that he wouldn’t be glad to have her assistance, it just seemed a bit too easy. On the other hand, there really was no one else he knew that could accompany him; Lestrat and Leo had their own duties to attend to, and he was nowhere near familiar enough with the others.

“Well, I’m assuming you’re not going on a perilous quest to slay an evil wizard and restore order to the world. That would be a bit too high commitment for me.”

That was probably a joke too, “I’m going to go visit and talk to a group of goblins so I can learn a bit more about what’s going on.”

“Sounds terrific, let’s go,” Madely got up from where she perched on Lestrat’s desk and grabbed her sombrous greatcoat that lay tucked into a corner. The magazines strapped to the inside of the overcoat clacked with the movement.

“Hey Lestrat, I’m going out with Roy.”

“Going out…” the boy picked up a sheet of paper and eyed the contents, “Do you mind bringing back the items Mrs. Casper asked for? Here’s a list; oh, and here’s another list we wrote up in this morning at the meeting.”

Madelyn took the two sheets of paper and scanned the contents, “Toothpaste, soap, and toilet paper?”

“That’s right.”

“So sanitation products, right?” she questioned as her mouth twisted into a faint smile.

“Precisely.”

“What about sanitary pads, I’m sure there’s some demand for those?”

“G-good point, um, if it’s convenient…” Lestrat looked down and began to fumble around with the assorted stationary on his desk.

“Ah, then we mustn’t forget about condoms either! Both varieties of course.”

“Right, ah… unwanted, uh, pregnancies, would be… you know, bad, right?” Lestrat blabbered out as the pen he was toying around with flew out of his hand and landed with a clack on the makeshift floor.