"You look," Ashley titled her head as she spoke. "Different."

I rolled my shoulders.

"Something feels different," I replied.

I pulled up my information on my tablet.

[Mason Yannick]

[Level 2 Quick Brawler Total XP: 1410/3000]

[Felspawn: +2 Agi, +1 Vit]

[Strength: 9]

[Vitality: 10]

[Agility: 14]

[Charisma: 10]

[Perception: 11]

[Will: 7]

"I'm a Felspawn," I said. "What does that even mean?"

Now that I had the time to pay attention my lower back felt weird and my forehead was sore.

"Do I have horns?" I asked rubbing my forehead.

"No," Bruce said. "You've got a nice set of fangs and your ears are pointed."

"Huh," I grunted.

I ran my tongue along my teeth. My incisors had elongated into a full set of fangs. I shook my head to get back to the moment at hand.

"What are these shacks?" I stepped closer to one as I spoke.

"Lockers, I guess," Ashley said leaning into the doorway of one. "This hall was lined with them."

"We should look for loot," I said. "The stuff in my bag changed into items."

I opened the thin wooden door of the closest shack. A New World Codex sat in the middle of the floor. I moved on to the next.

"Loot?" Ashley asked. "You realize how weird you sound, right?"

"I know," I didn't stop my search. "I could just be passed out at the bottom of the stairs in the main building. There was a leak in the chemicals and I'm tripping out of my head. This could all be a dream. Until I wake up, or whatever happens, I'm going to just go with it. Our lives are a game now. You're an Elf, he's a goblin, and I'm a Felspawn. It doesn't matter if you believe me. Trust me for now and look for something useful."

"Found something," Bruce called from across the pathway.

I looked over my shoulder. He held a tablet up to show us. His head tilted to the side as the thin stone rectangle began to glow. Tiny globes of light drifted along his arm before surrounding his head. His entire body began to glow. Bruce screamed as he disappeared in a flash of light.

A vague afterimage of his form danced before my eyes. My ears were ringing. I leaned against the shack to keep my balance. My vision was too blurry to make out anything beyond fuzzy blobs of color. I fumbled my way into the shack I had just searched. It was a tight fit, but it got me out of the hallway. The clowns were still on the other side of the door. I would be completely useless if they broke through now. My vision finally started to clear in the dim shack interior.

[Contact Added: Bruce Nome]

"Bruce?" I called.

"Here," he warbled in reply.

"What happened?" Ashley asked as she came out from one of the other shacks.

A window hovered in the space before the goblin.

"Tablet synchronized," he read. "Class unlocked. Attributes activated. Quests unlocked."

"You're a PC now," I quickly added. "Player character."

"I know what a PC is," Ashley said with a sigh. "What does the rest of it say?"

"Level zero goblin minion," he muttered.

"That will change," I said. "I think. Maybe. Focus on looting."

"You know what's odd? None of the mobs have dropped loot," Bruce said.

"How do we know?" Ashley called from inside her shack. "We haven't had time to check."

[Studded Leather Armor - Medium]

[Durability: 20/20]

I didn't hesitate to equip the new armor.

"Bruce," I said. "Can you wear light armor?"

"I guess," he answered.

"Try it," I said as I tossed my old armor over to him.

The leather armor snapped into place as it touched his outstretched hand.

"That's," he looked down as he spoke. "Interesting."

"I'm finding a lot of codex," Ashley said as she came out of a shack. "Anything?"

"I found some medium armor," I said with a tap to my chest. "Bruce?"

"A backpack and a book that gives a plus one to vitality," he said holding up the book.

"What else in down this hall?" I asked.

"Classrooms," Ashley replied. "It heads back to the main building, but doesn't connect. There's a little garden space and an access road. We can follow that up to the Troll Jarl."

"Troll Jarl?" Bruce chimed in. "Seriously?"

"The front doors are locked," I said as I pulled out my tablet again. "Let me see if I can share the quest with you."

"He's my minion," Ashley said with a chuckle. "I'll do it."

"I'm not your minion," Bruce snapped.

"Really?" Ashley held up her tablet. "I've got this new option on my tablet. Minion commands."

"What?"

"Let's try it out," she said with a tight smile.

Bruce crouched. "What are you doing?"

"Hide," Ashley replied. "What about this one?"

Bruce stood up and walked over to where Ashley waited.

"Regroup," she said. "I wonder what this last one does."

"Fine," Bruce muttered. "I'm your minion."

"Cheer up," she said as she tapped the last option.

"What did you do?"

"Dismiss," her smile turned genuine. "You're a real boy now."

Bruce pulled up his tablet. He read something and then looked up at her.

"I'm not a minion," he whispered.

"Sure you are," Ashley cooed as she patted him on the head. "But now you're a useful minion."

"Ha. Ha," the goblin deadpanned. "We should check if there is anything useful in the classrooms."

Ashley pulled ahead as we started down the hall. The door behind us had quieted down. For some reason, it didn't make me feel any better. Zero was probably trying to find more people to infect. I had been in close contact with him twice now, but I was still fine. Ashley didn't show any signs of infection either. I didn't think Bruce had gotten close enough to be at danger. Regardless, Zero could spread the plague and had raised the dead goblins.

"The other goblins," I asked Bruce. "Were they, you know, aware?"

"I guess," Bruce said with a shrug. "They seemed normal enough, aside from the tails and fur."

"I'm trying to figure out this clown thing," I replied.

"It certainly is weird," he said nodding.

The merchants hadn't tried to escape. Before that none of them had even looked at us. I could almost feel the click as my thoughts connected. The merchants were NPCs. Zero could infect them, but not players. He raised the goblins as special minions. Did that mean that he was a player? Was Zero some special kind of monster? He could be some sort of mini-boss.

"Did you get the quest?" I asked.

"Get the key from the Troll Jarl," he answered. "Yep."

"There's a door here," Ashley said.

"Is it locked?" I asked.

"Nope," she said opening it. "Holy BLEEP."

"What?"

Bruce and I broke into a run. He easily outpaced me as moved on his hands and feet like an ape. Each step was accentuated by the click of his claws on stone. He slid to a stop next to Ashley. I joined them a moment later.

"What room is this?" I asked.

"I don't know," Ashley replied. "I don't have any classes in this building."

I stared at the sprawling field of wild grass on the other side of the door. A village rested a short distance away. I looked up to the sky. Plump clouds drifted lazily in a faint breeze that drifted through the lattice ceiling. We were still inside.

"Let's take a closer look," Ashley said. "I need more arrows."

"Yeah," I whispered.