The sun hung low in the sky, setting behind Shin. Grateful for the recent turn in the road, Shin didn’t think he could take being blinded by the sun for another evening as he had been riding sunward for the last three days. Over that time it had become apparent, for someone in his new profession, a hat was non-optional. He had forgone a hat in favour of having higher quality feed for his horses. A simple cap would cost him more than five silver, higher than he had considered reasonable. At least, that was, until he’d learnt the hard way not to skimp on apparel. Jakob had shifted into the passenger portion of the cart. He oddly enjoyed lying on the dusty wood benches in the back, clearly not affected by the shaking of the cart. When Shin had actually caught him sleeping at one point, he offered a weak defence under Shin’s badgering, finally revealing that the cart's shake had only a minor effect on him, as his body in this world could be adjusted to feel less. At the admittance he had broken into a rebellious smile and explained that he had found that if he was here no one would disturb him, also he could get five times as many naps. It occurred to Shin, that, despite the old man's youthful energy, he was actually older than anyone he dealt with in the past. Shin was only a child when the famine swept through the kingdom resulting in the loss of the majority of their elderly people. The cart creaked and groaned in protest against the road that had become increasingly rough as they approached their final inn, just a half-day ride away from the western capital from where they had initially set off. “With luck we can be back at your home by midday tomorrow.”, Shin remarked to the horses, Jass and Wren. “Sorry Shin, it’ll probably be a tad later than that.” Jakob explained, catching Shin’s full attention. “I was told to attend a meeting after today, I will probably be back here a tad later in the morning if it runs over. I also want to get you an extra gift, aside from your tip, for tolerating my guests so well” Jakob finished with a knowing wink. Shin was slightly flustered, unsure of what to say. His uncle had let him deal with customers occasionally before, but they generally tried their best not to give you anything. Shin had no idea how to thank someone for intentionally giving more than he expected. “You don’t have to... but I would really appreciate that” Shin managed to say awkwardly, fumbling with his words. Jakob chucked in response just as they were approaching the inn. The inn was nestled beside a vacant house and a merchants cart, both clearly abandoned for enough time that foliage was starting to appear around the windows and wheels of each respectively. The inn itself was as Shin had expected for one situated as a halfway point, between the walls of the capital and the empty grass planes that connected to nothing but coastline. Jakob, realising that they had arrived, jumped out of the back of the cart. “I’ll head over to the other side and hopefully deal with this meeting as soon as I can” Jakob announced as he jogged over to the inn with a passing wave. Shin waved Jakob off as he went into the inn while spurring his horses to the stable behind the inn. . . . Jakob’s perspective - 1st person I was a bit loath to leave the comfort of the cart, but reaching the destination was always my favourite part of traveling. I gently nudged the inn door open after waving to Shin. The inside was warm and inviting, which reminded me to turn my haptic feedback back up. I could only see an empty bar counter and a lit fireplace thus far, but I refused to take the chance someone would see me. I subtly made a gesture with my hand, my arm still by my side, and a transparent user interface appeared before me. I focused on the settings tab, which opened up a wide array of options and data streams of my vitals. I quickly found what I was looking for. A small wheel reading HFB that was set to two, out of it’s ten settings. With a mental flex of my brain the wheel rotated back up to eight. The moment I closed the settings I could feel the touch of my suit on my skin, the heaviness of my watch and an ache in my neck from my unusual lying position in the cart. Having the ability to adjust stuff like this was both a boon and a curse in my opinion. We had found in the forties that when given the option to adjust their perceptions, people would do so haphazardly and forget that being in pain was often a warning signal to change or stop what you are doing. “Excuse me” I beckoned into the seemingly empty building. After a moment I heard clattering from a back room followed by the panicked voice of a young woman “One second!”. After a few moments a young woman came through the door behind the bar and noticed me. “Heya, are ya looking for a room ?” she asked, in a strange regional accent. “Why yes, I am with a Rakket carriage . We have booked rooms in advance.” I explained. The young woman quickly consulted a book under the bar’s counter. “Aye, O’course. Please lemme show ya ‘ure room.” She said, clearly trying her best to be polite. The woman must have been in her thirties, she wore an apron that had clearly passed it’s prime in a kitchen judging by the Jackson Pollock painting of grime it had accumulated. The woman had a jovial energy that was almost contagious. She guided me to my room and asked “ ‘ill ya be ‘aving suppa ?” which I barely managed to decode before responding “that won't be necessary, thank you though” and shooting her my best smile. Once she left my room I quickly took in a deep breath to savour the memory I would have here, looking out the window I could see Shin feeding the horses. The young boy had impressed me, he clearly wasn’t dumb and took whatever opportunities he could to learn. His thirst for knowledge was admirable but dangerous, I had found myself mediating what the investors could tell him many times when he attempted to learn about technology. I chuckled to myself. My parents had tried to do similar things with me in my youth, they were fervently religious and were against me going to learn anything aside from theology. Not that it helped, I just spent all my free time talking to a homeless man who used to be a programmer. Remembering that man always mellowed my usual upbeat attitude, he had died before I got to thank him which had always bothered me. With a cold shadow across my face I logged out. I heard the voice of the system to which I had become so accustomed. (Cortana’s voice) “Logout in progress…thank you for visiting Dr. Mulder. Please remain still for five seconds before moving out of your pod.” I could now hear the beeping of my lab, it was such a staple of coming out that I had begun to dislike it and what it meant. I opened my real eyes as the transmitter stopped inhibiting my movements. I was in what we called a “pod”, it was more like a recliner in a shell. I felt the brace on the back of my neck release where it had been connected into my bioSYS ( A modification allowing a direct connection between a computer system and a person's Central Nervous System or C.N.S for short). I tapped the glass shell that covered me and it opened with a hiss as the air pressure equalised. Getting out of the pod I felt slightly dizzy, short stints like my last one had no long lasting effect. I was grateful my assistants were too busy to be watching my pod, waiting for me to come out. The dizziness wore off after a few minutes as I poured myself a coffee from a custom tap I had installed on my desk, the shareholders were willing to pay for anything if I could prove it was beneficial to my work. I had recently been banned from working in the café because I had made friends with the staff and bought my coffee tap as revenge. Juvenile, but what do I care about being juvenile? I sat down determined to get Shin’s present ready before the meeting. As I was closing up my tabs and uploading the adjustments I wanted Alice (the A.I) to put in place for me my Labs door opened. Nathan, one of my fellow programmers, poked his head in. “You’re still drinking that garbage, you know that isn’t recommended for someone of your...advanced years?” Nathan teased, his air of arrogance filling the Lab. Nathan was supposed to be my successor but he was too proud to be taught anything. I had once heard in a movie that you can’t pour knowledge into a full cup or something like that, the analogy resonated a tad too well with Nathan in my opinion. “The directors are all waiting for you” Nathan said as he dipped back out of the room. A dejected sigh left my lips. Grabbing my blazer and lab coat from my desk I set off . . . Back to 3rd person [Phew…] Shin was pacing outside Jakob’s door. It was past midday and he had not arrived yet. Shin was starting to panic, Jakob had never once deviated from the schedule and Shin was concerned that Jakob had planned to just disappear without paying. Shin knew Jakob was a powerful mage and superb warrior so the chances of him being late because something happened to him were minimal. Shin tried to comfort himself with the knowledge that time passed differently between the worlds so Jakob could have still just lost track of time. He knew that pacing up and down the narrow corridor was not going to fix the problem and went downstairs. Tilla, the host of the inn, looked at him with pitying eyes as he came down the stairs with heavy feet. “ 'ell be back soon, don' worri let me make ya a drink” she said consolingly. After a few more hours Shin had been reduced to a stressed out mess sitting in silence while staring at the fire in the lounge. When suddenly he heard a heavy thud coming from upstairs.