“Hi, I’m Mickey. Nice to meet you.”

“Hi, Tralas Mick, I’m Selia. I’ll be your Dispatcher today. Thank you for arriving at our town.”

“Ahh—right,” Mickey replied. I forgot I had a different name… But how did she know my player name? Is it just a substitution that happens after I give them a name in general?

As Mickey wondered, Selia pulled out a backpack and a rolled parchment. “Here, Tralas Mick. These are your essential and complementary items, a map of Asniel and an Adventuring Bag.”

Mickey thanked the woman and slung the backpack on—as soon as he did, it disappeared from his back, surprising him.

Selia giggled. “Don’t worry, Tralas Mick—the backpack is specially made to not get in your way. Whenever you need it, it will appear on your back. Give it a try.”

Mickey wanted to take it off. The bag appeared, its straps over Mickey’s shoulder as it should have been.

“Whoa. Freaky.” Mickey pulled away and looked at Selia again. The bag disappeared within three seconds.

“And now the map, Tralas Mick.”

Mickey reached for the map, but as soon as he took hold of it, it faded into light and went to his right hip. Following the trail of stardust-like light, he noticed there was a smartphone-looking device strapped to his hip.

“That is your Slate, Tralas Mick. It’s a helpful assistant for Trailblazers,” Selia said with a warm smile.

“Oh… How interesting.”

Mickey pulled out the device, surprised that it was very much like his own smartphone, the first screen filled with apps.

He tapped through them and was surprised by the menus locked within—

These are—These are game menus! All my menus are here! My Status Screen, my Skill Screen, even the Skill Tree. And there’s this blinking app—the Map.

Mickey opened the seemingly new app and saw the map of Asniels open before him, with a little icon denoting his current location.

“I’ve been told that if you so choose, you can hold the map in your hands like a regular parchment,” Selia chimed.

True enough, Mickey found an option to switch to a paper map. He tested it out, and the Slate in his hand was replaced with the map.

“Uhh, where’s the Slate?” Mickey asked, surprised.

Selia pointed at his hip. “The Slate is never gone. It will always return to stand-by. Try dismissing the map—the Slate will return.”

Mickey eyed Selia skeptically but she gestured at Mickey to throw the map away or to roll it. Mickey flicked the map to the side—it disappeared into points of light and the Slate returned to his hand, leaving him wide-eyed.

“All of a Trailblazer’s essential tools do not want to inconvenience their Trailblazer,” Selia happily reported.

Mickey nodded and tried something. With the thought that he was done with the Slate, he tossed it to the side. It disappeared and reappeared at his hips. With the thought that he wanted to use it, he flicked his wrist and it appeared there amidst shimmering light.

Selia looked on, smiling.

“Sweet.” Mickey turned his focus to Selia. “So, Selia, can I pick up some Quests to do?”

“Of course!”

Mickey became a little more excited. Quests, both mandatory and optional variants, were a fundamental aspect of video games that added structure and goals. For such an open-ended game, Mickey was happy to confirm there was some goal he could work toward as he gained Excia—though gaining Excia was still what he told himself was the main goal.

“So, here’s the quests we have on offer, take a look.” Selia placed three parchments out in front of Mickey.

***

Visit The Shops!

Towns have useful services! Check out the Weapon Shop, Armor Shop, Item Shop, and the Blessing Shrine!

Rewards: 10 Gold, [+1%]Skill Bit, [25%] Shop Discount Coupon

Greet Ten Townsfolk

We’re here to help you! Sometimes, we know about things you don’t! Talk to us, please! Talk to ten of the Torea citizens!

Rewards: 1EXC, 10 Gold, 10EXP, 25EX-EXP

Delayed Shipment

Due to a mistake in paperwork, replacement bulbs for the lanterns between settlements didn’t leave with the repairman. Please deliver them to him. His location will be marked on your map.

The bulbs have been left with his family member. Please collect them from her. Her location will be marked on your map.

Rewards: 25 Gold, 20EXP, 45EX-EXP

***

Mickey’s eyes scanned the rewards repeatedly. I’m getting one Excia already? And it’s for talking to the NPCs? Sweet… I’m getting a Skill Bit too—I haven’t read their dedicated guide yet, so I won’t worry about using it. Then… If I recall, EX-EXP stands for Extra-Experience and I use that to level everything but MY personal Level…

The final quest is the strangest one… It seems like the toughest one but all it has are increased experience and money…

“Okay, I’ll take all of these quests,” Mickey said as he memorized their details.

“Great!” Selia waved her hand over the parchments. “Just tap them.”

Mickey, curious, did as Selia said. He tapped each paper, and each glowed until the glow shattered into points of light. A ding came from the phone at his side.

“There, all their info has been added to your Slate,” Selia reported with a chipper tone.

Mickey tapped through his Slate—there was a new app he could access. It was a simple quest window. A few more exploratory taps revealed that Mickey could go straight from the quests to a map screen with updated markers—just like in a really user-friendly video game.

“Wow, this thing really is a blessing,” Mickey said, as he kept shifting through the device.

Selia, meanwhile, watched Mickey with a smile.

“Okay, thank you for all your help,” Mickey said as he tucked away his Slate.

“Of course,” Selia replied with a slight bow. “It was my pleasure. When you are done with your quests, just return here, and we will verify. You may also verify them at any Dispatch.”

“Oh, okay. That makes sense…”

“Once you have reached Level 6, you’ll be able to enter our Dispatch Lobby and recruit townsfolk who are eager to work with you! I hope to see you again when that time comes.”

Mickey nodded at the helpful information about a new feature. “Yeah, sure, I’ll do that.”

Selia smiled at Mickey again for a few seconds too long, but that uncomfortable interaction made Mickey think of something.

“Hey, question.” Mickey looked at the people in the square once more to confirm. “Have any other trailblazers come through lately?”

“The last trailblazer arrived and left five months ago.”

“Whoa! That’s a long time! So there’s none here right now?”

Selia smiled widely. “Trailblazers have never stayed in Torea beyond their first day here.”

She was smiling, but Mickey felt a fundamental disconnect as he looked into her gray eyes. He was very well aware of it—

Don’t smile if you don’t mean it.

Selia kept showing what Mickey was sure was a hollow smile. He told himself not to, but he was too perturbed.

“W-Why do you think they don’t stay here?”

At his question, Selia froze in a manner similar to Mary. As Mickey waited for her answer, he reviewed his own.

To me it's obvious. Starter towns typically are one and done. There’s plenty of games where there’s no point in returning to the starter town. There just isn’t meaningful content there… But how would an NPC feel about that?

“I…” Selia said, catching Mickey’s attention. She closed her eyes and grinned widely, showing her teeth. “I don’t know why that may be the case. The people of Torea always welcome them and treat them warmly, but they always leave and never come back. We don’t know why. We always to try to help the amazing Trailblazers.”

Mickey caught a shimmer near the corner of Selia’s eye and caught the slightest tremble in her shoulder.

“I’ll come back tonight.”

“Pardon me?”

Mickey repeated his declaration. “I’ll come back tonight after I’m done exploring. The night’s probably dangerous, right?”

“It is, Tralas Mick,” Selia replied, having returned to being the happy dispatcher.

“Then I’ll come back. There’s an inn over there, right? I’ll stay there.”

“That inn is very good—err.” Selia shook her head, and her eyes flew as if she was trying to focus on something. She focused again on Mickey. “Truly? You’re speaking truly?”

“Ehh, well I’ll try—I’m not sure if I’ll have enough money.” Selia became a little glum as soon as Mickey replied, but Mickey saw it coming. “If I don’t have money, I’ll just sleep outside.”

“That won’t do!” Selia exclaim. “If you truly do not have money, you can stay the night in my home.” Selia froze. Her cheeks slowly went red and her hand slowly went to cover her lips as her eyes widened.

Mickey spoke quickly to spare her any more embarrassment. “Thank you for your kindness. I don’t want to impose, so I’ll do my best to get enough money.” He flashed her a thumbs up and she recovered, though her cheeks were still pink.

“Very well,” Selia said with a smile. “I’ll inform the innkeeper. They will be happy to accommodate you.”

“Gotcha… Well, I’ll go do those quests now.”

“Have a good day, Tralas Mick! We wish you luck!”

Mickey walked away, heading for his first quest. Again he walked by townsfolk—some who would greet him, others who would nod, and others still who didn’t notice him.

All the while he wondered, with Selia’s expression in mind, Are they really AIs? Can bugs really explain this feeling? Why… Do they seem so… Pitiful?