*bing!* Some kind of system alert made a sound, but I was too busy to pay attention. It had nothing to do with hunting the Stranded, thus it could wait. Apparently, the shooter went into a small store near the bus stop. I heard screams from the inside. At the door stood some nervous skinny fuck with a scarf wrapped around his mug. I couldn’t see if he had a gun or not, but there was a piece of shiny pointy metal in his sweaty hand. It was when I ran into this guy, I realized why the system calls normal people “mortals”. It’s not like I became some kind of god or a superman, but the difference was obvious. Even at my pitiful fourth (out of five hundred) level, I was already a step higher than an ordinary person or two. I headed inside the store. Slow and clumsy, he lunged with his little knife in my direction. I pushed him away without looking. The guy slammed into the wall and slid down, counting the bricks with his nose. An unpleasant sight awaited me inside. A lone guard lay on the floor with a hole in his forehead. The saleswoman, white as snow, pressed her back against the office door. One of the robbers held her at gunpoint. His companion frantically dumped everything he could reach into the bag. They had already cleaned out the cash register, and now were gathering cheap food. Some petty assholes, huh? “See, my help is needed after all.” I was going to explain to these guys, why is Eastward is a better place to live compared to twenty years ago. “Careful, Arthur. There must be cameras here.” “I'm going to be quick and discreet.” First of all, I grabbed the first bastard by the arm and jerked it up. He screamed in pain, shot at the ceiling, and then the gun fell out of his shaking hand. I went a bit too far and dislocated his skinny shoulder. Trying to be very, very gentle, I put his muzzle on the counter, leaving cracks on the glass. By this time, the second guy just realized that everything went not as they expected. And I had already jumped to gracefully crash him into the change jar. The robber fell on his back, completely disoriented. I need to clarify something. It was nowhere near this methodical in the actual fight, but for the sake of the story let’s say I was. Also, the bullet flew right past my head, so I almost stained new pants. We can ignore such details in the official version since the villains were defeated anyway. As befits a real hero, I decided to disappear before the girl wakes up and starts asking questions. Besides, somewhere in the distance sirens were already howling. “Eh, what the...?!” Another ruffian with a scar over the left eye broke through the door. Must have been an acquaintance of the cretins already beaten by me. He immediately received a sharp blow in the belly and, after flying over the steps, flopped his ass on the road. At the same time, a lump of feathers and hair popped out of his mouth. It tried to crawl away. Mental Worm - Level 0 Ew. “What is it?” I asked, quickly crushing the vile creature. After the blow, the bandit lost his will to fight, and sat there, holding his head with palms. “Some kind of parasite. There are plenty of these in swamp worlds and other unpleasant places. They cling to everything, and then provoke all sorts of deviant actions.” The inner voice rattled. It sounded like he was a bit nervous. “Time to scram! Did you forget about an actually important mission? You can’t stop the Stranded if you are stuck in the cell again! Fucking rescue ranger…” I grumbled as I ran, thinking about a disgusting critter. With each new arrival, the Cradle sounded like a worse and worse place to live. The police were already very close. I wonder how they got there so fast? But then, they’ll deal with mortal clowns. “Oh, Kim. You do understand, that if your smug face is all over the news tomorrow, you’ll only have yourself to blame, do you?” “Whatevs. What can you see on those grainy vids? Some lanky guy went in, kicked their asses, and ran away. We will never know who this noble man was.” “Someone’s prideful. Don’t burst from all this self-importance.” “Honestly, I'm more worried about this worm,” that was a disturbing sight. Heinlein's puppeteers immediately came to mind. And a little of Stargate. “Forget it. A worm crawled through the swamp, fell out through an anomaly into some ravine. These assholes were lying wasted there after the night of partying. And so it got itself a new host.” “If you say so.” that didn’t calm me down, though. “It’s the second time, I’ve become a witness…” “…A willing participant.” “Fair point. But in both cases, this “game” of yours was involved.” “Don’t you think Atma creatures are attracted to each other?” “I think, there’s a lot of dangerous garbage falling from that dimension.” “And whose job it is to clean it? Your quest icon flashes red, we’re missing the show!” That was true, it did flash. I ran into the yard and immediately hid behind the closest car. The Stranded was standing under the window. From the back, he looked completely ordinary, if only a little overdressed. The Stranded – Level 7 “Told you.” Whispered the voice. "He's bad news."