“So like you can see, Andit's really good in this fight, but other blues . . . if you upgraded his class, but if you didn't, other blues can do just fine.” The freeze frame of the new event fight gave way to a developed roster through which the player scrolled, clicking on various officers for emphasis. “Anyone, any blue with a lot of damage, or you can use Nova Delay to slow him down, because that's the most dangerous part of the fight, if he gets his ult off more than once. The boss does count as a Reaper, so . . . yeah. Uh, here, you can even use Dennet here for it, if you have him built for some reason. So this event is pretty easy to farm.”

“Bippety bopcha, what's new in gacha, and I'll tell you what's new. Commandment of Hero. That's right, another video on that game, but it deserves it. Let me tell you why, at length, ten minutes and one second in fact, and I won't stop you from Liking it too. I wouldn't stop you if I could, but as for that Dislike button, I've been working on techniques for that, but they're not ready for public consumption.

“The news is we were all so excited for Halloween, we never saw the pre-show coming! That's right, a mini-event where you give Nightmare Acolyte Ulrik the business as many times as you want. There's no real story here, so I don't know where this demon castle is, why we start on the eightieth floor, or why we have to beat up one of our own guys. If a friend hadn't told me, I wouldn'ta known I had an Ulrik in my barracks, but I do. He was up to no good when I took my eye off him!

“The shop's pretty mini itself, but that just makes it faster to buy it out. A UR level cap thingy for the Halloween alt I'll fail to get? Thank you very much, Commandment of Hero! And thank you out there too, and I'll thank Elfy, Hillie, Rylie, Tibby, and Berylie for winning the battle for me, as seen right here, right now. Uh oh, here comes Infernal Aspiration . . . and we lived. Good job, team!”

Fireworks illuminated the line of officers marching along the road toward black-walled Freegate. Ultra Rares and Super Rares returned from their Trials, their New Eclipse Dragon grind, and their pre-event, then on the final day of its run. They ignored Cadmos's outstretched hand and entered the base triumphant, except for one. A single Rare entered who was not at all triumphant, though he did ignore Cadmos.

The officers, both those fresh from the fight and those who greeted them on their return, repaired to the dining hall. Rares dragged out the tables and set them on supports they had bought with the finest buman shavings ever sniffed by another world's eager buyers. Members of the three real rarities settled themselves and struck up conversations.

“How many times did you show off your boss death animation today, Ulrik? I simply do not know how you manage to lose so quickly. The players must love you!”

Ulrik sat down slowly, gingerly, on the floor next to the short table with functioning legs the Rares had purchased for their own use. “They do. Reviews are uniformly positive. My hope is that one day you all find your own unused assets and become bosses of a pre-event. The memory of the couple times I almost won will never leave my heart.”

“You almost won? Wow!” No star shines brighter in the infinite night than Vinnette Melban's eyes did then.

“Astounding!” Quille saluted Ulrik, and the other Rares joined, even if Sindze's was made in concert with some eye-rolling.

“Sindze, I'm not sure anyone's going to believe you're not just jealous. I mean, even Saptres Muria was inspired to go fight by Ulrik's achievement.”

“Was I? I think being tossed around by an evil genius that showed up out of nowhere had more to do with it. Not that I don't appreciate your companionship, Burmin. That goes for the rest of you as well.”

“No problem,” Ipons Ulsrada said before being upbraided by Hyune Giling for pretending he had something to do with it. “Well, be real Hyune, nobody wants two Strategists in their party, unless one of them is Mentor Tendradius Pux, who's super strong by the way,” he defended himself.

“Missed the point a bit there, lad,” Stan said. “No matter, no matter, Ipons. As for me, unbesmirched is what my reputation is, because I said from the beginning that never will I heal anyone, and I've stuck to that.”

“I don't recall that you ever said that, Stan, but never mind. More importantly, since it's your class that's holding you back, it would probably change if you became an Eclipse. Which session should I sign you up for? Tonight's pretty booked, but toss me in the river if I can't do something for a friend.”

“Hold on, Clyse. Attending our sessions is an excellent idea for anyone, but isn't Medic the most common class for Eclipses?”

“That's just a bit of a plurality, Reggie. Don't mean anything at all.”

“Couldn't agree more, Ebulan.”

“Leaznalo. I have a question that I insist you answer by my authority as the comedy boss all the players love.”

“What is it, Ulrik?”

“Why are we all taking turns to talk? Second question! Why are we saying everybody's names?”

“Superstition holds that the last one who speaks before the trailer gets the alt, whereas the last officer named receives none for at least a year. It only happened once I believe, before the first Christmas, but superstitions are hard to set aside, aren't they? Burmin Trivvis, Clyse, Dennet, Ebulan Prav, Hyune Giling, Ipons Ulsrada, Quille Treten, Reginald, Saptres Muria, Sindze U. Radalo, Stan, Tramda Olex, Ulrik, Vinnette Melban?”

“No fair!”

“Yeah, Tramda hasn't gotten to talk yet.”

“Shut it, Dennet!”

Similar conversations ran up and down and all around the big boy tables, until the wall-filling monitor brought in for special occasions turned on. Silence struck before Cadmos could even begin begging the crowd to quiet down, and all eyes turned to the screen. Something about appreciating the players, what people were saying about Commandment of Hero, assurances that Part 3 was coming soon, balance changes, blah blah blah. “Get to the alt,” everyone thought but refrained from saying for fear of missing the announcement.

Then the stream finally showed an officer, and the mass intake of breath threatened to deprive the dining hall of air entirely and convert it into the vacuum of space as featured in Furious Galaxy. Nightmare Acolyte Ulrik appeared in all his threatening majesty. “We hope all our players enjoyed this event as much as we enjoyed making it. After all, you'll be seeing a lot more of this officer.” The subtle vibrations of dozens of officers threatened to tear the hall apart. “Because after the event ends, everyone who participated can pick up this costume for free!”

Gallons of restrained air burst forth in laughter and exclamations of varying levels of politeness. The officers allowed themselves that moment of commotion before reverting to pin-drop silence. “While wearing this costume, Ulrik's Nova changes to Infernal Aspiration. This is a cosmetic alteration only. But as for the next event, please look at this.”

The animated trailer had everything Halloween needed. A spooky castle, bats, organ music, and a vampire. “That's all for today's presentation, and we'll see you at Halloween!” The stream ended on a promotional image that listed the event's starting date and duration, leaving the formerly expectant officers to groan or cheer as their several inclinations suggested.

“Congratulations, Count Poitnem!”

“It just had to be him, didn't it?”

“Way to stretch yourselves, writers. Seriously, Count Poitula?”

Though surrounded by supporters and polite well-wishers, Count Poitnem took time to turn his head, meet Ulrik's stare, and wink. It was an Ultra Rare kind of wink that said, “Yes, I attempted to arrange matters to encourage the exposing to view of a castle suitable for a vampire. What of it? You yourself received a costume as compensation, so let us both luxuriate in our bounty.” URs packed a lot into those winks.

Ulrik considered being resentful anyway since it sounded fun, but he lost any chance of expressing his seething when the Rares picked him up and threw him toward the ceiling. They even caught him when he fell back down, which said something as eloquent as an Ultra Rare's wink. The URs and SRs saw that and did the same for Count Poitnem, and every officer who tossed and caught either of the two lucky boys imagined a different figure in his place. If their hopes weighed heavier than the officers they cheered and lofted, it was their weight to bear, and the fault of good things for sometimes happening.

FINIS