“The sun is set,” Mia hissed as we pulled up to the shore. “We shouldn’t be out here at night.”

“I have to at least check on her, I’m a cop.” I paused; I think I am. Am I?

“What’s a cop?”

I closed my eyes and saw windshield wipers batting away raindrops and a led sign. What was the name written on the sign? Was it just a dream? It was so hard to remember. “Nothing,” I said.

I jumped out of the boat and ran over to the old lady standing on the bank. Her back was hunched over, and she had a nose like a red bulb. Her hair was frantic curls and frays. Her eyes all glassy squinted up at me. “Can you help me find my grandson? He ran off and I lost sight of him. It will be getting dark soon.” She asked meek and worried.

Accept quest yes, or no?

Well, this was a new development. I gawked at the words a moment floating in front of my eyes.

“We can’t stay out here at night,” Mia said again.

“Let her down easy,” Tootsie advised. “I hate to see old people cry.” She bit her nails.

“Are you out of your mind? Yes, I will accept the quest.”

Quest accepted. Quest objective: Find lost grandson. Quest rewards 1000 exp. Bonus objective: Don’t die. Reward: Respawn Dagger.

I think the bonus objective will be my first objective, I thought. Time to consider using my unspent Soul Points. “Which way did he go?” I asked the old lady.

She sobbed and looked around as if he were right there under her feet somewhere. “I don’t know, I fell asleep when he was playing and when I woke up, I couldn’t hear him anymore. Please help, I’m so worried.”

“Pug this isn’t funny.” Mia insisted.

“Go back without me,” I told her, “I have to at least try. I will find my way back.”

Tootsie laughed. "You accepted, why did you accept? You didn't even consult me." She growled out the last words.

“Ugh!” Mia tied the boat to a root sticking out by the bank and grabbed a lamp. “Fine but we have to hurry.”

I squatted down and found the stick the kid had been using to dig out a little stream to flood a hole. A pile of rocks made a castle in the middle of the flood. A child's castle with a moat, I considered. Some crackers crumbled up a few yards away, leading further down the beach to the moat. Had he been trying to lure an animal? I walked in the general direction of the crackers. They lead to a pile of crumbs on a large rock. I sat by the rock for a moment and looked around.

“Where do you think he went?” Mia asked, stepping behind me. She had given the lamp to the old lady. She had eyes that could see in the dark as well as mine. The old lady seemed to have difficulty seeing in the light.

I spotted a broken branch at the edge of the woods and walked over to see what looked like a deer path. Small tracks of a child and paw prints went down the bare bath. They were faint but I could make them out. “He went this way.” I pointed down the path. “He was following an animal of some sort.”

Intelligence increased to 18

“Just use your map,” Tootsie said, “that’s what I got it for you for.”

“What’s on the map?” I asked.

“What map?” Mia asked.

“Quests are marked on the map,” Tootsie answered.

I reached into my magic pouch and pulled the map out of the inventory. I could see it floating in the upper corner of my vision like an app. This is insane. I could have really used this when I was on the beat. I laughed to myself. Most of the map was darkened but I could follow the path back to all the places I had traveled the past day. I could see a blinking dot off in the darkness ahead on the map.

“The blinking dot is the primary objective.” Tootsie whirled in the air before me.

“My primary objective is the don’t die part of the quest,” I responded.

“Mine too,” Mia said thinking I was talking to her. She produced a handful of flat blades and tucked them between her fingers.

“That would be the boat right there,” Tootsie joked. “It’s not blinking but you can see it on the map.”

“Should I be spending my Soul Points now?”

“If you have Soul Points then you should be spending all of them right now,” Mia answered, again thinking I was talking to her.

“You get soul points too?” I was surprised. “Are you a real person too?”

“Of course, I’m a real person.” Mia smirked, “What other kind of person would I be?”

“Not in the way that you mean,” Tootsie said. “She is an NPC; you can feel when others like you are near. It will be like fear in your gut. Or that feeling you get when someone is watching you and you don’t know where they are watching you from. She believes she is real though. She was born here. Had an entire life here. Has memories and free will. Like me, kind of.”

We continued walking through the forest toward the blinking dot.

“Why can’t she see you?” I whispered.

“Who are you whispering to?” Mia asked, growing irritated.

“None of the NPCs can see us. We are only assigned to first-time gamers. When you finish your vacation here, we wander around the unseen waiting for another first-timer.” Tootsie said, sounding sad.

“Then how did those NPC’s shoot you earlier?” I asked.

“Lucky shot.” Tootsie answered. “They were aiming for you.”

“Talking to myself again,” I answered Mia. “Just looking over my options of what to spend my Soul Points on.” I lied and then bit my lip. Does she know I can see them with my mind? How do NPCs spend their Soul Points? Is it more instinctual for them maybe?

“What are your choices?” Mia asked, answering my thoughts. They must have a similar way of spending them, I thought.

“I was looking at Slow Fall,” I said mentioning the first thing I saw on my mental screen as I pulled up the skill tree. “Says I can slow my fall at anything under twenty feet, it is only three points.”

“I don’t know if that will help you in an hour.” Mia watched the forest wearily, “got anything bigger?”

Pug

Pig Face

Level 4 Orc

Strength: 17

Dexterity: 10

Charisma: 5

Intelligence: 18

Manna: 5

Constitution: 14

Perception: 14

Exp: 4475

Soul Points: 6

Skills: Furious Feline: cost 2 mana,

Dex: +3, Claws, time: 1 hour

Carapace Skin: +4 Constitution,

Cost: 2 Mana, time: 1 hour

Coin:

$495

Gear:

Rapier Beretta

Ammo: 3 hollow tip rounds

Leather Kilt: Protection against fire damage, armor 2

Satchel: First aid kit

Beginner crossbow

Ammo: 13 bolts

World Map