“Yeah, that much is obvious.” The woman eyed Janus from the top down; his straight black hair reached down barely past his neck while his bangs ended just above the frames of his yellow glasses. To her, the rest of his ensemble wasn’t out of the ordinary. The sleek jacket and matching pants weren’t too far off from what she would see others wear in the area. His skin was paler than most other people she had seen in town, but not light enough to be out of the ordinary. “Where are you from?” she asked.

“Oregon.” Janus looked at the other two. The crocodile maintained the same blank stare as before. The woman also remained unimpressed by his reply. She had one hand on her hip, tilting her head and looking at him with a blend of worry, confusion and annoyance.

“Oregon?” she replied. “Where is that?”

“Err…. far from here,” Janus said with hesitation.

“Doesn’t matter where you’re from. There’s no reason why an able-bodied man like yourself should be running from a few Lurkers while screaming for help at the top of your lungs.”

“Lurkers? Is that what you call those… things?” Janus pointed at the ground where the remains of the creature that was split into two lay.

“Yes. That’s what everybody in the world calls those ‘things.’” The woman made air quotations with her fingers. “Is Oregon some kind of hoity-toity, high-end city that I’ve never heard about where there aren’t any Lurkers showing up?”

“It’s not a ci… never mind. But no, we don’t usually have Lurkers there. At least not those kinds of Lurkers.”

“You believe this guy, Gurk?” The woman turned her head towards the crocodile, giving it a nudge in its arm with her elbow.

“No,” the crocodile replied with a deep and low growl accompanied by a short wag of the snout.

Janus put a hand on his head and began to slowly spin in place, his eyes closed as he tried to recount the last thing he remembered prior to his encounter with the group of creatures. “Was it what I ate last night? Or maybe I’ve just been studying too much,’ he said to himself aloud as his pacing continued. The woman and Gurk looked at each other, still confused.

“Hey!” the woman exclaimed. Janus stopped in his tracks to turn towards her. “What’s your name?”

“Janus,” he said quickly.

“I’m Itzel. And that’s Gurk.” She gestured with her thumb towards her friend.

“Pleasure to meet you. And again, thank you for rescuing me.”

Itzel rolled her eyes. “We didn’t save you pal. Those things are next to harmless.” She walked up beside him, standing shoulder to shoulder with him. With the wave of her hand, Itzel created a bright glowing blue rectangle in thin air. Janus stepped back, shocked by the floating image. He squinted his eyes and adjusted his glasses as he took a closer look at the projection; it wasn’t much larger than the size of a sheet of paper turned sideways. The image itself was vivid and crisp; all the words and images on it were clear even though he could see the faint outline of Gurk through the floating screen because of its transparency. On it, Itzel’s portrait was located on the top left, carrying the same irked expression that Janus had already seen. The rest of the panel contained numerous menus and numbers that he had no clue what they were for. Janus reached forward with one finger to touch one of the drop-down arrows, only to have it go right through. He darted his hand back, noticing that Itzel had turned towards him with a single raised eyebrow.

“I have Others Can Interact turned off. You really think I’m going to let someone else handle the screen to my bank account?”

“Y-your bank account? That’s what you’re looking at?” Janus looked at the floating image and then at Itzel, visibly perplexed.

“You have got to be messing with us,” Itzel replied with an annoyance. “This is what everyone’s banking screen looks like. Even in Oregon, wherever in Tersaia that is. It was standardized years ago.”

Janus nodded, putting his hand to his chin while still focusing on the screen. “Tersaia… of course. I knew that.”

Itzel’s fingers gracefully swiped across the blue panel, shifting through some more menus before stopping at a screen that displayed a list of transactions. “See that?” she said while pointing to a green number one accompanied by a plus sign. “A single token. Two more and maybe a diner will throw in an extra pack of ketchup. Taking out Lurkers isn’t worth the effort. At all.”

Janus became fixated on the remains of the slain creature once more. As he stared, he watched the black pieces shrink into a pool like a melting ice cube. As the remains diminished, they emitted a dark mist that rose through the air.

“Is it normal for Lurkers to just evaporate like that?” Janus asked.

“Yeah.” Itzel replied without taking her eyes off the intangible rectangle in front of her. “That’s why they aren’t worth anything to exterminate. They end up dissolving only a few hours after they’ve formed. Their cycle is pretty much just starting out as a puddle, to growing limbs, using those limbs to pester people and then melting back into said puddle. It’d be poetic if it weren’t so nasty.” After a brief yawn, Itzel closed the screen and stretched her arms. “Well Gurk, looks like we did enough exterminating for now. You hungry?”

The crocodile nodded.

“Alright,” Itzel looked at Janus who still watching the last remnants of the creature fade away. “Try not to get killed by any of the Essencima that actually pose a threat. Maybe we’ll see you around if you don’t.”

“You mean to tell me there’s more of these roaming around? And they’re even more dangerous?” Janus turned his head and saw the other pair walking in the opposite direction, both ignoring his question. He dashed forward and caught up with them. “I know we just met,” he said. Itzel continued her steadfast walk, keeping her eyes straight ahead despite Janus’ presence. “And it might seem like I’m asking a lot, but would it be alright if I followed you two for a bit?”

“I’m not against it.” Itzel angled her head towards Janus. The desperation on his face was blatant. “How much are you willing to part with?”

Janus reached down into his pants pockets, coming up empty before moving to the ones on his jacket. “Nothing,” he said as he showed Itzel his open and vacant palms.

Itzel glanced back at her crocodile friend, both shaking their heads before returning to talk to Janus. “Either you’ve got an elaborate scheme planned or you really are some poor lost soul. Why did you just go through your pockets?” she asked with a loud and stern voice.

“To… look for money,” Janus said timidly. Itzel stopped her walking and looked Janus in the eye. Behind his glasses she could tell that he was nervous. His breathing was deep. His entire body trembled. But despite her long intimidating stare, he never looked away.

“Check your bank account like everyone else, genius.” Itzel tapped his forehead with her finger, making him flinch and step back. She then cut her eyes and crossed her arms. “Just activate your Implant and bring it up.”

“Right. Of course. Give me one moment.” Janus rubbed his hands together and took a deep breath. Maybe that screen will show up if I do those hand gestures Itzel did, he thought. Looking ahead, he tensed his muscles as his mind focused on the image of the screen he saw earlier. He waved his hand in a short and slow arc in front of his face.

Nothing.

He repeated, but this time with a longer motion.

Still nothing.

Janus looked behind him, becoming unnerved upon seeing the other two give him long and blank stares. He turned forward again, this time using both hands and waved them all around, flailing like the lurker that was trapped within Gurk’s bite. As he continued his wild motions, he felt a hand take hold of his wrist.

“I’ve seen enough.”