The night they attacked always left me shaking. The morning after was not pleasant, either. I really didn’t like anything about them. Who were they? What kind of monster was this? My sanity reached fifty percent, and I would need it. Because I only had four days left to complete my to-do list.

I stumbled into the kitchen, seeing it perfectly fine. The carpet wasn’t covered in footprints, bloody or otherwise. I checked the calendar, seeing it was supposed to rain on the day they arrived. I could work with that.

The woman on the phone dived right into the to-do list, so I watched the list appear on the paper above me.

Repair all damages caused by them

Make glass

Strengthen the wall around the house and greenhouses

Upgrade garage

Purchase third article of cleaning clothing

Build bridge to collect sand

I sucked in a sharp breath. There it was. The order to build the bridge. Whatever was on the other side of that river, the alien overlords knew what it was and were asking me to build something. It seemed like it was the last thing on the list for that very reason. This neutral party was guiding me, but they weren’t telling me what this was, either. What was that bush spider monster? Was it going to hurt me?

I walked out the back porch and saw the words above the greenhouse were blinking red.

Danger

Must be fixed or greenhouse will be destroyed in next attack

0/15 glass

I sighed. I did not like that at all.

Four days. I had four days to make enough glass to repair the greenhouse. Or enough that it could handle another attack by them. I had a feeling that I wouldn’t lose the greenhouse completely, but I would probably have to build it from scratch. It would most likely be time consuming. Considering I had not completed a to-do list yet since they became weekly things, I needed to make glass.

I quickly went through my morning routine. Part of my added routine was switching out the clothes on the sewing machine to get upgraded. My farming outfit was buffed, and now it was working on my animal care. I was wearing my logging and building outfits so much that I might have to start those toward the evening time. Going on the second floor in the evening made me nauseous, though. I might have to try it anyway. Quickly slip up there, then come back down. It would be fine. Totally fine.

It was harder to grow things with a broken greenhouse. I would have to build that bridge fast. And hope that monsters wouldn’t pour into my house to get me. That was the last thing I needed.

Since I went through so many soups yesterday, I spent an hour cooking some more. I stayed near the fire as I chopped down wood to repair the damages to the wall. There was something a reddish black color on the other side of the wall, and I didn’t want to look at it too long. Instead, I stuffed the boards into the place where it told me, and the mark disappeared. After a few more boards and firewood, the fences around the house and the greenhouse were back to where they needed to be. It was nice that they didn’t need bricks or stones to repair it. I secretly cursed myself for having that thought, though. The alien overlords were probably listening.

Words appeared over the fences as I finished placing the last of the firewood to replace them.

Upgrade fence

0/10 stone bricks

I winced at the number, then glanced at the fence by the greenhouse.

0/5 stone bricks

I might have to focus on that before the bridge. The fences always took priority. I could not get attacked by them, ever. Even not getting attacked by them left me a complete mess.

I spent part of the day doing my mind-numbing monotony of carrying stones from the riverbank to the house. I was so very close to being able to lift two stones at the same time without losing stamina. I could feel it in my arms. Out of curiosity, I checked the progress chart and figured that once I hit level twenty in building, I would finally be strong enough to carry two at a time.

Once I had fifteen stones, I broke them up into broken stones. Once I had ten, I stuffed them into the upgraded tool. It was just barely the afternoon. I could switch them out and get another batch going before tonight.

I went to collect the food by the fire when the words above the fire nabbed my attention.

Upgrade cooking fire

0/10 bricks

I must have finally reached level 10 in cooking. I added it to the list of things that weren’t on my to-do list but made me curious to find out.

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As the stone bricks cooked, I replenished my stamina, taking a moment to acknowledge that even after all that cooking, I was going through a lot of food. The greenhouse, broken as it was, was taking a lot longer to make food, and my food was not getting produced fast enough to meet up with my demand.

As I made my way back to the river, I was thinking over my plan. As those stone bricks cooked, the next priority was the glass. I needed my greenhouse to be back to where it was. It took a day to make glass, which I also assumed meant it could take a night, too. At least, that better be what it meant.

Cutting down trees didn’t take nearly as much stamina, but still a sliver with every thwack. If I couldn’t rely on my greenhouses, I would have to rely on Daisy and my fishing.

It was fine. I was building the bridge, getting work done. As I approached the ghost of the bridge, I saw the words above it.

6/50 logs

I glanced over at the other side of the bank, to where I saw that monster. Maybe the monster only came out in the evening time, much like the wolf. I pulled out my axe and started chopping. As I chopped, I considered what the alien overlords were asking me to do. Building a bridge was here, on my to-do list, so they clearly had plans. But were the plans going to be in my favor? They kept saying they were a neutral party, but it felt like building a bridge to a side that I distinctly recall having a bush spider monster was not a good idea.

I was fighting instinct on this. I needed to finish my to-do list. That to-do list had not steered me wrong before. The only time it did was when I didn’t finish it. I could trust it.

Couldn’t I?

As the afternoon turned into early evening, I hesitated as I held the last log over the bridge. This might be the last item needed for this. Four logs remained on the ground from the last tree I cut down. Was I prepared to deal with the consequences of building a bridge?

Words appeared in my vision.

We will sell you the information we know about the other side for a price, if it will ease your fears.

I swallowed. I hadn’t heard from the alien overlords in some time. It always freaked me out that they could pop into my mind whenever they wanted to.

“How much?” I asked.

There was a pause, then words appeared again.

-50.00

I hissed, one that I was quite sure was a physical pain. “Are you… open to negotiation by any chance? Or… haggling?”

I love haggling

The words surprised me. It was the first time I recalled any sort of emotion in the words.

“Negative fifty is more than I’ve ever spent on anything in the game. I’m willing to spend negative fifteen.”

-45.00.

This information is rare

I chewed on the inside of my cheek. “Negative twenty.”

-40.00

I still hated it. It was way more than I’ve ever spent. This was because I got ridiculously excited that one time when information was cheap. I knew that would come back to haunt me.

“Negative twenty-five,” I said.

-37.00

I mentally braced myself. “Negative thirty?”

-37.00

I sighed. That was as low as they’d go. It was still more than I’d ever paid for anything. I didn’t have that much right now. I would pretty much have to take these logs back and cut two of them into boards to get that much, plus a little extra.

We’d let you go into the negative for this.

If you choose to go negative, you may not purchase anything until you return to a positive sum.

“You know, part of haggling is knowing the person you’re negotiating with can’t actually read your mind,” I mumbled.

We cannot turn off our access to your mind.

Must monitor your constant thoughts and movements.

I closed one eye and stared at the sky. “That’s really unsettling, you know.”

Apologies

My sister will not let me lie to ease your discomfort.

The other eye snapped open at that, and I stared at the sky, trying not to feel anything. I remembered why I didn’t like when the alien overlords popped in. “You… can lie?”

I can. My sister cannot. Since we are working together, we keep each other neutral to-

There were more words, but they were taken away before I could finish reading them. As quickly as they disappeared, new words appeared.

Apologies. My brother spoke of things he should not. I had to stop him from tampering with the game. -35.00 is our final offer. I am incapable of going lower for the information you seek.

My mouth went dry. I felt like a part of my soul was screaming from the depths, even as I tried to stifle it.

“Are there… only two of you?” I asked, poking something I wasn’t sure I wanted to poke.

The words remained in my vision. No other reply. No other words. I was almost too scared to think about the implications. Judging from their words, they were a brother and sister. Granted, a brother and sister that seemed on a different plane of existence. My mind still leaned on alien overlords. Something I couldn’t comprehend.

“And you’re… a neutral party?” I asked again, still poking something I was now positive I didn’t want to poke.

The words shifted and changed in front of me.

When we work together to keep each other in check, yes. We are a neutral party.

I wasn’t sure how much of that I could believe. I had to be honest, there wasn’t much there I believed in the first place. They had to know this.

My mind flickered to the male and female voice I heard after they attacked me. The one thing that solidified in my mind was there must only be two. A male, and a female. A brother, and a sister. Those were my alien overlords.

I almost felt myself sweating. Were they going to erase my memories of this moment? They had that power. And it was also clearly distressing me. Words appeared in my vision, and I braced myself for what might happen.

-35.00

Y/N

I swallowed, the dryness in my mouth moving to my throat with that action. I mentally chose yes, because I wasn’t sure if I could speak. This information might ease my fears.

Might.

Information was downloaded into my brain as well as words popping into my vision.

There are monsters of varying levels on the other side of the river

Going over there will be dangerous, as your weapons can only kill the most basic of creatures

The monsters might leave you alone, they might not. Depends on how far into the other side you go

You are not equipped with sufficient tools to survive long on the other side

The monsters will not cross the bridge and follow you home

They know it is wolf territory, and the smaller monsters fear the wolf

The stronger monsters could kill the wolf if they wanted, but they don’t because the wolf has nothing of value they are interested in

The stronger monsters have treasures on the other side of the river that are of more value.

Nothing on your side intrigues the stronger monsters enough to cross the bridge

Though, if those higher-level monsters wanted to cross the river, they wouldn’t need a bridge

The information was done, and I was left on my knees, hugging myself tightly. I had a balance of -26.84 dopamine points, and I tried not to think about how true that was. I was not feeling dopamine right now. This world was about to get a lot wider than I expected. And I knew for a fact that I was not going to explore any of it.