I let out a breath, but that was all I could do before I ran to the covered back porch. I ignored my morning routine. Ignored checking to see if that creepy beer can was there in front of my window. Ignored everything else but the hint that I couldn’t be certain I could trust. Sweep the covered back porch.

I threw open the back door and entered the covered back porch, listening to the rain on the roof. I searched through the pile of cleaning tools, the vacuum, the bucket and mop, and grabbed the broom.

“Okay, I’m sweeping!” I shouted to the ceiling. I kept an eye on my stamina. It was still only half full, as was my sanity. I stuffed thoughts of doom into a corner of my mind. It didn’t matter that they were coming tonight. It didn’t matter that I only had half my sanity. It didn’t matter that I didn’t actually have an option of making comfort food without the fire. I needed to focus on this, first. And this was… honestly a messy back porch. There were old leaves in here, no doubt building up after countless autumns. This, like most of the house, had been neglected. I never got to it, because it didn’t actually seem like part of the house. I grabbed the faded red carpet and moved it out of the way, happy that I could move this carpet.

But I already checked the bottom of the covered porch. There was nothing but dirt on it. There was no basement here. There had to be a crawl space somewhere. It was cold enough that I was losing stamina. I had a few fried fish left. I could make more salads, but I had to get this place warm first.

Then I saw it. My heart practically leapt out of my chest. I used the broom to brush more of the dirt and leaves away. It was a plain piece of plywood on the floor against the house. I didn’t stop to examine it too closely. I dropped to my knees and picked up the piece of wood. Underneath the flimsy piece of wood was a hole, leading into the bottom of the house.

“Here. It’s got to be here,” I said, my teeth chattering. I moved the board aside and saw a set of stairs. I climbed down them, and I did not expect to feel this amount of relief at entering a dark hole underneath a haunted house.

I pulled out my flashlight as I crouched down, trying not to bang my head against the house. I turned on the flashlight, looking around. It was a maze of pillars and wood, and I was still shivering.

This basement wasn’t any basement I’d ever seen. It looked like it was dug out a hundred years after the house was built, probably the reason why I couldn’t find any indication that there was one here in the first place. The floor was nothing more than a slab of concrete with some boards placed on the ground in the direction I probably should go to find the furnace. The ceiling was about five feet high, which made me stay in a crouched position.

I maneuvered my way, following the boards, hearing a promising whirring sound. I followed the sound until I got to some strange contraption. I frowned, not sure if I could touch it. It was some sort of pipe, and I had the feeling I was only seeing half of it. This did not look like a furnace. There was a clipboard next to it, and I picked it up to read it.

The following points can be exchanged for items

0.50 – matches

1.00 – sticks

5.00 – firewood

10.00 – boards

10.00 – coal

15.00 – metal shard

I glanced up at the pipe again, my stamina dropping with my shivering. This was good to know. I would come back and study this when I got the furnace up and running.

I followed the boards until I got to the more central part of the house, where to my absolute delight I found the furnace. I jumped into my building outfit to see what it needed.

0/3 metal shards

0/4 coal

I scrambled to the clipboard again. I had enough. I had dropped so much stuff in the dumpster that I would have enough for all of it. The relief that slammed into me was enough to bring tears to my eyes.

I made the switch, draining most of my dopamine points. I was cold. I had about thirty percent of my stamina, and I did not want to have another conversation with that man again.

I shoved the metal and coal into the furnace, then felt a huge breath of fresh air when the contraption made a clicking noise before roaring to life. I collapsed to my knees, even though I was quite sure that was a dead rat’s body a few feet away from me.

“Thank you,” I whispered to the man that was neither my friend nor my enemy. “Thank you.”

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

The change was instantaneous. I stopped shivering. Even though I was in the basement, I felt the warmth wash over me, and my stamina no longer dropped. I let out another breath, letting myself feel this victory before moving on to the next pressing thing on my list.

That fence. Bricks. Clay. I needed to experiment to see if I could make baked clay near the furnace.

I didn’t have any soup left. Instead, I spent some time in my now warm house making applesauce with my cutting station. Five bricks. That’s all I had to make. It wasn’t even mid-morning yet, and I needed to get to the river to collect five mounds of clay. It would be so much easier now that I had my inventory. Despite not having soup to keep me warm, I just needed to make sure my stamina was completely full. It was one trip to the river. I could even run if I wanted to. As long as my stamina was full.

It took two apples for every applesauce. I experimented with one applesauce, getting about fifteen percent of my stamina back. I had a regular apple left, and tried eating it, getting a sliver of stamina in return. So, a plain apple did give me something, but it was far more valuable to mash it into applesauce.

I ate the rest of the applesauce, then a fried fish to give myself full stamina. My sanity was at fifty percent, and I had no more comfort foods, but I tried not to panic about that. That was another problem I shouldn’t focus on. I was going to build this fence. The furnace was going to work as a substitute for the sun.

Once I was at full stamina and every slot in my inventory had a basic food item, I walked outside into the cold. I went as fast as possible to the river without using too much stamina and quickly gathered five mounds of clay.

“This will work,” I said through my shivering. “The information was given to me before about how to make bricks, but I’m pretty certain this will work. It makes sense that it’ll work. Get the clay close enough to the furnace, it’ll act like a sun of some sort. Right? Right?”

I didn’t bother looking at the sky. Once the last mound of clay was in my inventory, I headed for the house, keeping an eye on my stamina. It was dropping, but I could make it. I had enough stamina to get home. And at home, it would be dry and warm.

I entered the covered back porch, then walked through the hole in the floor, molding the clay into brick shape as I approached the furnace. I knelt on the ground again, pulling out the five molded clay and placing them under the furnace. There was a moment where I felt like an idiot. How could a furnace possibly be like the sun?

But I was too stubborn to give up. The gamer part of me knew this could be an option. It made sense. This was a damn good substitute.

“Could I… could I get an indication if this worked?” I asked my alien overlords.

There was nothing. I chewed on the inside of my cheek as I stared at the bricks. Despite my fear of that man, I started combing through what he said to me to give myself any hint as to who my alien overlords were. I couldn’t trust anything the man said. How could I? He could lie.

No, wait. I could trust some of the things he said. He didn’t lie all the time. It’s what he said. Lying all the time made him too predictable. That, for whatever reason, rang true to me. He didn’t like predictability. Maybe because…

Because his sister was predictable. Perhaps they were siblings, but they were opposites. One of the memories came back to me with startling clarity.

“You’re like yin and yang. I’ve never seen two children with two completely different likes and dislikes come together like you two have.”

I stared at the furnace, frowning. That phrase came back way too easily for it not to be a clue of some sort. Brenda had said that about Theo and I, but what if… what if it also held a clue to who my alien overlords were?

Yin and yang. Opposites, yet in balance. The man lied; the female was incapable of it. Predictability and unpredictable. Together, they formed a neutral party.

I opened my mouth to say something, but paused. What exactly should I say? It wasn’t like I needed to. These alien overlords could obviously read my thoughts.

“Is it true that I agreed to this whole situation?” I asked the ceiling.

There was a pause, long enough for me to wonder if they would answer.

Yes

I swallowed, closing my eyes. This was the closest I had ever come to true answers. Even still, I could not trust those words. This might be the male.

My brother is not allowed to lead you astray as long as I am here

I let out another breath. This was the female speaking. I still couldn’t be sure, though. I needed to do a few more tests. “So… you are incapable of lying?”

Lying is too simple a word to describe what I do.

I am a higher being, higher than you can comprehend.

Me using these words to communicate to you is, in a way, lying.

If I tried to communicate to you in my pure language and reveal myself in my true form, you would dissolve at the sight of my existence, for your mortal self cannot comprehend it.

Therefore, in that manner, I do lie because I withhold my pure self to keep you safe.

But I do not purposefully lead you astray to do things you should not.

I simply withhold things that could cause you harm.

I stared at the words filling my vision, and kept staring as they quietly slipped away. This was… so much more existential dread than I wanted to feel today. Despite all this, I knew for certain this was the sister. She was going above and beyond to make sure I was not deceived in any way, even if it did feel unnecessary.

“I, um…” I started to say, giving my head a little shake. “I was just… hoping to convince you to… make a timer on the bricks? To… see if it works to have the furnace bake them.”

It felt silly asking that after the conversation. There was another pause. I wanted to be a bit more sneaky about it all, try to pit the one against the other, but sometimes I forgot that these beings are what the male claimed to be higher even than gods.

It would make sense for that to happen. An upgrade of some sort.

Not just for bricks, but all tools that rely on a timer.

Even your stamina and sanity should have a number representation of what they are.

I like this.

I shall discuss this with my brother.

There was nothing much more for me to do but wait. Wait for this being to figure out what she wanted to do. But a small part of me felt proud. I knew just a bit better these two beings, and was able to request things.

Once all levels reach 20, you will receive this upgrade.