Rachel rolled onto her back and grimaced at the sinus pressure in her face, “Allergies? Here?”
“If you do have an allergic reaction to this environment, the System will adapt you to it eventually.” Ket was leaning on a tree while flexing their injured leg. “How are you feeling otherwise?”
“About as good as expected after sleeping on the ground at my age. Say, speaking of age, will the System be making me younger?” She saw Ket make a now familiar gesture that she chose to translate as ‘What? You are talking nonsense again.’ Shrugging off her question, she went to check the wound, which was looking better. After applying another round of healing, being careful to stop with a sliver of mana remaining on her arm, she noticed Ket was standing very straight and stiffly. “Is something wrong? Did I hurt you? Oh, no. Do I stink? Can you smell me?”
As she backed away, she spotted two antennae unfurl from a tight spiral on top of Ket’s head, then quickly lie flat again. “We do have a keen sense of smell. I apologize for making you uncomfortable.”
“You’re apologizing to me? I’m the one who desperately needs a shower and clean clothes. Ugh. You know, inconvenient physical needs are usually ignored or solved magically in our games and movies. I can’t remember the last time I saw the star of a show stop everything to poop in the woods.
“All I seem to do is complain. None of this is your fault and you don’t even smell bad. I’m sorry you got pulled into this with me.”
Ket dropped their mid-legs to the ground until they were eye-to-eye with her, “Rachel, I do not want to spend my life watching others having adventures on a monitor. If it had been a choice, the only factor that would have stopped me volunteering to be your companion is the knowledge of how woefully unprepared I am. It took me seventeen attempts to light a fire! And nearly all my mana! At level 14 I should have been able to defeat a small rodent easily by myself.”
“That was small?” Rachel yelped. “Wait a minute, if Todd hadn’t screwed up the trial, would you have ever gotten to use your second class? Why would you even have the option to pick something utterly useless in your life?”
“There is no way to know how often it has been an option, but the last one of my species to choose Adventurer was over 400 years ago. From the records, they spent their entire life at a desk. Your Todd has given me a great gift.” Ket paused to tilt their head at her, “But I think we will not tell him that.”
Rachel shook her head and chuckled. “Well, then, I think you should have another day of healing and rest; what can we do here to prepare for moving on tomorrow?”
“Weapons. More food and an easier way to carry water would help. Perhaps a bath?” Something about that tilted head and restrained movements looked suspiciously like someone suppressing a fit of giggles to Rachel.
“Right. Humph.” She picked up her stick and the empty water gourd. “Can you make it to the pond?”
“I believe so. It will be better not to let my leg stiffen from disuse.” They picked up the remaining cooked meat on sticks.
Rachel frowned at the unappetizing-looking, cold meat. “Say, Ket, are skills a thing here like in games? Did you unlock a cooking skill last night?”
“No, that has been trialled occasionally, but was never a feature of the most successful version.”
“Can you explain how the trials work again? I was a little overwhelmed when it was covered.”
“Of course,” Ket slipped into lecture mode while still maintaining a close watch on their surroundings. “Each new species is placed in a variety of trials to determine the best setup with the System.” They held up a hand to stop the question Rachel was already forming before continuing, “What makes a trial the best is survival, strength of integration, and whatever the System is aiming for. Historically, trials were random and wildly different. Now, the System uses the colored bars throughout but offers different classes, skills and powers to each species. We have no control over the types of trials.
“The humans are in five separate trials on different planets, each composed of three hundred participants. I don’t know details about the others, but can make a guess from what other, similar species have done. For example: humans would not be suited to the same trials that an older, more rigid species would thrive under.”
Rachel frowned thoughtfully, hoping her next question wouldn’t be offensive. “You mentioned monitoring the trials, but not controlling them; what is the purpose of watching?”
“You are correct that we can’t directly change the outcome or interfere in a trial. What happens is the data collected gets sent to those who can communicate with the System. The goal is to improve future trials. There hasn’t been a catastrophic host loss for a long time.”
“Sheesh, nothing terrifying about that. What happens to the trials that aren’t a success? Do those people get altered to match the best one and returned to Earth?” Rachel tried to imagine what it would have been like to have Todd reappear after he had been missing for five years. And not just return, but also have magical powers. She felt a flush of hot anger fill her at the knowledge of what they would have gone through in his absence. But then the obvious question hit her, “Ket, what is happening in my home now? Does my husband have any idea where I am and how long I’ll be away?”
“I’m sorry, I don’t know. I am certain that the recruiters are working to manage the situation.”
“Hopefully not the one who recruited Todd. Incompetent idiot.”
Two of Ket’s hands moved with a flourish, “As you say. Regarding unsuccessful trial members, if they aren’t considered a danger to the hosts, they are left to live out their lives in peace. If they are dangerous, the System stops them, but they do not return to their home planets.”
“But that’s awful! Doesn’t it care? Only 20% get to go home.”
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“Oh, no. Probably fewer than that survive even the successful trial.” Ket stopped, ducking their head in dismay at their thoughtless words.
“So, either I’m part of the best trial and go home after five years and witness my entire planet get upended, or I’ll be stuck here and cut off from my family for the rest of my life while they get changed by new classes and abilities. This sucks.”
They both walked in silence and troubled thoughts until Rachel spoke again. “Does it strike you as odd that you are here with a rare but useful class when needed most? Are there any records of the System arranging for situations to happen?”
Ket whistled with laughter, “How could the System make me choose a degenerate class against all logic and sense?”
“Maybe it didn’t, but it could have stacked the odds by offering that class to everyone.”
This time, Ket halted so fast that Rachel bumped into them. “What a disturbing thought! It doesn’t seem so bad if a small number were offered Adventurer, but if everyone was then I’m the only one foolish enough to choose it.”
Quick, jerky movements suggested Ket was badly agitated by their thoughts and made Rachel feel guilty for her idea. She hurried to offer a diversion, “Many people have been studying the System for centuries and it’s still mostly unknown, right? So any guesses I make are almost guaranteed to be completely wrong.” Rachel glanced up at her companion’s face, but was again thwarted by the lack of expression in inflexible chitin. On the other hand, she found herself unconsciously mimicking some of the simpler gestures they frequently used. Her mind skated off on a new tangent, “Ket, how much interspecies cooperation is there? Will there be trade ships visiting Earth and tourism between planets?”
“No, Rachel. Other than trials and hosts, there is no interaction between species.”
“Oh.” That one hurt, an actual physical pain right between her lungs. Who could have guessed that two days after learning of the existence of aliens, she would already be so comfortable that she hated the idea of never seeing them again? “Um, have there ever been participants that didn’t want to leave the hosts when it was over?”
“There have been many who didn’t want to leave after conquering and enslaving the natives.”
“No, I mean they became friends and wanted to keep those relationships.”
“That has not been documented.”
“Hmm, I wonder if the problem is only recruiting young, aggressive types? I think we’re going to be debating this topic many times during our adventures, but if we stand around here all day I’ll never get a bath.” Pushing ahead, she was soon peering through the vines and seeing the empty clearing again. “I’m surprised no other animals are here for the water.”
A loud crack sounded as a tree opposite them shook violently before being shoved over and hanging up in its neighbor’s branches. Rachel’s brain refused to process what her eyes were reporting; other trees were moving around and had pushed the first one out of the way. Finally, clarity rearranged facts and she recognized the moving trees as legs supporting a massive, green-furred body. She was marveling at the camouflage and wondering if she had walked under any of those unknowing when a bird burst out of the bushes with a clatter of wings. Before it had gained more than a few feet of air, a flash of movement from the tree-creature left only a few feathers floating down and the blurry recollection of a beak striking from the end of a long neck.
Instinct forced a gasp and demanded retreat, but Ket was at her back with one hand holding her shoulder and another gently muffling her mouth. They remained frozen in place as the creature silently approached the pool and drank. Neither was in a hurry to move until long after it had returned into the forest and the small sounds of wildlife slowly filled the air.
“We should act quickly, although it is unlikely another predator will follow that. You cleanse yourself at the spillover end while I arrange more water storage.” Ket waved towards the far end of the pool and headed for the gourd vines.
Deciding a nudity taboo made zero sense in these circumstances, Rachel stripped down and hastily used her shirt as a washcloth. As clean as she could get without soap or shampoo, she set to work on her clothes. Although an occasional loud noise caused her to clench her hands and freeze, nothing else entered the clearing. With the clothes draped across bushes in the sun, she looked around for Ket. They had gathered a number of gourds and appeared to be tying a vine harness.
Slipping her shoes back on, Rachel poked around the rest of the clearing, until finally getting the nerve to investigate where tree-legs had pushed its way in. There she found a young tree that had been snapped near its base. By the time she had pulled it loose from the roots, Ket had loaded a bandoleer of water gourds across their upper torso and joined her. “Ah, I think I can make a rough spear out of that. Thank you, Rachel.”
She smiled back, but said, “The longer we are here, the more unsafe I feel. Can we try to find someplace more sheltered?”
“Yes, of course. Let me make this less likely to get caught by branches first.” Ket swiftly trimmed the excess off their new spear/staff while she gathered her damp clothes, before leading the way at an angle from where they had come. There wasn’t a path in this direction, but the ferns still swayed in a dance of avoidance and walking wasn’t difficult.
As they walked, Rachel offered to heal Ket’s wound again, but they assured her it wasn’t necessary and she should work on targeting her own aches as needed. While not pain-free, this enabled her to keep going for a few hours at a slow pace until they found a place where three trees were leaning together, forming an intertwined top and a shelter below.
Between the dense canopy above and clouds drifting in, it was difficult to see within the space under the trees. Ket poked around with their spear until they heard an indignant “Chirrup!” Startled, they both backed away.
Rachel gripped her stick tightly as they waited for something to happen, and when it did, it was an anticlimax. A stubby beak poked out into the light, followed by a beady-eyed head covered with a pouf of dark green feathers. When it spotted her, the bird hopped out, flapped its wings once, flipped them flat and chirruped again. Just as she was admiring the intricate pattern of purple vees on the green feathers, Ket was lifting their spear to attack. “Stop! What are you doing? It’s not dangerous.”
“You can’t know that, Rachel. And we will need more food.” As soon as Ket spoke, the bird let out a squawk and scurried around to hide behind Rachel. She felt something grip her knees and discovered this ‘bird’ had arms with hand-like paws. It peeped out around her leg and squawked defiantly at Ket. As she cautiously reached out to pet it, two stalks rose from the mound of feathers and another pair of eyes waved around.
“Wow! How many surprises do you have? Come on, Ket! Maybe this is my, what did you call it, creature companion?”
“It’s absurd and useless. That noise makes my head hurt and it probably has parasites. I thought you were sensible.”
Rachel blinked at what sounded like a petulant outburst. “Well, I want to give it a chance. Plus I have so many questions; it’s bigger than a turkey, can it fly? What does it use the arms for? How does it process information from four eyes when two of them are constantly changing direction?” The bird patted her with one paw, then held the other up with a mewling noise. “Aww, I think it’s hurt! I wonder if I can help?”
Ket began to protest, before realizing this could be the needed trigger for her veterinary boost to the healing skill. They watched silently as she drew the healing glow up and passed it over damaged paw. The mangled digits straightened and began to fill out but Rachel forgot to hold some mana back and collapsed as the blue light winked out. Neither saw the lingering glow on the injured paw that continued to improve slowly.
Ket carefully picked Rachel up and carried her into the shelter. They didn’t say anything as the bird followed them in and settled in the opening with one eyestalk peering out and the other watching them.