Our first interviewee leaned forward in his seat, and his eyes darted from the straw strewn on the floor to those of us seated behind Hag’s big table. The young guy appeared nervous to me, and it caused me a pang of guilt.

“Thank you for coming, Zwick,” I said.

“Told him to do it,” Dillard interjected. “He weren’t coming if it weren’t me saying.”

I frowned while glancing at the people assembled to my left and right. They must’ve felt the same way I did.

“Dillard,” I said. “No offense, but do you think you could wait outside?”

None of the others interrupted to stop me, so I had to have been right believing they agreed about Dillard’s presence. He had no reason to be there if he wasn’t applying for the job.

Dillard looked like he’d sucked a lemon.

“What?” Dillard said. “You’re telling me out?”

“Yes,” I said, “I’m asking you to leave. We want to talk to people interested in the job. We don’t need you for this part. I’m sure if there’s something else where I’d need your feedback, I could find you and ask you then. Yes?”

He sat unblinking for a good ten seconds. I’d definitely caught him by surprise. Poor guy. For a second I thought he might start crying. Was I being too harsh?

“Fools,” Dillard said, and he clicked his tongue. He stood from his stool, and waved an arm at the interviewee to his right. “Come see me when you’re done in here,” he said to Zwick.

His upper lip curled to the bottom of his nose, and he glared at me like I’d insulted his mother or something. Without another word he disappeared through Hag’s solid wood door (I’ll refrain from guessing it was oak). When he stepped through I got a glimpse of the mass of job applicants waiting outside Hag’s hut to be interviewed.

With that out of the way, we got back to questioning Zwick Rice.

“You understand what we’re trying to accomplish here?” I said to the young applicant.

He nodded. “Keeping out them thunders,” he said. “We’ve been wanting that since ever.”

“Right,” I said. “We’ve got to set up a system where the village, and baseball team are kept safe. Basically, we want to prevent any attacks at all. You believe you can help us with that?”

He gave a nod, and before he could expound on the point, we all heard Mayor Judith clear her throat.

“All attacks?” The Mayor said. “Prevent?”

My shoulders raised, and I could recognize my adrenaline picked up.

“Preventing attacks,” I said. “We’re here to find a team of people to do that. I’m not sure I understand your question.”

Brunth raised his hand, and then spoke. “We won’t prevent any,” he said. “It’s been tried. It doesn’t happen.”

“Right,” Judith agreed. “Impossible.”

Unbelievable, here we are literally interviewing someone who will potentially be part of the effort of preventing attacks, i.e. keeping the village and the team safe, and we’re still arguing if it’s even possible? Why did they even want to be here for this? I expressed as much to them with no small amount of frustration added to my tone.

“We have to be here,” Mayor Judith said. “You cannot do this without our permission.”

“But you don’t even agree with the idea we can keep the village safe,” I said. “And here we are interviewing people to hire them for that express purpose.”

This was juicy stuff for the filming crew. I could hear Aubrey speaking into her mic softly across the room.

“We’ve reached a point of critical disagreement between Moonlight’s Mayor, Judith Jorn, and Moonlight’s franchise owner, Adam Bridger. Who will come out of this on top? Stay tuned,” she said.

“Really?” I said to Aubrey, annoyed. “Not a great time.”

“You could hear that?” Aubrey said.

“Yes, of course I could.”

“Sorry,” she said.

“Maybe just keep it quiet for now?” I said. It sounded rude, I admit, but I was annoyed by the whole situation. “Otherwise, you’re welcome to wait outside.”

“Whoa,” Aubrey said. “Calm down.”

I brushed her off, and focused my ire back at the Mayor.

“You could always leave as well,” I said to her. I guess I was feeling the power of my position in that moment. But, honestly, how should I react? We had a long way to go, and as Proctor had rightfully pointed out when we’d first met… we had a short time to get there.

Poor Zwick watched us with his mouth agape. I don’t think he was expecting internal squabbling among the interviewers before we even got going.

“We’re staying,” Judith said. “You must let us. This isn’t your village.”

All I could do was shake my head. I took a deep breath. Proctor did his best to intervene.

“Security is important,” Proctor said. “Or the whole operation isn’t going to work. I believe that’s what Adam was trying to say.”

Judith’s lips pursed. Her eyes narrowed, giving his words a moment of thought. She looked at the councilors sat next to her.

“Viv,” she said. “What do you think? What about you, George?”

Viv, a tiny woman with a long scar down her cheek, and thick black bun on her head spoke barely above a murmur.

“No monsters works nicely,” she said. “But it’s non possible.”

“Yes,” Councilor George said, nodding vigorously. “Non possible.”

I could see Brunth nod in agreement with his cohorts. Proctor’s mouth shrunk to the size of a button, and he shifted his glance to me.

I stared up at the thatched ceiling, annoyed to have hit this snag before even hiring one person for the security detail. I may not have had to run my team by committee - that remained to be seen - but, apparently before I could even worry about running my team, I was forced to deal with a committee all the same.

“Here’s the thing,” I said, with enough gravity, I could tell I had everyone’s attention. “It has to be possible. Security, I’m talking about. It has to be possible to keep the monsters out. And, I don’t mean in an optimistic sense. I mean, it must be done. I’m going to be running a business here. The most important business in your village. Actually, it’s going to be the most important thing for your lives, all of our lives. If the team doesn’t work, you already know, the System has already said, if the team fails, we die.”

Without really meaning to, my words had sucked all the air out of the room. No one pushed back. I was expecting Judith or one of the others to argue, to yell back at me, but it didn’t happen.

Instead, young Zwick caused his chair to creak when he shifted his weight, and raised his hand.

“Pardon,” Zwick said, and I could see he was looking at me. “Them monsters, it’s the thunders you’re going to keep away? And, the crawlies?”

“The crawlies?” I said. What was he talking about?

Proctor nodded. “There’s been attacks in other areas,” he said. “Giant insects. I don’t think it’s ever happened here.”

“Terrific,” I said. “One more thing to worry about.”

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

“That’s why we say it can’t happen,” Judith said.

“But, you’re not getting it,” I said. “It has to happen. Whatever you’ve tried in the past, fine, it didn’t work. All due respect, I wasn’t here. We weren’t here. And now we are here, and I’m telling you there has to be a system in place, otherwise why build anything?”

“We don’t even know what you’re going to build,” Judith said. “You haven’t included us in anything.”

“Ya,” Viv agreed with her boss. “We accept you into our village, but you ain’t shared information.”

I sighed loudly. “Fine,” I said. “I apologize for not reaching out the minute I got into town, alright? But, I’m playing catch up here too. I’m still not one hundred percent certain what it’s all going to look like. I know I need to build a ballpark, I know I need players, and training facilities, and everything that goes with building a baseball team. A professional team. It’s a lot. And, I know I can’t get it all done, and then turn around and watch it be destroyed by these creatures.”

Zwick spoke up again. “The dragons, sir,” he said. “What about them?”

“Right,” Judith said. “We don’t see them much. But, you can’t keep them away. Don’t care what you do.”

Based on what I’d seen in that restricted file. I knew they were right about that.

“We’re going to have to figure out what to do to keep the dragons away. I know we can’t harm them. There might be ways to discourage their visits, yes?” I said.

No one knew the answer, I could tell by their silence.

“Ain’t seen one since I was small,” Zwick said. “Hope I never see one again.”

“They come for things,” Judith said. “They each have a preference.”

“Oh?” I said, and threw a questioning look toward Proctor.

“The nine dragons each have a theme or something they’re known for. They have certain conditions that must exist in order for them to appear,” he said. “I don’t know off the top of my head what those are. It’s something perhaps you could ask the System, if they’ll even tell you.”

It gave me a bit of a brain storm. “Well, if there are specific things that attract the nine dragons,” I said. “Surely, there’d be things that would do the opposite?”

Judith shot me a look which I’d read as, ‘I hadn’t thought of that before’. Suddenly, I felt like the smartest person in the room. If that was truly the case, we were all doomed. No, I’m pretty sure Proctor was by orders of magnitude more intelligent, but I did think I was on to something with my dragon prevention assertion.

“‘Tis possible,” Judith said. “Would require questioning.”

“What would you do?” I turned that question on young Zwick.

He bared his teeth, uncomfortable with me putting him on the spot. Seemed like a good tactic for assessing a security applicant.

“For the dragons?”

“For the monsters other than the dragons,” I said.

“Gotta make a team,” Zwick said. He was stating the obvious, but I felt compelled to cut him a break. I wouldn’t be expecting him to head up the effort or anything, but rather these interviews were to hopefully fill a staff full of operatives tasked with following orders. “Put the team at key spots,” he continued. “Edges of Moonlight.”

“Right,” I said. “A team. We’re going to need quite a few. You feel comfortable fighting these things, the thunder lizards, the big bugs, the crawlies, as you call them? You’re going to be okay with putting your life on the line to keep the rest of us safe?”

Zwick curled his lips, he shrugged. “Ain’t got no life,” he said. “Not really now, anyway. I want to help. I want to get paid too, I won’t be a liar. Gold’s good. I care about Moonlight too.”

“So, if I hire you,” I said, “and you’re part of a team of people out on the edge of the village for long periods of time, watching for monsters, fighting with those monsters, even dying while trying to keep those monsters out, you’d be okay with all of that?”

To his credit, Zwick didn’t appear phased all that much. He shrugged again, and I believed him when he said he didn’t have a lot else going on in his life.

“Dying a brave death means I have my honor,” Zwick said. “I want my life to mean something.”

I’d heard enough, and to be honest, I didn’t really care what the rest of the panel thought. Okay, I cared what Proctor thought, but I knew if I asked him he’d throw it back at me that it was my decision.

“You’re hired,” I said. I stood up with my hand extended. The young man’s face lit up like fireworks. He jumped from his chair, rushed the table, and shook my forearm with vigor.

“I’m so happy,” Zwick said. “I’m going to mean something.”

Geez, I had a hard time fighting back a tear, the way he said it. It was scary, actually, to have this kind of power over someone’s life. Was I sure I wanted this kind of responsibility? The System isn’t giving you much of a choice, I reminded myself.

“We’ll figure out the pay in a bit,” I said. I glanced at Proctor, and could see he agreed. “Come to the inn tomorrow, midday. We’ll make a plan.”

Zwick rushed out, his face flush.

What a great feeling. It threw me back to all the times I’d interviewed for jobs back in the modern world. Maybe the conventional wisdom I’d heard before was true, that a lot of bosses actually did want every applicant they saw to do well in interviews. It’s definitely how I felt there and then.

“Let’s bring in the next one,” I said.

“Shouldn’t we have lunch soon?” Chai piped up from over in the corner.

“Shush,” Aubrey admonished her right away.

Good.

Hag swung open her door, and we could hear a lot of clamor coming from outside. Then a large man with a half shaved head limped in. His left leg remained stiff, and it stuck out straight in front of him when he sat in the chair. He was older than me by a good ten or fifteen years. When he sat down he grunted as though multiple parts of him ached.

Right away, his presence caused Judith, Viv, George, and Brunth to straighten up in their seats.

“‘Twas not expecting you, Ulrich,” Judith said. “You didn’t need to come.”

Immediately, I checked the older man’s stats.

[Tools:

Hitting 40

Power 35

Fielding 30

Throwing 45

Running 30

OFP = 36]

Without all the numbers available to me off the top of my head, I think he might’ve had the best numbers I’d seen up to that point. Regardless, he did visibly have trouble walking into the room. I had to be realistic.

“Yes,” he grunted at Judith. “I had to come. I need this.”

His voice sounded like someone who’d definitely been some places, and seen some things. Smoked all the smokes. Drank all the drinks.

“You know each other?” I said.

The man she called Ulrich bowed his head, stifled a smile.

“Know him?” George said. “‘Tis Ulrich!”

I nodded, but they could tell it didn’t mean anything to me.

“Everyone in Moonlight knows Ulrich,” Judith said.

“You are too kind,” Ulrich said, and you got the idea by the way he said it that he was used to this kind of fawning treatment. Moonlight’s own celebrity?

“He’s our most famous athlete,” Viv said.

“Oh?” I said. “That’s exciting.” I said it in a way that probably didn’t come across as all that excited. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Ulrich.”

He nodded, as though accepting something inevitable.

“Sounds like you’re famous around these parts,” I said.

“One way of putting it,” Ulrich said. “I am known.”

“And now you want to kill monsters?” I said. I folded my hands on the table, maybe to hide that speaking to an actual, experienced adult caused my palms to sweat. You’re in charge, I had to repeat internally.

“Yes,” Ulrich said. “You pay in gold, yes?”

“Right to the pay, huh?” I said.

“We all need gold,” Ulrich said. “What’s the pay?”

“Why do you want this job?” I said.

“You are impolite,” Judith said to me. She held her hands out over the table as a gesture toward Ulrich. “Forgive this newcomer,” she said. “He doesn’t understand he is a guest here.”

Wow.

“First of all,” I said. “Newcomer or not, if I were to disappear, you’d cease to be alive.”

“Maybe we should take a breath,” Proctor said.

“You understand that, right?” I said to Judith. “I’m here, like it or not. You’re going to have to deal with it. Let’s get that straight, right here, right now.”

Yeah, my adrenaline spiked. Too much pride? Perhaps. But, honestly, I didn’t ask to be put in Moonlight. Fine, Judith didn’t ask for this bunch of newcomers either, but we had to push past this impasse or we were all doomed. I’d never claimed to be the most patient person, so it’s possible I rose to anger faster than I should’ve.

“It’s fine, Judith,” Ulrich said. “I’ll answer the man’s questions.”

I sat back in my chair, and I folded my arms. A defensive posture, sure, but I was worked up.

“I want to make currency,” Ulrich said, “‘tis true. But, I can help what you’re after.”

“Security is what I’m after,” I said. “I want to keep these things you call the thunders out of Moonlight. I want to build my business without those things coming through and destroying everything.”

“Yes,” Ulrich said. “On that much, we agree. And, if I can be paid to help, I would like to be.”

“I notice you’re not walking well,” I said. “You have an injury of some sort.”

“I’ve had rough years,” Ulrich said. “It’s not forever. My leg. It will heal.”

“We may be able to help with that, too,” Proctor said.

News to me.

“We can?” I said.

“Ask me later,” Proctor said. “There’s a few key things you obviously haven’t learned yet.”

“What I want to know is why would Moonlight’s famous athlete choose to do something like stand around at an outpost for days watching for threats?” I said. “Why would you be interested in doing that?”

“We’ve hit hard times,” Ulrich said. “All of us have. Much as folks are angered by your arrival, truth is it’s probably good.”

“I see,” I said. “And, how do you feel you could help?”

“When my leg heals, I can fight,” Ulrich said. “I can battle. Even thunder lizards, I’m willing to try. Dragons? Well. Nothing to do there, but I believe we can keep the others out, if you’re serious about it.”

I laughed. “Of course I’m serious about it,” I said. “Was that ever in question?”

“So, it’s true?” Ulrich said. “What they’re all saying outside? It’s true? If so, I can help you with that. I have ideas how to help you with that. It’s something we should’ve done ages ago. And, you’re telling me it’s true?”

My eyebrow raised. When I looked up and down the table, it didn’t appear anyone else knew what he was talking about either.

“Is what true?” I said.

“The wall,” Ulrich said. “You’re going to build a huge wall.”