Upstairs inside the Moonlight Inn & Ale, they had vacancy, which amounted to one teeny second floor room. It had the strange appearance of something you’d find in a 1700s-themed bed and breakfast. Didn’t really fit with the rest of the village’s stone age aesthetic. Creaky oak floor, white walls, an old, warped glass window covered with white sheers.

Forced to share a room the previous night, Flint charitably gave me the bed, a four-post double. Unsuitable for two guys our size. He slept on the floor, and seemed content. Strange man.

I woke up sunken to the center of the goose down mattress, under a pile of heavy wool blankets, and I could smell the body odor of previous guests.

I dressed in my furs I’d hung to dry. Flint had his back to me as he stared out the window. A small wooden stand near the end of the bed housed a mirror, and a glass pot. Pretty sure I knew the pot’s purpose. It was empty.

“Do you need the pot?” I asked Flint.

“Negative.”

The man can really hold it, had to hand it to him.

“Do you mind?” I said. “I really gotta go.”

“Go ahead,” Flint grunted.

It caused me to frown. “No,” I said, “I’m asking you to step out while I, you know.”

Genuine confusion crossed Flint’s face. “Are you ordering me out?”

Order? There it was again. As if we were in the military, and somehow I outranked him.

“Only for a moment,” I said. “If you don’t mind.”

“I’ve seen it before,” Flint said.

“Great, happy to hear it,” I said, annoyed. “Give me a minute would you?”

I motioned toward the door.

With great timing, somebody knocked. Flint grabbed his rifle, but I stopped him before he could threaten whoever was out there.

“Who is it?” I said.

The muffled voice of the timid young man who worked the front desk downstairs came through. “‘Tis Nimothy, my lord.”

“Timothy?”

“Nimothy, my lord.”

I shook my head, and opened. The slight, small man’s oily hair stuck to his forehead, and he folded his hands, nervous to speak through broken teeth. “Pardon the bother,” he said. “You’ve a message at the front.”

“A message?”

“Yes, my lord.”

“Thank you, Nimothy.”

“My pleasure, my lord.”

Taking note of the plus symbol in the corner of my vision, I ‘clicked’ it open. Text opened, superimposed over Nimothy.

Tools:

Hitting 45

Power 20

Running 50

Fielding 55

Throwing 40

OFP = 42

Based on the numbers, I couldn’t help but feel this little guy might prove useful from a team standpoint.

Without meaning to, I was staring.

“Something wrong, my lord?” Nimothy said.

“How long have you worked here?” I asked.

“Twas only a moment,” Nimothy said. “Simply walked up from the desk below.”

I could’ve clarified what I was asking, but my bladder was screaming. Terrific time for Aubrey to show up.

She was actually there, at the top of the stairs, right outside my room at the inn. The surprise gave me a pang of excitement at the back of my neck, or maybe that was my overwhelming need to piddle.

“Hello,” she said. Not many people could make burlap work, but she managed quite well. The brown bag she was wearing appeared cleaner than the one she’d adorned the day before.

“New sack?” I said.

She shook her head. “Hag beat the dirt out of this one in the river a few days ago,” she said. “Nice one, hey?”

We both laughed at the absurdity. Contemplating Aubrey’s landlady’s river side laundry chores, I couldn’t help but imagine what Hag could accomplish at Gretchen’s Wash-o-Sheen laundromat. But then those thoughts quickly regressed my brain back into the throes of trauma dealing with Smelly Foot Woman. More than past time to shake that history off for good.

Poor little Nimothy cleared his throat. “Pardon,” he said. “I must return to the desk.”

“Yes, of course.”

Wasn’t until Nimothy made for the stairs, I’d noticed Aubrey didn’t come alone.

“Oh,” Aubrey said. I think she could see my quizzical glance at the man and woman standing behind her. “This is Zane.”

A young guy with a chiseled jaw, and perfect teeth stepped forward to shake my hand. “How you feeling?” He said. He held his eyebrows in such a way that came across like someone faking concern. “Can you believe they have dinosaurs here?”

I knew by his teeth he’d seen modern dentistry. “So you’re from our world too,” I said.

“Yep,” Zane said. “Been here roughly a month. The three of us.”

“Yeah, Aubrey mentioned that yesterday,” I said. “Weird, I just got here. Did the apocalypse not all happen at once?”

“Beats me,” Zane said.

“Maybe the System works in stages,” Aubrey said.

The young woman next to Zane cleared her throat in an obvious way.

I smiled at her, and extended my hand. “Adam,” I said. “You’re working with Aubrey?”

She gave me a pageant winner smile, and offered a hand as limp as lettuce. “Chai,” she said. “I’m here to do the audio. Mic’s out by the stairs. Is he part of this too?” She motioned toward Flint.

“The audio?” I said. I threw a questioning look at Aubrey. “You came to the inn to document something right now?”

Zane reached into his back pocket, and revealed a smart phone. “It’s why we’re here,” he said.

My bladder was ready to explode.

“You’re supposed to be doing something team wise this morning,” Aubrey said. “According to the System.”

“Is that right?” I said.

“You didn’t know?”

I shook my head.

“Weird,” Aubrey said. “So, the System’s not updating all of us all at once?”

“Yeah, crazy,” Chai said, her voice thick with sarcasm. “Look, if we’re not going to do anything, can I go back?”

Aubrey rolled her eyes at the question.

“What was I supposed to be doing this morning?” I asked.

Aubrey shrugged. “They didn’t say,” she said. “I assumed you were about to do something important with your team.”

“We should get to the desk, check your message,” Flint suggested.

Annoyingly good looking Zane arced his arm over toward my laconic friend for an introduction. “Zane,” he said.

Flint simply glared at him for a moment, and went back to staring out the window.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

Zane’s smile fell away. “Okay then,” he said.

“Well, I’m sorry to disappoint,” I said to Aubrey, “but I didn’t have anything planned. Though now I’m wondering if I should be doing something. Will the System punish me?”

Chai let out a loud sigh. “This is what we’ve been practicing all month for?” She said. Her eyes narrowed. “My coat’s starting to sweat. Can I go back now?”

She was wearing what looked like a coyote pelt at first, but upon closer inspection, it looked like a patchwork quilt of many different bits of fur. Given this lady’s snotty personality, I hoped it was a coat made of rats. I definitely understood Aubrey’s choice to wear a potato sack.

Zane wore a modified bear rug with his muscular arms exposed. When I opened his stats, I was surprised.

Tools:

Hitting 20

Power 20

Running 20

Fielding 20

Throwing 20

OFP = 20

“Don’t let me hold you up,” I said to Chai. “Actually, I need the room to myself for a minute, if you don’t mind.”

“Bye,” Chai said. And yeah, it was with a fair amount of tone.

“Ignore her,” Aubrey murmured to me. “She’s been cranky the entire time we’ve been here.”

“Losing access to electricity, and running water will do that,” I said.

“Nah, she’s just a moron,” Zane said, and he smiled broadly.

Aubrey gasped. “Zane,” she said in a mocking tone. She elbowed him in the ribs, and she smiled. It definitely came across as flirtatious, so of course it made me jealous.

Once I took care of business in my room. I opened the door to let them all in again. Zane let me hold the smart phone. Amazingly, the battery never dropped below 100%.

“No internet, obviously,” Zane said. “Pretty much, the System wants me to have it for the camera. I’ve gotten pretty used to it by now.”

“You haven’t shown that to the locals have you?” I said.

“It’s funny,” Aubrey said. “They don’t really show any interest. One guy called it a ‘silly rock’.”

“Haven’t you wondered why this place is this way?” I said.

“What,” Aubrey said. “You mean… the world?”

“Yeah,” I said. “The Earth. Why would the System reconstitute it this way?”

“I wanna know his story,” Zane said, shoving a thumb in Flint’s direction. “Where’d he come from?”

“System provided,” I said.

“You’re kidding.”

“Nope,” I said, “I get the feeling he’s my security guard or something. He’s always asking me if I’m ordering him to do something. My own personal butler. Who just happens to look like he could kick my butt.”

“Must be nice,” Aubrey said. “We’ve had to keep our heads down around here, and hope we don’t piss any of the villagers off.”

“Everyone seems friendly thus far,” I said.

“Don’t be fooled,” Zane said. “There are some nasty characters around.”

“Maybe we shouldn’t have let Chai walk back alone?” I said.

“She’ll be alright,” Zane said. “People here are so superstitious, they probably feel like her terrible attitude might rub off if they get near her.”

“What’s her job again?” I said. “Why’s she here?”

“So, I’m the host, or the documentarian,” Aubrey said. “Or, so says the System. Zane here is supposed to film whatever we do, on the phone, and Chai has a boom mic connected wirelessly to the phone if you can believe it. Again, you’d think these ‘ancient’ (she held up her fingers to make air quotations) people would gawk at us using this modern equipment, but they mostly don’t seem to care.”

“And you’re covering me?” I said. “That’s your entire reason for being here?”

“Crazy, right?” Aubrey said.

“But why would the System put you here a month ahead of me?”

“Get us used to the equipment, used to the surroundings, is the only thing I can think,” Zane said. “We’ve been waiting a while to meet you, the baseball guru. It’s actually fairly exciting, the build up.”

I had to chuckle. “Sorry to disappoint,” I said. “I’m definitely not a guru.”

“The System made it sound like you were this huge expert,” Zane said. “Practically an icon. If you’d told me you were in the Baseball Hall of Fame, I’d have believed it.”

My laughter irritated him. You could see it when he pressed his colorless lips together in disappointment. I was fine with that. “Hall of Fame?” I said. “I’ve watched a bunch of games on TV. Years ago, we’re talking. I’ve seen maybe one, two World Series in their entirety in my lifetime.”

“No offense,” Zane said. “But why then are you the one among us chosen to create a baseball franchise, and here of all places?”

“Does it really matter?” Aubrey said. I think she was defending me to her boyfriend. “Point is, we’re here, and we’re each expected to do our part.”

“I’d rather have his part,” Zane said, pointing at me.

“Have they threatened your life?” I said. “Be careful what you wish for.”

The comment chilled the room. Flint saw the respite as an opportunity to interject.

“If you and your friends are done arguing,” Flint said. “We should see about the message downstairs.”

“We weren’t arguing,” Aubrey said.

“Regardless,” Flint said. “We should see about the message.”

I gave Flint a nod.

I turned toward Aubrey, and Zane. “We’ve got to go,” I said. “Maybe we can meet up later?”

“Curious about your message,” Aubrey said. “The last time we’d heard news like that, the System gave Zane this phone.”

“You think they’re going to give me one too?” I said.

Aubrey gasped again. “Maybe that’s why the System wanted us to come over this morning,” she said. “To follow you receiving whatever the message is. Zane, I think we need to start filming.”

“Great, we don’t have Chai,” Zane said. “Guess I should run over and grab her, yeah?”

“Why do you need a boom mic?” I said. “What’s the point? That phone’s got a mic.”

“But the audio would sound terrible,” Zane said.

“So?”

“So, we know our jobs,” Zane said. “They made it very clear. Entertain them. Not very entertaining if we send them footage that sounds like it was shot in an echo chamber.”

“He’s got a point,” I said.

“You think the dinosaur attacks are random?” Zane said. “No way. They’re used to make sure we stay in line.”

I wanted to argue the point, but it actually made sense, what he was saying, conspiracy theory or not.

“Go get Chai, I guess,” Aubrey said, annoyed at having to wait.

Then we could hear her breathing heavy at the bottom of the inn stairs. “I’m here,” Chai said, plodding heavily up the creaky steps. “Got half way over when I realized I left the boom mic here.”

“We were just saying we should probably film this part,” Aubrey said. “Adam and Flint going to check a message they have at the desk.”

Flint and I sat on the bed watching them go through the motions of setting up a shoot. It was obvious they’d drilled this before.

“Ready,” Aubrey said.

“Here we go,” Zane said, and he clicked ‘Record’ on the smart phone.

Chai wore headphones so big she looked like Princess Leia. The mic’s boom was twice the length of her body. Pretty light though, so she didn’t seem to have trouble holding it near me, as I left the upstairs room at the inn, and descended toward the front desk.

“Wait,” Chai said. “Can I get a mic check.”

I spoke a few words, and she gave me a thumbs up.

“Alright, Aubrey?” Zane said. “Here we go, in four, three, two…”

Everyone was behind me, and Aubrey started talking, and it was a bit jarring to hear her sounding like a reporter on the Evening News.

“His first morning in Moonlight, and Adam, along with his new friend, Flint received word they’d been delivered a package the night before,” Aubrey said. “Their curiosity piqued, they decided they’d better check in with the desk attendant, and see what the System had in store.”

At the bottom of the stairs, I turned awkwardly to Zane holding the phone out in front of him. “I don’t think the guy, Nimothy, yeah, he didn’t say it was a ‘package’, just a message,” I said.

Zane thrust his fingers toward me with his non-camera hand. His angry eyebrows told me he wanted me to turn around, and just go with what Aubrey had said. Clearly, he was trying to convey this without his voice being recorded.

Aubrey didn’t let my misgiving deter her. “The two men approached the desk clerk, Nimothy, to inquire about the package.”

As if on cue, I walked up to the greasy little attendant. His black beady eyes met mine, and I could tell he was intimidated by the whole proceeding.

“I’m here for the package,” I said. Without intending to, my tone came across as inauthentic. I felt compelled to ‘act’ this all out, like it was a scene in a movie. Ridiculous. Did we really have to be filming everything? The vibe went from ‘can you believe we’re trapped in this stone age hell hole together’ to stilted, and tense.

Nimothy, for his part, was genuinely perplexed. “Beg your pardon, my lord.”

“The package,” Flint said to the small man.

“No package here, my lord,” Nimothy said.

Chai sighed loudly. She obviously didn’t care if it was picked up on mic. Aubrey’s eyes threw daggers at her.

I was annoyed too, a bit. “You just told me a few minutes ago, you had something at the front for me,” I said to the clerk.

“Ah, yes, my lord,” Nimothy said. And he reached beneath the surface of the pine wood desk, and came out with a tightly wrapped parchment scroll. “A message for you. Unfortunately, no package however, my lord. I do apologize.”

You really have to choose your words carefully with this one, I thought to myself. Mental note for the future.

I unfurled the scroll, and had a quick read.

“Message in hand,” Aubrey said, her annoying host tone returning, “Adam was about to learn something that could change everything.”

I scrunched up my nose as I glanced at her. She rolled her hand over and over making it clear she wanted me to read the message out loud for the camera.

“Oh,” I said, catching on. “It just says I have an item in safety deposit at the bank, ready to be picked up. Wait, there’s a bank here?”

“Affirmative,” Flint said. He took the parchment from my hand, to have a look for himself.

“What do people deposit around here? Goat milk?” I said.

Aubrey pressed on with her commentary. It was as if she was directing this whole operation. I couldn’t have gone off script if I’d tried.

“Eager to find out what awaited him in the safety deposit box, Adam rushed onward to Moonlight’s only bank,” she said.

Every sentence she uttered had this irritating pattern of up-speak at the end of every first half of a sentence, followed by a deepening of tone toward the end of the second half. Like listening to some hacky true crime reporter on Dateline. Was it always going to be like this?

As we walked outside to find ‘Moonlight’s only bank’, Zane had stopped recording long enough for a quick chat.

“I swear you’ll get used to this,” Aubrey said. “Eventually, you won’t even know we’re here.”

“Do you always have to have this running commentary though?” I said. “It comes off as really fake.”

“I think this is how the System wants it,” Aubrey said. “If it really becomes too much of a distraction we can talk about changing it. Alright?”

“Fine,” I said.

“What do you think’s waiting for you at the bank?” Zane asked.

“I don’t know,” I said. “Money would be my guess. Whatever that looks like here. Hopefully, it’s not actually goat milk.”

“They use gold,” Zane said. “But, not many have it, as I’m sure you can tell.”

“Well, I’m going to need some if I’m going to build a championship franchise,” I said.

“Yeah, you’d pretty much have to be the richest person around if you’re to have any hope of doing that,” Zane said.

“Then that must be what it is,” Aubrey said. “A pile of gold. Cool.”

“Negative,” Flint said. He’d been walking up ahead of us, but he heard what Aubrey said. “They’re not giving us gold. Not yet.”

Zane scoffed. “And you know this, how?”

“If it’s not money waiting for us at the bank,” I said, “then what is it?”

Flint didn’t answer, instead his eyes locked with mine, and his lips locked together into a slight, wry smile.