I have to admit, I was caught off guard. My jaw dropped, and the rat plummeted to freedom.

Immediately, he started to scurry away. I barked, realized belatedly that was only making the situation worse, then tried something else. I concentrated on projecting my words, and...

[H—Hey! Stop!]

The rat froze so fast, I might have thought I’d hit him with my stun wand. He didn’t move. Didn’t even look at me. I took a hesitant step forward. [I’m... I’m not going to hurt you! I just... was curious, is all. I’ve never seen anything show up as a blue dot before, and I was trying to figure out what you—]

I realized I was babbling and snapped my metaphorical jaw shut. Slowly, the rat turned towards me.

[You can understand me?]

[Uh, yeah?] I still wasn’t sure what to make of all this. [I mean, I’m not entirely sure how we’re communicating. My skill...]

I trail off, not wanting him to think I’m crazy. After all, if someone told me a bunch of strange words had appeared in the air in front of them, I’d probably be backing up about now. And this little guy seemed on edge enough as is.

Luckily, I needn’t have worried. The rat gave another squeak, but this one sounded more joy than terror. [Abilities? Of course! You have them, too! I should have realized. And you’re a... canid? Interesting. I’m as unfamiliar with the term as I am my own. I imagine you’re still puzzling over it yourself.]

[I guess?] The conversation was rapidly getting away from me. How did He know what my race was? [So, you’re a...?]

[See for yourself,] the rat said, puffing his chest out proudly. I wasn’t entirely clear what he meant. Then, on a hunch, I focused my attention more intently, like I would for a monster. A moment later, a notification appeared.

User: Prometheus

Level 2 Plague Doctor Murin

[Prometheus?] I asked. [Is that your name?]

[It is indeed!] The rat effected a quick bow. [It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Bubba.]

Huh. Hearing that name out loud—or whatever this mental exchange passed for—almost made me wince. Suddenly I was regretting my hasty choice to keep my default name.

Hurriedly, before my embarrassment could show, I continued on, [I still don’t understand how we’re even communicating. Unless a murin is some variant of dog. My skill says I can only communicate with others of my kind.]

[Ah, now that is a simple answer,] the rat, murin, Prometheus—whatever—said. [It just so happens that I’m a Polyglot.]

The part of my brain that the system had enhanced rushed to fill in the definition of the word, but I brushed it aside. The way Prometheus had said the word, Polyglot with a capital P, made me think he meant something different by it. [And that is...?]

[My skill. Well, one of my racial skills. It allows me to communicate with all species so long as they possess a Mind stat of at least 1. That appears to be true in your case, I’m happy to say! Ah, it is so good to finally converse with another intelligent creature again!]

[Yeah, I’ve got a bit more than one point in Mind, thanks.] I frowned as something else he’d just said registered. [What did you mean by ‘again’?]

Before Prometheus could answer, there was a clattering behind us, and several stones tumbled down out of the hole from the ceiling and rolled across the floor. Somewhere overhead comes the muffled warbling of the goblin. Several others follow, telling me it was no longer alone.

[Perhaps this conversation would be better continued from a safer location,] Prometheus noted. I nodded in agreement. [In that case, follow me, please!]

He scampered towards the stairs. With a last look towards the sinkhole, I followed.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

It only took me a second to catch up, because Prometheus was having a little trouble climbing the stairs. He hopped up the first couple, then had to stop to catch his breath.

[Sorry,] he panted, which was a weird sensation when you only heard it in your mind. [Really need to see about raising my Power rating.]

[Is that why you were hiding under the stairs when I woke up?]

[Yep! I honestly thought you’d take longer to wake after you were healed, but you surprised me by leaping up suddenly. It was all I could do to find a place to hide while you were disoriented.]

Realization hit me like a splash of cold water. [You’re the reason why my bones aren’t all broken!]

[That’s correct. Lucky for you I had a scroll of heal in my inventory!]

I didn’t know what that was, though I could intuit most of it from the name alone. [Sounds like I owe you.]

[Oh, it was nothing, believe me. I saw you chasing those goblins, and figured, the enemy of my enemy has to be my friend, right?] Prometheus glanced back at me as he clambered onto the next step. [If I’d realized you were sapient, I’d have been even more eager to help you.]

I watched him struggle for a moment, his tiny chest heaving, then reached out and nipped him gently between my teeth again. Prometheus let out a little squeak of surprise.

[Hey, what are you—!]

He cut off as I flung him gently onto my back. [Hold on tight and let me know where we’re going.]

[Oh... Alright, I suppose.] The rat scampered along my back and settled in between my ears. [It’s just a bit ahead on the next floor up.]

Following his directions, I padded down several hallways before entering one of the units. From the outside it looked much the same as the others, though it at least still had its door standing ajar. Inside were several dusty rooms, mostly empty.

[Through there,] Prometheus said, pointing. I made my way through what had probably once been a living room and into a tight hallway, and finally into an even tighter bathroom.

[Ah, almost home at last.] With a might leap, the rat landed on the floor and scampered forward. I was just about to ask if I would even fit through his front door when I saw the gaping hole in the wall. It was just big enough for me to crawl through. Bending down, I scuffled after Prometheus.

It was dark inside the walls. Then, with a loud hum, lights flickered on overhead, a long string of multicolored bulbs, like the ones humans hang up at certain times of the year. I blinked in the sudden glare. As it faded, I stared wide-eyed at my surroundings.

[Welcome to my home!] Prometheus said, tiny arms gesturing to all around us. [I’d offer you a bed, but I’m afraid sleeping in the street will have to do.]

It was like a tiny version of the city outside had been built between the walls. Houses cobbled together from cardboard and bits of rubble lined one wall, some stacked on top of each other and connected by little colorful rope ladders.

There was easily enough space for fifty rats or more to live here comfortably, but I didn’t see anyone besides Prometheus.

[Is it just you?] I asked. The rat lowered his arms and seemed to deflate a little.

[I’d hoped to find other rats, but...] He perked up again. [But now you’re here! I’ve got lots of food, so you don’t have to worry about starving, and I even gathered a few extra pieces of equipment. Most are rat sized, of course, but you might still be able to use them.]

Were I capable of it, my face would have been chagrined, both at the idea of sharing a rat’s food supply and for his offer of rat-sized equipment. [I’ll take a look, but I’ve already been getting lots of nice things from the system. What about you? Don’t you need any of it?]

[Oh, I’m fully equipped,] he said dismissively.

I arched an eyebrow. [Really.]

[Yes, can’t you tell from—] He paused. [You can’t see my equipment. Right. I read about this. It’s because we’re not in a party. Until you are, user equipment is hidden. Well, technically it says that it’ll appear as normal street clothes, but I think that just applies to humans, not us non-humans since, you know, animals and all, but then again... Am I wearing clothes? Or do I just look like a normal rat to you?]

[Normal rat,] I said. It was taking all my effort not to loll my tongue in laughter; in this tight space, I could easily take out a building or two. [Can you not see any of mine?]

I lifted a paw for emphasis to show him the leather strap/wand. Prometheus just stared right through it.

[Nope, nothing. Do you want to party up now? Or we could wait until we’re ready to leave, I suppose, no rush. Are you hungry? I think I have some dog biscuits here somewhere.]

My tail started wagging at the mention of biscuits. A nearby building came crashing down and I winced, but Prometheus didn’t even seem to notice. Then his words finally registered.

[Leave? Leave for where?]

[To go kill the goblins, of course!] The little rat practically jumped in excitement. [I wasn’t sure how I was going to manage it all on my own, but now that you’re here, it should be easy! So, what do you say—eat now, then fight, or save the feasting until after?]

[I...] While I’d certainly been planning to chase the goblin from before down and reclaim my dinner, I wasn’t certain I wanted to fight his whole pack. Especially because that felt like exactly what the system was driving me towards.

In order to buy some more time to think, I tried to change the subject. [Before we worry about any of that, why don’t you show me this equipment of yours? I suppose I do still have one slot left to fill.]

[Yay!] Prometheus leapt up and ran into one of the nearby houses. A moment later he poked his head out again. [You’re going to like this, I’ve been gathering so much! Then we’ll go kill the goblins and get even more! You and I are going to be good friends, I just know it.]

[Yeah, me too,] I said halfheartedly as he disappeared again. I don’t know why, but I had a worried feeling about this whole situation. While Prometheus seemed nice enough—for a rat, anyway—I couldn’t help but suspect something about all of this was off.

I glanced around again at the lights, the empty buildings, and the long tunnel stretching into the dark.

There was definitely more to the whole situation than Prometheus was letting on.

The only question was: what?