Silence filled the meeting room, the soft blue light built into the ceiling humming slightly as the occupants slowly got onto the same page.

Chuck smiled and steepled his fingers together. “Two folders,” he confirmed. “For the two machines we now have.”

“Whaaat?” Sally furrowed her brow. “That means… what does it mean?”

“Before you get excited…” he raised up a hand. “You cannot both go to the same world. Same limitations apply.”

Theo adjusted his glasses. “But you’re saying I can also go to a different world at the same time as Sally?”

“Yes.” Chuck nodded slowly. “We’ve been pushing our capacity, making some changes to increase efficiency. It comes at a cost, but you can both go at the same time.”

The vampire was practically buzzing with energy. “What kind of cost? Blood?”

“Settle down.” Sally put her hand on him to stop him from squirming around. “I’m sure it’s not blood.”

“It’s not,” Dent agreed. “Theo would be restricted to STAR Level One. Just basic chat, and that’s it. It will also increase the power required for yours to upgrade by, say… ten to fifteen percent?”

Chuck nodded. “It’s hard to gauge directly because it depends on the world and their System, but it would extend the time for you getting Outsider help, or the video feed.”

The zombie cupped her chin and thought. “Seems… worth it. If it doubles the amount of land that we can acquire. Or Players we can save.” Her red eyes narrowed. “Does this mean I can’t Chat with Theo, though?”

“I thought you might ask that.” The Architect smiled. “We can reroute messages, so you could… but it would be a monitored chat. So nothing weird, please.”

She bit her lip and turned to the vampire. “What do you think, pup? It might not be possible for me to call you in eventually because you’re a Player anyway. So this gives you something to do?”

“Last thing we want is for Theo to sit here and get into mischief without you around.” Chuck raised an eyebrow.

He furrowed his brow and adjusted his crimson glasses. “Depends on the world.”

Dent slid the folder across the table.

Theo picked it up and flipped the cover open. His eyes ran down the page quickly, and then he closed it and returned it to the table. “I’m in.”

Sally pulled a face. “That didn’t take much convincing. How about we keep our missions secret from each other? That way we won’t be worrying?”

“I’ll still worry,” the vampire tilted his head. “But sure. I’m okay with that.”

She watched as the second folder slid over to her. Running her tongue around her sharp teeth, she picked it up and flipped open the cover. Her brow continued to furrow as she read through the details listed.

Not a very large world again, but this one had actual Players on it. Although… since first detected, the numbers of Players had dwindled. Now two dozen or fewer. Chuck had given it the designation Dying System, with the cause being Bad Actor. Reading between the lines—which was difficult as there was no text there—it seemed as though a Player had become the Architect of that world and intentionally ruined things.

She’d need to go and tidy up the mess and oust the false god. Save as many living Players as she could.

“Normally,” Chuck said, as he watched her read. “We wouldn’t put something like this in front of you so soon. With how eager you are, and the urgency of the mission, I wanted to see your thoughts.”

With few permanent skills unlocked, it could be a risk going into such an important mission and starting from the bottom again. But… that was the reason she was even looking at it. High stakes, with the possibility of saving people. The notes said there hadn’t been a new Player for as long as the world had been monitored.

If they were just after land, then it was a terrible option. Much better to go for lower hanging fruit and come back to this when it was totally dried out and inert. She couldn’t stand another simple world that wasn’t challenging, though.

“Alright,” she slapped it onto the table. “I’m in.”

“I am not surprised you both accepted.” Chuck smiled. “We’ll do individual prep on the day of, since you want some secrecy. We’ll drop Sally in the morning first, and then Theo in the afternoon.”

Theo drummed his fingers on the folder. “I suppose I don’t get an intangible creature to converse with during my mission?”

Archie tilted his head. “I take offence to being called a creature. But no, I’m afraid not.”

Dent placed a small wooden box on the table and slid it across to the vampire. “Design was all me, so if it’s too cringe…”

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

The vampire grabbed it up and popped it open, tilting away from Sally so that she couldn’t immediately see what it was. Inside were two cufflinks, shaped like drops of blood. “I almost expected bats,” Theo said with a grin. “But these are perfect, thank you.”

“They’ll be your access to Sanctuary’s STAR System, so mostly just Chat for you, I’m afraid.” Dent shrugged, but seemed relieved the vampire liked the functional jewelry.

Archie stood up and stretched out. “Big brother is here.”

With the nod of Chuck’s head, the door opened and allowed the Death Knight to eclipse the light from the waiting room.

“Morning all,” he said, his skeletal face lit up with a wide grin. He gave a nod to Sally and Theo before sitting a few seats away from them. The pair watched him with blank expressions, unsure of what to make of his positive attitude.

The Architect tilted his head. “We had expected a little more discussion over the worlds, but they both want to keep them secret.”

“Oh…? Both?”

Sally clicked her fingers. “Yeah, the guys have set up a way so we can both go to different Systems.”

“Oh. Is that safe? I wouldn’t want anything to happen to either of them.”

The zombie narrowed her eyes at the Death Knight. He seemed to be earnest, which was an odd change of heart compared to yesterday. Whatever Chuck had said or done to Humphrey clearly had quite the effect. In saying that, she wanted to find out what it was even less, knowing how well it had worked.

“I guarantee you it is safe.” Chuck looked around at the three undead. “I would not put any of the Outsiders at risk. That doesn’t mean it will be easy, or without hardship. Sally, Theo, if you could pass the folders to Humphrey to get him up to speed.”

They did so and he took the two folders up, opening and reading through them one after the other. With a grunt, he nodded and placed them back down. “Both Systems seem like good fits for the two of you. As the Head of Security in Sanctuary, I would be loath to be away from my position for too long, but I would like to assist Sally when required.”

“Sounds like a plan, pops.” She smiled. “That would be fun - assuming I’m not half dead in a ditch at that point.”

Humphrey narrowed his eye sockets. “Well, let’s hope not.”

“Perfect.” Chuck clapped his hands together. “Well, if there’s not questions, then you’re free to go… I’m assuming you both want to go tomorrow?”

They both nodded, the weight of the decision preventing them from making any smart comments.

“I will get things prepared. What do you plan on doing with your last day here for a while?”

Sally clucked her tongue. “I’m going to go around to every named individual I’ve ever met and say goodbye to them. Maybe even strike up a proper in-depth emotion discussion with each of them.”

Chuck stared at her blankly. “Okay. Let me know how that goes.”

----------------------------------------

“It was okay.” Sally stepped through into the back room the next day, casting her eyes over to the two machines set up on the wall across from the desks with multiple screens. “You should keep an eye on Edward, though. He’s looking rough, and Theo says he is acting odd.”

Chuck and Dent exchanged a look as the door shut behind them.

The Architect gestured for her to get comfortable against the bed. “Odd in what way?”

“Like, he’s bought and installed a large corkboard.”

“Ah. Dent, if I could leave that with you?”

The swordsman nodded and went over to his chair beside the blue screens.

Sally relaxed into the cylindrical machine, and Chuck affixed the thick cuff to her right arm. Already it was humming with energy. He leaned over past the bars to see her. “For real though, you said goodbye and everything?”

She nodded. “I didn’t see everyone, but some key people. Honesty, the nicest thing was the night before. Theo and I slept under the stars. It was peaceful and... I felt calm for a change.”

“Did you montage that as well?” He grinned and moved away to address some data cycling through a screen behind him.

“Oh no. I wouldn’t forget that. Just a memory for me this time.” She smiled to herself. The goodbye she had with the vampire this morning was the hardest of all… but hardly anything between yesterday’s meeting and now was worth adding to the montage. Those sorts of sad memories she didn’t want to keep in her head.

“Alright. You have a minute to relax and calm your nerves. Let us know when you’re ready. Any last questions?”

“Okay. What were you going to use the world for when I get it?”

There was a pause before the response came. “I’m thinking PvP island. It’s almost like a rounded off rectangle shape. The occasional Event is great, but I think having a space where everyone can beat each other up whenever they feel like it is… healthy?”

“I can see that.” She pursed her lips. “Opt-in is always best. Do you know what I'll be up against?”

He grunted. "I'm afraid not. There's only so much granuality we can achieve at present. It's more of a low fantasy world, as far as I can tell. Other than that, you'lll have to use your wits."

And teeth, she thought.

Another silence as the two tapped away at their devices, before Dent finally spoke up. “System’s green on my end.”

“Same here. Power draw is below threshold, plenty of wiggle room.” With the shifting of feet, Chuck appeared back in the window between the bars. “Give the signal, Sally, and I’ll send you away.”

She pouted as she exhaled through her nose. “Fuckin’ send it, Chucky.”

The last thing she saw was his nod, before she was plunged into darkness. A stretching vertigo that tugged at her core being as she fell through the infinite void. Her body vibrated before she hit something solid.

A hiss rang out as the doors jettisoned from her drop pod, clattering down onto stone flooring. This time, bright daylight did not wash over her. Instead, a gloom barely lit by flickering torches stretched out ahead of her. She rubbed her eyes and some of the roughly carved rock walls gained a little more detail. Inside somewhere, which made her drop somewhat awkward, but perhaps best not to overthink it.

Sally stepped out and put her hands on her hips.

Bars. She was in some sort of jail cell.

“Shit. Should have chosen the lock picking skill.” She tutted to herself. “Oh, where’s my emotional support demi-god?” Hand up, she pressed the earring, and a faint trail began to slither down to the ground to form the cat.

“Ah.” He shook his head and looked up at her with emerald eyes. “A new beginning - a road unknown and untraveled, yet we must not waver in pursuit of our ideals.”

“Ehhh.” She pulled a face. “Perchance I preferred the grumpy Archie, actually.”

“You can’t just drop an awkward ‘perchance’ on me, knave.”

As she was about to chastise the cat further—then politely ask him how she was expected to get out of a prison-start scenario—a shifting noise from further down the chamber caught her attention.

The zombie stepped forward and gripped at the cold metal bars. A doorway lay a good twenty feet at the end of the room. Light flickered and bloomed behind it as a figure approached.

She ran her tongue across her sharp teeth, eye widening in anticipation.

It was time to save a new System the way she knew best.