Sally wiped the blood from her blade.

The recent development of Theo’s arrival, paired with knowing that future world drops could be a full group of her friends, had sharpened her focus. With the vampire here, it would take much less time to power up on this world, which meant going back to Sanctuary - even if his presence did dull the draw to rush home.

So she had dragged her group to more Dungeons almost immediately, ignoring most of their attempts to engage her in fruitless conversations. Poppy had one hundred questions in regards to the vampire and the sudden marriage. Cross kept looking in the vague direction that Theo went to say puh. Claude wanted to know more about the world that was sending these odd characters to fight here. She completely blanked out Kristov.

She’d much rather kill and grow.

The level up had even been underwhelming. Something to hit things a little harder and some stats and skill points that vanished and didn’t really change her life all that much. It was getting to the stage where she wanted to ask Chuck if he could re-write their System so it wasn’t such a number grind. Something more… natural?

But what of her Party and their questions? She looked at the sluggish zombies trying to catch up as she eyed the Guardian of the next Dungeon.

The marriage had been as official as any such thing could be in these strange worlds. She had never been much for ceremony, and being with Theo was the one constant she knew wouldn’t change. He hadn’t given her the ring, so it wasn’t a done deal - but knowing the vampire, he was waiting till they got home so they could have a big party about it. Now that sounded fantastic.

Why the knight was so interested in Theo was beyond her, but didn’t seem suspicious. Just earnestly awkward and prying.

Cross could probably tell that fangs would be powerful, so was keen to have him around. Perhaps he could sense that Theo came from the same world or had the same ambitious drive for change. It was hard not to pair the goblin’s pouting with the faux-fatherhood the vampire had immediately jumped into, but it was rather cute - if not distracting for the small zombie.

Claude was rightfully concerned about everything that had come to pass. There was nothing she could say to him that she hadn’t already. It was weird enough that an undead Player from another world came to save their System, but the fact that it had happened twice was… weird. Perhaps the real problem was that she was more used to people just accepting oddities in life and moving on.

Even with Theo here, she couldn’t give them the truth or promise victory.

[Poppy: You okay, Sally?]

[Poppy: Sorry if I’ve been annoying.]

“Hmm?” The zombie turned her head. “Oh, you’re fine, Poppy. Had a rough night, so I’m a little out of sorts.”

“Something else you’re keeping tight-lipped about,” Claude added.

She sighed. Eating everyone was still an option, and slowly becoming a more realistic way of getting out of this social quagmire.

“Alright, I’ll tell you.” She turned and crossed her arms. “But you’re not going to like it.”

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Theo pulled a face. “You must be Death?”

The manticore waved her tail back and forth. “Correct, but you may call me Bernice. What manner of new creature might you be? You have the smell of the zombie on you.”

“We only hugged.” The vampire adjusted his glasses before relaxing his hammer. “I’m from the same world, here for the same purpose. Theo.”

“Intriguing, Theo.”

“Did you want any help to break through these Dungeons?” He looked past the large creature at the ruins behind her. “I’d like to level while the others go find Life.”

“I am fully capable myself…” The manticore tilted her furred head. “But sure, classless blood drinker. Let us see what is so special about those from a different System.”

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Dent pulled a face as he walked around the glass case, his eyes narrowed at the rodent within. After a few moments of silence, he turned back to look at the tired Architect.

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“You’re not going to kill it?”

Chuck shook his head.

“But you said it is acting as a beacon for more of those bug-people?”

Chuck nodded.

“Well…” the swordsman crossed his arms, “give me some clue as to what is going on in that head of yours.”

“I’m taking some manner of gamble. The signal has been sent for a while now, anyway. But in ensuring that it remains in place, they will be able to find us for certain.”

“I… get that.” Dent tapped his foot on the floor. “Why do you want them to find us?”

Chuck pulled a face and sighed, before gesturing for them to leave the room. The door slid to the side and allowed them access to a balcony. High up in the Architect’s tower, the view across the surrounding land was unprecedented. An unnatural clarity that allowed a patient observer to track the whole island in miniature.

“Ever since we set forth away from this world, it was inevitable.” He leaned against the wall and idly looked out to the ocean. “The amount of other Systems… once we made ourselves known, others would be taking an interest in what we have.”

“Respawning? And a Player in charge?”

“Essentially.” Chuck gave him a slow nod. “As our power increases, the more we can do - but the more juicy a target we are. You saw the report ran this morning, right?”

“Yeah.” Dent closed his eyes to recall the information. “There are odd blips on some of the worlds, similar signals almost to Sally and Theo. You think those are bugged or powerful Players?”

“Hmm.” With a wave of his hand, two chairs appeared on the balcony, allowing them both to sit. “If you excuse the poeticism, I think it’s actually something more abstract. Players who are destined to rise to the surface of the endless ocean, like bubbles. Whether through ambition, a glitched existence, or other forces, they are in some way fated to become more than their peers.”

“Main character syndrome, you mean?”

Chuck smiled and rolled his eyes at the swordsman. “Every world has a story to tell. In some ways, every System knows this. I’m not saying there always has to be a chosen one or literal destiny to fulfill, but nature recognizes a good narrative.”

Dent didn’t seem to agree entirely, as he wrinkled up his face. “I always saw nature as more of a force of chaos.”

“Have you met Sally? Chaos and order… Systems are meant to bring structure to a world, which gives rise to chaotic elements, which work to restore the order. A cycle.”

Silence settled between the men for a minute as they looked out at the distant lands.

The swordsman eventually raised an eyebrow to his other half. “So after spending all this time creating order in the System, you’re inviting chaos in the form of an alien invasion… so that the Outsiders can bring about order once more?”

Chuck closed his eyes and laid back, a smile across his face. “You give me too much credit. Plus, there’s one thing you have incorrect there.”

“And what’s that?”

“We’re going to need a lot more than just the Outsiders to win this.”

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“Other people?” Claude looked aghast at the prospect.

[Poppy: And you ate one!]

Sally clicked her fingers. “In my defense, it was really dark. I wouldn’t have done it if I had known.” That said, she didn’t regret it - the man had been the best meal she’d had in ages.

She tuned out the rest of their arguing. Poppy wanted to go find them and Claude couldn’t understand how a group had survived out here for so long. After giving them the descriptions of the group of four, it seemed as though they knew each other to some degree. As Kristov tried to get involved with deliberations, she turned her attention to Cross.

The goblin was still staring blankly off in the rough direction Theo had gone, so she placed her hand atop his leather helmet.

“I miss him too, stinker. He’ll be back soon, but we need to press forward and do plot relevant stuff.” Her fingers drummed on his head. “Momma will go without having an overpowered weapon, and we’ll go find that Life chap instead of farming daggers, okay?”

After that, she wasn’t so sure. Bernice was off destroying the Dungeons, so they had to convince the other semi-God-like entity to do something similar. Make the world more normal and then… get powerful and steal it.

“You mentioned the group was going to take you somewhere else - where there were other Players?” Claude’s question popped her thought bubble.

She nodded. “Sounded that way, although I don’t know anything more specific… other than their name was… Brian.” Which was too close to Brain for her liking.

“We know a Brian.” Claude exchanged a nod and glance with the other two. “He was… not a friend of those at the fort. Figured he could carve his own place out in the wild.”

[Poppy: We thought he had died!]

[Poppy: Nobody could get a message through to him.]

“They did have a spell that could block that kind of thing.” Sally rubbed at her chin. It was a bit late in the day to have a new antagonist crop up, but her stomach did yearn for fresh brains.

“Perhaps we must find their location if we are to engage in communication,” Kristov offered.

“You guys fancy your chances of talking with them without it descending into violence? Player against Player fights aren’t as simple as against Monsters.” Sally tilted her back from side to side, stretching out.

[Poppy: It’s unlikely they will want to be friends…]

[Poppy: Especially after you ate one! <<;]

[Poppy: But it would be nice to know what their motivations are.]

Claude rubbed at his eyes, tired of the day already. “All the same, I hear Sally’s warning loud and clear. If they are hostile, then we could soon find ourselves imprisoned… or worse.”

“Super worse,” Sally agreed. “If you want to make contact, then we should at least wait until Theo catches up to our level. He and I have plenty of experience in this sort of thing.”

“Ben-b’ren.”

They turned to the goblin, who was now staring in a different direction.

Sally rolled her eyes as she caught sight of the shadowy figures moving towards them through the nearby tree cover from the direction Cross was indicating. A dozen, at least, in various different outfits. No points for guessing who they were.

“I guess we won’t have to wait, huh?”