It turned our riding a horse was easier said than done.

Riding a horse with only one arm was no joke. Riding a demon horse from robot hell with a nasty sense of humor was even worse.

Untying the beast was easy enough. Getting on the saddle was another thing altogether. He fell on his face on the first try. He fell on his butt on the second try. He was left hanging from he stirrup on the third.

And the darn animal seemed to be laughing at him. It was hard to tell because the face was so oddly drawn, but the glint on its metal eye was unmistakeable.

The horse was laughing at him.

After losing several hp in this endeavor, he gave up. He stood back and looked at the steed. It was not in very good shape. The metal was rusted, the cyborg eye was cloudy and the tail seemed to be missing its fuzzy tip. That’s why it was having so much trouble swatting the flies.

Darn, it wasn’t even that good of a horse. Why was he trying so hard to ride it?

Charles shook his head. “I must be nuts going through so much trouble to chase a couple of rabbits across the desert.”

The horse’s ears perked up.

Charles laughed. “It’s almost as if you could understand me.”

The horse tipped its head.

Charles stopped laughing. It couldn’t understand him, could it? The horse was an NPC, just like the old man. It had a set number of responses. It must be automatically responding to something he’d said.

But what had he said? He’d talked about riding across the desert, trouble…and rabbits.

“You want to go chase rabbits?” he asked.

The horse’s eyes narrowed.

Yep, it was definitely the bunnies.

The horse tipped its head back and looked straight at its broken tail.

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“Did they steal your tail off?” Charles asked.

The horse nodded.

“They took my arm,” Charles said. “If you agree to let me ride you, I can take you to them and we can both get our stuff back. Deal?”

The horse looked uncertain.

Charles swatted a fly. “Think about it. You won’t have to worry about insects any more.”

The horse looked back at its tail. Then it looked at the flies.

Then it nodded, its robot eye gleaming.

“Great,” Charles said, approaching the horse’s side again.

He pressed the jump and ride combination with caution, unsure as to whether the horse would drop him on his butt again.

But it worked. His perspective changed and he found himself on top of the cyborg horse.

“That’s more like it,” he said, settling into the saddle. “Hey, we could make a good team.”

The horse snorted.

It was fantastic. He could see farther out now. He could see Main Street vanishing into the horizon. He could see the cactuses that surrounded the town. He could see the tumbleweeds receding into the distance.

“Don’t knock it,” he replied. I should give you a name. How about Silver?”

Another snort. The horse shuddered, as if threatening to shake him off.

Charles took back every single bad thing he’d said about the game. This interaction was pretty sophisticated. It was almost as if the horse really were communicating.

“Okay, fine, how do you feel about Diablo?”

That was the name of the horse in the original Ranger video game, the one that had been discontinued decades ago. It probably wouldn’t be recognized by this game, but—

The horse whinnied.

It liked the name. How odd.

But maybe not so odd? This game seemed to be a mix of old Cinco Computing art and concepts. Maybe it made sense.

But that was enough thinking.

He looked out and, there, beyond the cactuses, he could see the jackalopes. They jumped and disappeared into the sand.

“There they are,” he shouted. “Behind the cactuses, Let’s go.”

Diablo reared, the front legs lifting off the ground. Then he leaped and took off at top speed.

It was exhilarating. The buildings zoomed by and then there was just desert and tumbleweeds. Diablo wove through the cactuses like the demon he was named for, the sharp spikes coming perilously close to Charles’ skin.

“Whoa, be careful,” Charles exclaimed.

The horse paid no attention, racing through the plants without a care. In a couple of seconds, they found themselves on top of hill looking down at a canyon.

That’s what he’d seen the jackalopes had been headed down the canyon. There was a small path. It was big enough for him, but far too steep for a horse.

“I don’t suppose you have rockets?” he asked Diablo.

The horse shook his head.

“Looks like this is the end of it for you, then” Charles said. “Don’t worry, a deal’s a deal. I’ll get your tail back.”

The horse looked skeptical, but he let Charles climb down without a mishap. This part of the gamescape was rockier than the town and he had to jump down a few boulders to reach the path.

When he reached it, he found a sign—a calavera with a beak shape—etched in one of the rocks.

Virus.