I wiped the rapidly cooling sweat from my face before pulling the key from the pocket of my neoprene running belt and unlocking the front door. I tried to get in a good run most days, though typically much earlier in the morning before work. I was a plodder more than a racer, but today I was going for distance anyway. On Sundays I'd either sleep in, or sometimes I used the day to push a bit farther than normal. This was one of the latter.

The sun felt warm in the bright winter morning, but the shade of the porch was deceptively chill. I could feel cold seeping into the skin on my thighs, and across my nose and cheeks, everywhere exposed to the wind. I gulped lungfuls of the air and felt the cold burn my throat and chest, my pulse pounding as if catching up. The sweat dripping down my temples and back was rapidly cooling, but it felt good against the interior heat I'd built up from the exertion.

I may have imagined it, but with the raise in level yesterday I felt… stronger. The telltale taste of iron meant I'd pushed it a little, and my legs were quivering. However, instead of the typical 4-6 miles, I ran for almost 8 today. My speed was quite a bit better, too. I didn't know how to feel about that. I'd been running for a few years, and have seen some intermittent improvements in speed and distance. This overnight jump just from leveling up – it was both thrilling and kind of frustrating at the same time.

Almost as frustrating was a collection of odd jewelry and cash in my belt, causing it to bulge and sway uncomfortably toward the end of my run. Iter had made sure to reference my map before our trip, and he'd called me over to each 'loot box' we came across. I mean, the cash was nice (an impressive $128 if you're curious), but what would I do with the assortment of rings, charms, and earrings I'd accumulated? I knew I should feel grateful for the unexpected good fortune. Did this count as first world problems? Another world problems? But what I actually felt was worried and annoyed, especially after the fifth time of digging through a shrub to pick up a single silver earring. But the most irritating of all…

"Although We appreciated seeing more of this world, this manner of physical maintenance seems rather monotonous." Iter stood next to me, his clothing changed into immaculate dove gray running shorts and matching skintight racing top, with unblemished white running shoes. He had a white runners cap on his head with reflective stripes, his bright and glossy silver hair pulled back in a ponytail through the back loop. Not a speck of dirt or drip of sweat marred his appearance. He wasn't even breathing hard. "You know that the Communion acts to preserve your stamina and strength, do you not?"

"Yeah, I think you mentioned that a few times," I rested my hands below my waist and tilted my head backward, waiting for my breath rate to settle before finally opening the door. "Running does more than keep me fit. Helps me clear my mind."

I kicked off my running shoes, dropped my belt and its accumulated loot onto a side table, and went to the kitchen. I grabbed a sports drink from one of the lower cabinets near the sink, and drained half the bottle before I needed to take a breath again. Iter had followed me in and watched on in curiosity. "If this is to be a common occurrence, We may want to consider a stamina-based skill after your next level."

"I'll take that under advisement," I replied, taking a light towel where I'd left it on the table, and pressing it against my face. When I removed it, Iter's mouth was pursed in mild concern. I smiled back to blunt the edge on my remark, then moved past him. I heard his footsteps make their way towards the front room, and I went to get cleaned up.

✦ ✦ ✦

Refreshed from the shower, I came out drying my hair with a towel. Taiga was nowhere to be found, but Iter was cross-legged on the couch again, eyes focused intently on the video game with the controller in his hand. He had reverted his outfit back to the comfortable-looking jeans and loose shirt from yesterday. I watched his progress for a while, letting the pleasant post-run lethargy wash over me. Memories of nearly getting caught, and of fainting last night tried to push their way to the forefront, but I shoved them back down, unwilling to dwell on it. I focused on the well-designed figures moving on the screen, comparing them to my previous playthroughs. He'd gone pretty far down the main quest line, so I tried to decipher which alliances and key decisions Iter'd chosen from his companion's outfits and gear. Hmm?

"Why are your companions so weak?" I wondered aloud. It slipped out unintentionally, and I looked at him sidelong, embarrassed and worried.

"What do you mean?" Iter responded, glancing my direction briefly before taking on a group of random bandits while in transit to the next quest point.

"Well," I began slowly, with lingering concern for my effrontery. "Alexa, for example. She's a tank, right? But she's only using the basic skills like Shield Bash, or Parry. Where are her Champion skills?" Iter was pretty far into the game by now, well into the 3rd arc. His main character was pretty powerful at this point, firing off high level spells and doing an excellent job of taking out the mid-level bosses practically on its own. All of the companions were stronger as well, but they weren't doing much in the fight other than soak up damage. The attacks they made and skills they used didn't seem to have much of an effect.

"They have the maximum available levels," Iter replied in confusion. "We have outfitted them with the most appropriate equipment We have obtained." He finished the fight, then opened up his character screen and switched to Alexa's record. She was Level 16, and her defensive stats were impressive, fitting as a tank. Offense was nearly as high. But she was still using the same skills she's had since the start of the game, albeit with the maximum points in each skill tree.

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"She should have more skills. Didn't you finish her loyalty quest yet?" Some companions had loyalty quests that were locked until certain story events occurred, but Alexa's loyalty was easy to get through dialogue alone. Once you had gained their loyalty, you unlocked prestige skills and combos, or unique equipment. But the Alexa I saw on the screen didn't have any of that.

"'Loyalty quest'? We have received no such notification." Iter was looking at me questioningly.

"What does she say when you talk to her?" I rubbed my chin. Maybe there was some dialogue option he'd missed?

"Talk to her?" It was starting to sound like an echo chamber. "She has some dialogue during cutscenes," Iter narrowed his eyes in thought. "And she comments inanely about her desire to kill more monsters while We are in transit to our next objective," a frown pulled at the corners of his mouth. "But she has not initiated any discussions about loyalty."

A suspicion was sneaking up on me. "Have you talked to her at camp or in your keep?"

"Why would We?" Blank stare.

I pinched the bridge of my nose. Then let out a breath. It was his first game.

"Wyrms Gate is a role-playing game. There are fights and quests, yes, but one of the main parts of the game is taking on the role of the hero and interacting with the world – including your party members. They have their own agendas, quests, and growth paths as well, which you can unlock through a number of different ways." I paused to look at Iter. "But the most common is to talk to them."

"Interesting." Iter thought for a moment, then selected Alexa and clicked on her to initiate a dialogue.

"None will escape our righteousness!" the tanky crusader throatily exclaimed.

"No, well, I mean… You have to do it in camp, or at certain quest points."

Iter frowned at me.

"It's not a requirement," I added, waving a negating hand at the screen. "You can probably finish the entire game without doing any loyalty missions. But it's part of what makes these genres different."

A rare crease appeared in Iter's forehead. "If Mairead goes back to her keep now, the dragonlings will surely destroy the fertile plains of Felandris." He bit his lip in consternation.

"Nah, they don't have a timer or anything for this quest," I assured him. "The game generally gives a clear indication when a quest has a time limit."

Iter cocked his head. "Did not the lord of Ehlren say the attack was imminent?"

"Yeah, that's just flavor, to create a sense of urgency and crisis for the player," I smiled, hopefully not too uncharitably. "But the developers don't want the player to fail, and they want you to be able to explore the world they've built without feeling like you are giving up something important."

"These game makers want Us to feel pressure to take action, but there are no consequences for inaction? That is absurd."

"Welcome to game storytelling. It's meant to pull you in with high stakes, but it's also meant to be fun. There's whole internet memes about this." I grinned, but then shifted to concern as I saw Iter's scrunched up face.

"What are the dragonlings or villagers doing while We dally about with Our companions?" I could tell Iter was struggling with this.

"Uhm, waiting? Or actually, I think the villagers are dead by the time you arrive, no matter what you do." I saw Iter's eyes widen, and I quickly added, "But they aren't real, of course. It's a game, a story."

"But surely a story has choices," He sat upright, glaring at the controller as if affronted. "A Path taken means another is not taken. Else why make the Journey at all?" He turned to me, eyes blazing.

I opened my mouth to make a joke, but caught my breath. His glare was intense, almost overpowering. I felt the tiny hairs on my arms prickle as if the air were electrified.

I let out the breath I'd been holding, and met his stare. "That's beyond the limits of the game," I answered. "None of it is real, though the game tries its best to make you feel as if it is. But it's all scripted dialogue, decision trees, and random number generators." I paused, trying to figure out a frame of reference Iter might share. "It's a story they're telling, and you're just an actor in their play."

Iter was silent for a moment, then stared back at the game. "So nothing We do matters?" he grumbled.

"Well, you could die. Or never complete the game. The story would never reach its conclusion, and you'd never feel that sense of accomplishment in completing it." I thought about it. "Different people get different things out of it. For me, I suppose the fun is not necessarily reaching the finish, but in how you complete it. There are lots of paths, lots of parts of the story or the world to uncover. It's like a puzzle, or a picture to be uncovered. I don't think it is possible to see all of it in one play-through. You can get different quests and even different endings depending on the choices you make, or the background and class of the main character you create." I smiled at him. "Haven't you ever heard the phrase, 'It's the journey, not the destination?'"

Iter's eyes widened in what looked like shock. A weird grin slowly formed on his face, but his eyes still reflected a look of surprise and… embarrassment?

"We are very much acquainted with this axiom," His smile now was blindingly incandescent. "What a wise Hero that We have found."

Iter seemed to let the matter drop at that point, and resumed the game. I'd thought he might lose interest after that, but if anything he became even more enthused. I took a shaky breath, unsettled, and left him to it. Looking for something else to focus, on, my gaze landed on box of AR gear on my desk. I may as well look at the prototype app Bushra had sent me. I sat down in front of the laptop at my desk, and opened Bushra's email instructions.

✦ ✦ ✦

After a quick review of the sparse documentation, it required a bit of configuring to get the app to install on my phone. It also took me a few tries to get the AR glasses paired via bluetooth, then connected to the wifi. But ultimately I was able to see them in the app as an available device.

So far so good. Now what?

I hadn't a particular plan in mind for testing it all out. I was mostly trying to explore and feel my way into the tool to get some first impressions. But now I stopped, wondering what to do next. Obviously start a session and try out the functionality, but I needed an objective, something the prospective user would want to accomplish with the tool. So what do I want to do?

I glanced around the room with the glasses on, noticing everything was slightly shaded through the lenses. My vision landed on Iter, intently following the screen and manipulating the joysticks on the controller. Hmm, that might work to start.

"Hey, Iter? Want to try a different kind of game with me?"