They waited until the last few groups finished their runs for the day and closed up the dungeon early. It was just too important that they figured out Archie's limits sooner rather than later.

Archie stared at the grass just beyond the dungeon entrance. Zack had never bothered to repair the worn down parking lot that the customers used, and the overgrown pavement had clearly seen better days. Even the road leading up to the rundown mall was in dire need of repairs, but it was so far beyond Zack's influence that he didn't bother wasting concern for it.

"You don't have to do this," Zack quietly urged Archie.

"Don't I? Are you going to send Jean-Claude after Snow's core?" Archie teased.

"No, I mean… Look… Shut up," Zack grumbled. The blush was aparent in his voice, even if he tried his best to hide it, and it took a concentrated effort to keep Jean-Claude from throwing his hands up in Zack's exasperation. "We don't know what this will do to you, okay? And you're part of me. What if that means you can't ever leave?"

"You forget, Zachary. I have autonomy and free will. You don't control me," Archie reminded him. "Part of you I may be, but I am ever my own person. Just make sure there is a steaming hot bath waiting for me when I come home triumphant."

Zack briefly cast his gaze down into the lower level burrow, where Archie had been hard at work for a while. One of the rooms, he discovered, looked to be either a bath house or a natural hot spring. A rocky basin was dug into the dirt floor, with torches lining the walls. There was even a rack for towels. Zack quickly filled the basin with hot water, and curiously tried to figure out how he could make the water permanently heated and clean.

As he was distracted by that problem, he very nearly missed Archie's first steps out into the world. He took a slow, meaningful step out of the dungeon entrance, the dry grass crunching beneath his foot. He was technically still within Zack's influence—the dungeon's control extended outward to include the parking lot—but this was still the farthest from home he'd ever been.

Jean-Claude fidgeted nervously as Zack's unease continued to mount. Things were looking fine so far, but what would happen once Archie left his influence? Alex was waiting on the edge of the parking lot, where Zack's control abruptly ended. His role in this experiment was to drag Archie back into the dungeon if something happened to him.

Archie paused at the edge of the parking lot, a few feet of space between him and Alex. Even though it wasn't visible to outsiders, Archie was able to see Zack's influence with ease. It was a perk of being a dungeon born mob. Archie turned back to face the dungeon, and smirked as he caught sight of Jean-Claude gnawing on his fingernails nervously. Zack had to mentally cut the kobold off from his emotions in order to calm him down, and breathed a mental sigh of relief when Jean-Claude returned to a more passive stance.

"One small step for rabbits," Archie said, turning back to Alex.

"One giant leap for dungeon kind," Alex finished, a smirk tugging at his lips.

Archie lifted his foot and stepped over the threshold that divided dungeon land from the rest of the world. Then, he took another, ensuring he had both feet outside the dungeon's influence.

Nothing happened as he stood on alien land, so he took another step onto the grassy field, his ears twitching curiously. "I feel fine," Archie said, nodding to Alex. "How about you, Zack? How are you feeling?"

Archie flicked his ears, expecting to hear a response.

There was only silence.

"Zack?"

Nothing.

Before Alex could stop him, Archie leapt across the threshold and back into dungeon influence.

"Archie! Archie, can you hear me?" Zack called, his voice frantic and worried.

The hare breathed a sigh of relief, putting a hand to his chest. As a construct of raw mana, he didnt have a heart. If he did, he was sure it would have burst from his chest in fear. "Loud and clear, Zack. I apologize for that momentary fright. I've made an important discovery about the nature of our connection."

Through the dungeon's front doors, Jean-Claude let out his own relieved breath on Zack's behalf. Afterward, he waved for Archie to continue.

"It would seem that I cannot speak with you while outside the range of your influence. In hindsight, this feels like an obvious side-effect that we should have anticipated," Archie explained, crossing his arms.

"Is that all?"

"So far. I wasn't outside your influence for long enough to get a proper measure of how matters differ."

Archie could feel Zack's trepadation even from this far away. It was nice to know that his creator was genuinely concerned about his wellbeing, but that didn't change the fact they were no closer to their objective now than they were moments earlier.

"How long do you think you'll need to get a measure of things?" Zack asked.

Archie considered it for a long moment. "Alex, do you think we could go on a little adventure? Just to test the limits of how far I can go and for how long?"

"What did you have in mind?"

"Not a clue. See the world beyond the dungeon? Explore a bit? I'd like to try ice cream, too."

Alex made a face. "As long as it's okay with Zack…"

Archie turned back to the dungeon and once again saw Jean-Claude fidgeting. When the kobold caught Archie's eye, he stopped and flattened his arms at his sides. Idly, Archie wondered if that was Zack's doing, or if using the kobold as an emote button was finally wearing away at him.

"Alex and I are going into town," the rabbit declared. "I want to spend a few hours away from you, just to see if anything happens to me once I'm disconnected for an extended period of time. If anything bad happens, we'll come straight back here, I promise."

Discomfort radiated off Zack. He clearly didn't like the idea of letting Archie out of his sight, yet it would be impossible to accomplish his goal without doing exactly that. Archie needed to distance himself from Zack, just so they could see what sort of negative effects it might have on him. Zack understood that, but that didn't mean he wasn't going to fuss over him.

"Just stay safe and out of trouble, okay?" Zack urged him. "In here, you're my dungeon mob. Out there, you're a monster. Just make sure Alex keeps you well away from any adventurers, okay?"

"I promise, we will. And worst case scenario, you have my pattern, do you not? You can always revive me," Archie offered.

Zack didn't need to answer for Archie to know he wasn't sure that was the case. Would a newly constructed version still be self-aware? Would they even have Archie's memories? It was impossible to know without experimentation, and that was one that Archie had zero interest in dabbling in. He let Zack despawn him a couple times in the interest of making improvements, but killing him outright was not one he was interested in trying.

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

At least not until they set up a dedicated spawner capable of storing both Archie's pattern and his memories.

Once more, Archie turned and stepped beyond the dungeon's influence. This time, he paid close attention to Zack's presence at the back of his mind. The moment he passed across the border, he felt the dungeon's touch vanish. Zack's words, emotions, his very presence was suddenly and painfully absent. Archie felt it like a chunk was carved out of his chest, and put a hand to where his heart would otherwise be.

"Archie? Are you okay?" Alex asked. He reached out a hand to steady the hare, just in case he fell over.

Archie waved off the concern, shaking his head as he took several deep, steadying breaths. "I'm fine. I think."

"You think?"

"It's not easy to explain. Have you ever felt like you lost someone important and it left a hollow feeling in your chest?"

Alex looked back at the dungeon, his gaze distant. "Yeah. It sucks."

"It does indeed. That aside, I so far feel fine. I think I am prepared to continue our excursion."

Alex nodded and waved Archie over to where his car was parked. He kept it outside of Zack's influence, though Archie couldn't fathom why. With a click of his keyfob, Alex popped the trunk open and pulled out a pair of jeans, tossing the balled up wad of clothing Archie's way.

"First things first, you can't Donald Duck in public," Alex said, pointing at the hare's bare legs. "It's just not proper."

Archie looked down but couldn't argue the point. It didn't matter that he technically had nothing to show in his groin region, there was a certain level of propriety expected while in public. He quickly pulled the jeans on and threaded his belt through to help hold them up. Though he was of a similar height to Alex, he was significantly skinnier. This gave the jeans a baggy feel to them as they pooled around his ankles.

"We might want to get you some shoes, too," Alex mumbled. "There's a reason Chandra doesn't go around wolfed out in public: people don't take kindly to certain things."

"I'm aware I'm not exactly the most human creature on the planet, but that shouldn't make me a target," Archie protested.

Alex mimed poking a horn jutting from his forehead, and Archie reached up to feel the protrusion.

"Ah. I see the point," the horned rabbit chuckled. "I can't do much about that, can I?"

"No, you can't. We might be able to pass it off as a magical mutation, though, assuming you dress and act human enough. Were-beasts aren't exactly unheard of, though a were-dire-rabbit might be a bit of a stretch…" Alex scratched his chin. "The shirt has to go, too."

"What's wrong with my shirt!?"

"You're dressed like a Beatrix Potter character," Alex pointed out. "Seriously? Silk shirt and waistcoat? Could you be any more out of place? I suppose you could be wearing a cravat, but I doubt Zack even knows what those are."

Archie blinked at the audacity, though he couldn't argue that his formalwear didn't exactly mesh with his newly acquired jeans. Grumbling under his breath about fashion and the needs to conform to modern styles, he peeled off his shirt and waistcoat, folding them up carefully before handing them to Alex. They were carelessly tossed into the trunk as he rooted around and finally found something acceptable.

"Here, these should go a long way toward helping to sell our were-beast story," Alex said. He handed Archie a baggy black t-shirt and black beanie.

Archie held the shirt out at arms length and stared at it. Printed onto it was a picture of a lupine zombie sitting in a grave, smoking a thick cigar and drinking a bottle of rum. The words Carpe Lunam were written in large, nearly illegible letters across the chest.

"Where on earth did you pick up this thing?"

"Show some respect, that's a really popular British death metal band," Alex snorted. "Chandra and I went to their concert a year ago. It's a really popular scene for the were-crowd, since that band in particular is formed exclusively of were-beasts."

On the shirt's back were a list of tour dates and cities the band visited. Archie grumbled about how he'd look like a bruise, between his blue fur and the baggy black shirt, but he tugged it on all the same. It hung down below his waist, and his arms were swimming in the sleeves. Still, he couldn't deny he looked a lot more modern in this attire than he did in his usual clothes.

He completed the look by donning the beanie. The headwear flattened his ears against the back of his head, making them stick out like hair. He punched a hole through the fabric with his horn, earning a cringe from Alex.

"Was this band merchandise, too?"

"Yeah… I mean, you missed the logo, and it looks good on you. Don't wear it so tight, though. Let it hang a bit looser," Alex suggested.

Archie complied, and Alex passed him his phone to check himself in the front camera. Archie couldn't deny that he looked a lot more like a modern adult than he usuall did, though this was definitely not his style.

"I'd prefer if the clothing were a bit more conforming to my body. I feel like I'm wearing a tarp," Archie complained, handing the phone back as he adjusted his daggers on his hips. "Still, I can't deny this sells the illusion I'm just a conventional wererabbit out on the town."

"Yeah, I get you. I don't wear that shirt because it's too baggy on me, so I just kept it around as emergency clothing—also band merch is way too expensive. Anyway, you should still expect to get some evil looks while we're out, but nobody should attack you on sight," Alex said. He held his phone tightly. "Maybe I should call Chandra… She might be willing to come with us. It might be easier to sell the werebeast story if there's more than one of you around at a time…"

"If you've so quickly forgotten, Chandra said she was out. We're planning on doing something illegal, remember?" Archie noted. "She stormed out of here two hours ago? Very angrily, I might add? It was a whole thing."

"No, she was out for the heist—also the dungeon job," Alex mumbled. "This is neither of those things. And if the request came from you, maybe she'd be more inclined to join us."

"Why would that matter?"

"Because she has a crush on you," Alex pointed out.

"Obviously, but why would that change her mind about working with us?"

"Because we're not asking her to work with us, we're asking her to hang out with us," Alex pointed out. He quickly tapped a few buttons on his phone, then handed it to Archie.

By the time the phone reached his hands, it was already ringing. Archie hastily pressed it to the side of his head in a manner he'd seen the others do many times. His ears were in a different position on his head from a normal human's, and he was thankful that his connection to Zack included at least a surface level understanding of how phones were supposed to work. He pressed the speakerphone button just as Chandra picked up on the other end.

"What do you want, Alex?" She spoke with a frustrated growl, and it was evident the day's earlier arguement were still fresh in her mind.

"Actually, love, it's not Alex."

"Archie? Why are you calling me from Alex's phone?" Chandra's voice immediately shifted from hostile and angry to shy and nervous.

"Well, Alex and I were planning to go out on the town for a bit. It's been a stressful day and we could use some time away from Zack to unwind." The words came easy to Archie, because they were true. Snow's presence in Zack's dungeon had been incredibly stressful for all involved, and Archie didn't realize how badly he needed to relax until he said it. In fact, he couldn't remember ever relaxing. All he did was work or drink tea, and there was only so much tea a person could drink before it became stale. "I'd really like it if you could join us."

"This isn't a trick to make me take part in your stupid robbery, is it?" Chandra demanded, and Archie could practically imagine her narrowed eyes and raised ears.

"I'm not planning to try and talk you into it, but I would appreciate you not trying to talk me out of it," Archie said. "It's something I need to do for Zack. I'm a part of him, you know."

Chandra made a growling noise, though whether that was because of Archie's insistence or the reminder that he was a part of the dungeon, he couldn't tell. After a moment of quietly snarling, she spoke again. "Okay. I think I can handle hanging out with you and Alex. Make no mistake, I'm still very mad at all of you. I'm just a little low on friends right now, and God knows I need to have some fun."

"You and me both, love," Archie chuckled.

"Speaking of that, I would also prefer if it was just you and me. Without Alex or Greg."

Archie looked up at Alex, who shrugged. "We could go to the mall," he suggested. "That way I can be nearby in an emergency and you guys can spend time together."

Archie nodded. "I'm afraid I need Alex to at least be nearby in case of an emergency—we're not entirely sure how being away from the dungeon for an extended period of time might affect me. He has to be on hand to bring me back at a moment's notice."

Chandra fell silent for a long moment, before she spoke again. "Alright, but I don't want him third wheeling, okay?"

Alex scowled at the implication, but raised his hands in surrender.

"Sounds like a deal. Shall we meet at the mall?" Archie asked.

"I'll be there in thirty minutes. I hope you've got a different outfit than your usual dress."

"I've been gifted some… Well, they certainly meet the criteria for modern clothing. The plan is to pass me off as a were-dire-rabbit."

Archie could practically hear the grin in her next words. "See you soon."

He handed the phone back, clicking the end call button as it passed from his hands.

"I hope you know what you're getting yourself into," Alex asked, stuffing the phone into his pocket as he pulled the driver's side car door open.

"I can't even begin to imagine what she has planned for me," Archie admitted, slipping into the passenger seat.