“Who is there?!” I called out.

On my head and shoulders, Felix hissed, bearing his fangs in a way that did, actually make me feel like I had a worthy battle companion— which I, of course, did, since I saw firsthand in the graveyard how well he could fight.

“It is just I, Me.” A voice said.

“Who?! Me?” I replied, confused.

“Yes. Me.”

I had no idea what this meant— “is your name, ‘Me’?”

“Yes.”

Okay, Felix said, at least we are getting somewhere.

I shrugged my shoulders. Sure, but was that somewhere, somewhere important or safe? Hardly relevant. Fucking cat-monster.

“Okay, so, what do you want from us. Also, who are you?”

“I am Me. I am the building you are standing in presently. But I am also more. And what I want from you is what every constructed being wants— knowledge,” the building, Me, replied.

We are talking with a building. Funky.

“You mean,” I telepathically replied to Felix, “that you don’t know what this ‘constructed being’ is?”

I wouldn’t go that far . . . constructed beings just take a firmer hand to understand. They come in a lot of shapes and sizes. Hard to predict. I have never encountered one as a building before, is what I mean.

It was only possible for me to go “huh?” in response to Felix. Constructed beings. Buildings. Whatever. Just another oddity to add to my ever expanding list of mysteries.

“Alright. That checks out. Now what about knowledge?”

“Knowledge about you and your unique frequency, young master.”

I could get used to being called master. Oh, please, it is calling you a child. Catch up with your terminology. I ignored Felix.

“Rest easy, then, mate. Peeps in Full Time are already oozing over my special frequency.”

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And then, a bombshell: “Full Time cannot be trusted.”

~ ~ ~

I was gaffed.

“What do you mean they can’t be trusted? I just signed up with them. Are you trying to slyly tell me that they are going to kill me?”

“Nothing so dramatic.”

“Then what?!” I yelled, now aggravated.

“The nature of reality is changing and with reality, goes its Caretakers. Somehow, a rot is seeping into Full Time’s ranks. Actions which seemed at once non-worrisome and only a mild irregularity now seem part of a larger mystery.”

Obviously, no idea what the computerized voice meant. I knew nothing about Full Time. Heck, I was barely able to walk around without throwing myself into an existential crisis thanks to the partially dimensional bullshit which happened to me.

“You will need to defend yourself . . .” the computer voice said.

“Defend? You just said that they weren’t planning on hurting me,” I asked, now worried.

“Not right now, no. But in the future, their changed attitude might see you as a threat. Before that happens, you should have arms to bear.”

“So I should get a gun or like a hunting knife?”

“Mortal weapons have no effect on them. Even mortal weapons as destructive as machine guns would do you no good. You need something on their level. I see you have a Delvendive?”

Looking to my hand, the tool everyone kept referring to as a Delvendive was, in fact, still on my hand like a glove, the strange material feeling invisible even as the rings attached to the glove clanged with every slight jostle.

“Yeah,” I replied, unsure where this was going.

“We can use that.”

“What do you mean? How?” I asked.

“The Under-Reality is a mostly peaceful realm. But there are elements within— corrupted elements— which rear up no good from time to time. Inevitable, this happens in the course of nature. When it does, a dose of violence is needed; and as with all violence, the tool is a weapon of precise measurement. Every Caretaker in Full Time has access to this weapon. Inevitably, they will give it to you as well. But they will not teach you the true depth of its talents. Bide your time. And when access to this weapon os granted, return to me for in-depth instructions on how to fully utilize your defense.”

“Okay . . . so until then?”

“Bide your time. As I said.”

What, no patience? Felix snickered as he listened to the machine lecture me on how to defend myself from possibly crazed members of Full Time. I simply told Felix to go lick his asshole.

“Okay. Well. That puts me in pretty much the same position as before, I guess.”

“It does. Patience is a virtue. And you need time to adjust to the fuller world, Marcus. But for now, your waiting is over. Now it is the morning and Kush returns. Until the next time we meet.”

Silence.

Footsteps.

The door opened. And in came Kush.

“Guess what?” Kush said, “you survived your first night in the Under-Reality. Congrats!”

I was taken aback. “What do you mean?”

“Well, you see, sometimes when mortals such as yourself awaken to the true nature of the world, and the dimensional strangeness that their mind attempts to understand, they do no succeed in understanding the true nature of the world. They can go insane.”

News of recently awakened people going insane was unsettling. As was what came out of Kush’s mouth next.

“But you don’t have to worry about that. Not now, anyway. Because day two of your training begins and it is all about work! Your work— as a worker!”